Letter to the Editor: Dogma creates human misery

To the Editor:

In a recent posting by the anti-gay, anti-choice extremist Family Policy Institute of Washington on their web site - http://www.fpiw.org/ - it is argued that the phrase “marriage equality” is actually a “myth” because there are several limitations (see below) other than gender that apply to marriage partners. It’s a particularly fine example of their false argumentation. 

“You can't marry someone who is under 18”

FACT: not true – but it requires parent’s permission, and age of consent varies by state. Protects minors.

“You can't marry someone who is already married.”

FACT:  Although everyone is limited to one spouse at a time, serial marriages are o.k. if divorce precedes them. Protects marital and children’s rights.

“You can't marry someone who is a close relative.”

FACT:  This is based on genetics. Science shows that the probability of having inherited disabilities or susceptibility to particular diseases is greatly increased for the offspring of closely-related parents. Protects offspring.

“You can't marry someone of the same gender”

FACT:  This is true only where the Family Policy Institute and like-minded groups have managed to get such laws passed. This lacks the attribute that all of the other  limits share – it has absolutely no protective value for either the parents or their children, but to the contrary deprives such families of all the rights and protections enjoyed by all who are married.

No one is harmed by the marriage of same-sex couples, but many are harmed when marriage is denied them. How illogical it is to deny LGBT people stable relationships in marriage, while at the same time deploring their supposedly promiscuous life-style, precisely the activity that marriage is supposed to remedy.

The Family Policy Institute is a local version of national organizations that care not a jot or tittle about the human misery their dogma creates because they put human dogma before human dignity.     

Elaine Phelps

Shoreline