Marriage license denied for N.C. same-sex couple

              

               Over the past almost four years at Booker T., I have become an active supporter of gay rights. Growing up, I wasn’t aware of the gay community, I didn’t know of anyone in my family who was gay or lesbian, or my friends. Therefore, I wasn’t a supporter of it or against it, I was neutral. My parents never really discussed it to me so when I got to Booker T. it was easy for me to follow my gut and do what was right. I didn’t then and still don’t understand now what is wrong with two people loving each other. Love is love.

                When lesbian couple Amanda Hilty and Loraine Allen arrived at the Buncombe County seat of Asheville this previous week in North Carolina, they hoped to be leaving with their marriage license; however, they were denied it based on a state law that prohibits same sex marriage. This wasn’t their first time trying to obtain their license, it was the second. After Madison County register of deeds, Susan Rector, rejected them their license, Allen argued that it was unjust that she and her partner of thirteen years cannot get married in the state they have spent years living in. She also said that if they could not get married in North Carolina they would move to a state where they could, although they would prefer not to. If a man and a woman can get married there is no reason a woman and a woman or a man and a man should not also be able to also share this bond.

                Do these gay marriage bans violate the United States Constitutions equal protection clause? The 14^th Amendment forbids states to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Therefore, don’t same-sex couples have the right to get married anywhere in the United States of America? Even if they do not as of now, the laws should be adjusted in such a way that this is possible for them. I mean the Constitution was written over 200 years ago, we as a nation should realize that times change.

 Different people walk the Earth now than then. It’s almost like if we decided to keep slavery because the previous citizens of the United States thought it was right. Times change, and so do our mindsets. It is almost 2014! Wanting to be married to someone you love should not be illegal. Love is love, and as Hilty questioned, “How can somebody deny love?”