A country for everyone

I was very pleased to see on Wednesday that President Obama had instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act. This 1996 act bans federal recognition of same sex marriages.

While the issue of same sex marriage is not near and dear to my heart, it is a non-starter. That is to say that it is a complete embarrassment that in the year 2011 we're still "debating" basic human rights.

We shouldn't be talking about same-sex marriage because it shouldn't be an issue, because if two people love each other it shouldn't matter if they are man and woman, man and man or woman and woman. They're people and they have the same rights as everyone else.

We look back at our nation's tainted history and track records on civil rights for African-Americans and grimace to think that we ever treated people that way. Just as we look back on the Civil Rights movement as a triumph, we also view the disgraces of that era as a stain on our nation's history. We will one day feel the same way about gay marriage. Most sensible people already do. As I said, I don't think we should even be talking about this. Gay marriage should be legal. Period. End of story.

I hope that Wednesday's action by the president was a step in the right direction. I certainly believe it was, and I laud him for it. At the same time, America is a country for everyone, and everyone deserves equal treatment under the law. It's time we recognized that and put this silly "debate" behind us by guaranteeing those rights for everyone.