Promises ought to be kept. It is that simple. The state of Minnesota promised in its constitution to treat all citizens equally and to provide the same freedoms and protections for all. It is time for Minnesota to live up to that promise by allowing committed, loving, same-sex couples to enter into civil marriage.
Marriage makes a difference.
Most importantly, it provides public recognition of the love and commitment of two adults who pledge to take care of each other. To be sure, there are important protections that go along with civil marriage: hospital visitation rights, Social Security benefits, immigration rights, health insurance, estate tax limits, family leave, home protection, pensions and more.
The protections of civil marriage may be even more important for children. Children being raised by same-sex couples in Minnesota are not treated equally and feel the negative economic impact of their parents paying unfair taxes and being denied the same health insurance benefits as other couples.
Because overwhelming scientific evidence clearly shows that children raised by same-sex couples are as stable and feel just as loved as children raised by heterosexual couples, the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Minnesota chapter supports the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
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More important than all the protections and benefits is the message that equal civil marriage would bring. Adults and children in every family in Minnesota need to know they are equal citizens and are respected and valued just as other members of their communities.
The principles of equality and respect are based on our fundamental dignity as human persons. Every person has dignity, not because they earn it or deserve it. Dignity doesn't depend on height, weight, class, race or gender. This is the bedrock foundation of human civilization and of our nation and state. This acknowledgement of the value of all persons is what sets us apart as human beings. When we fail to recognize the fundamental dignity of another we jeopardize the supporting structure of our common humanity.
As we know from our history, it is not unusual for people in power or people in the majority to reserve certain rights for themselves. Not until 1920 did women have the freedom to vote. Not until 1967 were laws criminalizing interracial marriage ruled unconstitutional. Although the process is always too slow, especially for people who bear the weight of injustice, the development of the human community has been the story of the expanding recognition of human dignity and the concomitant rights and responsibilities that come with it.
Martin Luther King Jr. expressed this so beautifully when he said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
It is time for Minnesota to contribute to this advance of human development, to move to the right side of history, and to affirm the human dignity of all its citizens.
I have family, friends, neighbors and a religious congregation who recognize my dignity as a fellow human being and who celebrated with me and my spouse as we proclaimed our wedding vows to each other. I hope someday very soon that those vows of love and faithfulness will be recognized by the state of Minnesota.
My sexual orientation doesn't make me less of a citizen or less of a human being or less able to love my spouse or my children. In more than 40 years of teaching morality and ethics, I have come to understand that the recognition of human dignity is the critical foundation for our human community. We may disagree on many things -- parenting, social programs, education or our religious definition of marriage -- but we cannot afford to allow our disagreement to erode the foundational dignity we must recognize in each other.
Why should we keep our promises? Why should all citizens have the same fundamental freedoms? Because our common human dignity demands it.
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Gary J. Boelhower is a professor in the Theology and Religious Studies Department at the College of St. Scholastica after teaching moral decision-making for more than 40 years at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels in Washington, D.C.; Virginia; Wisconsin; and Minnesota. His book, "Choose Wisely: Practical Insights from Spiritual Traditions" (Paulist Press), is to be released in May.
