Denial of the right of marriage to homosexuals and others is one of the greatest withholdings of human rights in modern America.

Around the country, millions of people are told that their love won’t be recognized by the government, denying them many rights that married couples have.

Gay couples don’t enjoy the special tax status that heterosexual couples do, nor do they have the same rights in adoption, child rearing or hospital visitation.

MILLER

It’s bad enough that these people aren’t allowed to be themselves as members of our military, and are socially discriminated against elsewhere. Denying them marriage rights is just another outrage, and as arbitrary as saying two redheads shouldn’t be able to get legally married.

But this problem stems from a larger, more important issue that few people even realize — that you have to have government approval to get married.

Marriage as an institution should be removed completely from the realm of government control. The president and Congress have no business determining who I marry.

If I want to marry my girlfriend, myself, the dude next to me in accounting class, or 11 different people at once, why should anyone else be able to deny me that?
Marriage should be between you, a loved one and — depending on what floats your boat — God. Approval by friends and family is a definite plus, but optional.

The concept of a marriage licenses it especially outrageous. Love isn’t a car or a gun that you need government certification for. Even though almost no consenting heterosexual couples are denied them, the fact remains that you still have to pay and go through government bureaucratic channels to receive one. A license has no value, it wont make a marriage happier or more successful. Why have them at all?

My girlfriend and I have discussed this issue at length and finally decided that, should we ever get married, we’ll have a wedding but will not apply for a marriage license. Even without government approval, I think we’ll somehow manage to have a happy, loving relationship.

One might argue that we should get legally married for the tax benefits, but that only supports a similar problem. Your tax status shouldn’t be dependant on your marriage status.

Why should people get punished for being single, and rewarded for being married? If we truly live in a free society, shouldn’t all lifestyles receive the same treatment?

Some may argue that the deregulation of marriage would reduce its value by letting anyone get married to whoever, whenever, wherever. I would tell them that if you base your marriage’s value on the way other people treat theirs, you’re missing the point of being wed.

To me, the fact that some people in this country are allowed to be married while others aren’t actually devalues the institution, not the other way around.

I encourage everyone to stop measuring the legitimacy or any relationship, whether straight, gay, polyandrous or otherwise, on whether a bunch of cranky old men in Washington or Atlanta approve of it. A marriage has only one real qualifier — love.

— Mark Miller is a junior from Griffin majoring in publication management