The argument is lop-sided

Originally printed in the online version of Bancroft This Week on Sept. 27, 2013

As the conversations keep going here and elsewhere in the world about homophobia, tolerance, and striking a balance between forcing either view on people, I can't help but notice that both sides are being treated as equal. On the face of it, you may say that it's simply a case of personal preference and that everyone is entitled to their opinions because that's what equality and democracy are about.

But that's under the assumption that both sides hold equal weight and consequence.

If both sides were truly equal, the conversations would be more along the lines of:

Adam and Eve Supporters: "Heterosexuals are better."

Adam and Steve Supporters: "No, homosexuals are better."

As it stands, that's not the argument. That's not the lines we're drawing in the sand. The teeter-totters don't have equal weight on both ends, because the conversations are to the effect of:

Adam and Steve Supporters: "We are human beings who are deserving of being treated with compassion and dignity and the protections of the law. We just want to raise our families and live our lives as our heterosexual counterparts are able to do. We don't want any special status, we just want the ability to enjoy all the privileges you are able to take for granted without considering what life would be like without them."

Adam and Eve Supporters: "No. You are not fully human and cannot walk down the street holding your partners hand or I will remind you of your lower status to keep you in check."

That is not an equally weighted argument. Both sides are not benign.