Equal Marriage

If there's one thing that I've noticed from the victorious result from parliament on the subject of equal marriage, it was the amount of my friends in same-sex relationships who stated to the world 'I will one day marry the person I love'. And it is this statement that makes me realise just how much prejudice there still is against homosexual people in a otherwise quite 'modern' and westernised world.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the outcome because I honestly believed that a winning majority of politicians would rule against same-sex marriage because of their old fashioned views fueled by their religious connections...

I was, however, disappointed to learn that a Winchester Conservative politician - let's not name any names - voted against equal marriage but this is the same individual who voted in favour of the rise in tuition fees so he's not exactly flavour of the week anyway.

How has it taken so long for a large chunk of the population to be  entitled to the same nuptial rights as everybody else anyway? Why have I always had a special entitlement to be wed to the person I love - if that person is the opposite sex to me? It makes no sense really, especially considering - a study conducted by The Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that 45% of marriages will end in divorce before a couple's 50th anniversary anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong but, was getting a divorce at one time not thought to bring shame to a family... and we've managed to break down that stigma.

I believe it's because, every single person either knows what it feels like to be stuck in a  relationship with the wrong person - or at least emphasise of how that feels. But, not everybody know what it feels like when you love somebody of the same sex. Unless you are gay, you can only begin to imagine what sort of hate and prejudice you would need to face on a daily basis.

The ruling on equal marriage in the UK is a huge step in the right direction for humanity. That's not to say that there isn't a lot of bigoted people in the world and we still need to do a lot to ensure that the younger generation are able to go forward and extinguish hateful language/actions associated with prejudice of all kinds.

I hope that the term 'civil partnership' will become extinct as more and more of the gay community are able to legally cement their love in the same way as everybody else. Why should they have to use a term that automatically estranges them?

A friend of mine said she was once asked, 'How old were you when you realised you were gay?'

To which she replied, 'Well how old were you when you realised you were straight?'

Spot-on. We're all the same. Let's not allow ourselves to be identified by our sexuality.