"The Gay Presido"

My friend once made a joke that the only people dying to get married these days are homosexuals.  I guess her point was that marriage in this part of the world is no longer sacred.  In fact, we have half of all our marriages ending in divorce.   I am a heterosexual African male from a society with widely different societal norms, and my country leans more to the extreme religious side of this gay issue.  My countrymen  are yet to even have open discussion about accepting homosexuality in our communities, talk-less of allowing them to get married.   My president even once threatened to cut off the heads of homosexuals and gave them 48 hours to leave the country.  Mind you, the gays and lesbians Dr. President was referring to are our own Gambian brothers and Sisters, some of whom have never been outside of the Gambia.  However, last month,  my fair President had a sudden change of heart.  His view on homosexuality evolved and he no longer wanted homosexuals killed or exiled; a compromise was reached and homosexuals in Gambia were guests at his five star hotel at the mile two prisons just outside the capital.  In simpler terms, homosexuals or suspected homosexuals were rounded up from a local bar by Gambian authorities and sent straight to jail.  Their fate now lies with the morally bankrupt imported Nigerian judges who run the judicial system in Gambia. 

While I was trying to digest the homosexual fiasco in my motherland, Obama also hit us with his own version of gay evolution.  President Obama now supports gay marriage.  A jaw dropping announcement from Obama in an election year.  My first reaction was that Obama has gone crazy. But after listening to his reasons for supporting gay marriage and talking to someone who is gay, my views on gay marriage have also evolved.   Don't ask me how, I suppose I am just what Nigerians call "follow follow".  

Unlike Obama however, I still believe marriage is between a man and a woman.  But I also believe that we were all born free and should be allowed to be with the person or even persons with whom we choose to fall in love.  I am OK with gays falling in love with each other and living their lives together as normal world citizens. More importantly, the lesson I learned from this gay marriage issue in the last couple of days is that an honest debate that is worth having requires different viewpoints that are based on facts and rational arguments.   The argument that altering the traditional definition of marriage will weaken the church or African society and that gay people cannot make a child of their own is NEITHER rational NOR factual. 

Don't agree with me?  Stop reading and watch this young man in the youtube video below.

As decent human beings, we can pick up something from Obama's decision; to be tolerant of others, and to treat others using the same respect, dignity, and courtesy with which we expect to be treated.  The world would do well to emulate President Obama’s behavior and try to be less divisive, more humble, and employ decency and humanity in their treatment of others with whose points of view we may disagree with.

We have to now come to terms with the fact that the union of gays have no effect on the marriage of straight people.  Gay people have no power to destroy the already broken institution of marriage.  It is us straight people that are destroying the traditional institution of marriage by constantly abusing it.