By the end of the night in fabulous Las Vegas, you’re broke except for $35, which is all it takes to grab a marriage license and complete a ceremony in one of the many extraneous chapels around the city. But why is this type of wedding legal and less controversial than the marriage of two people of the same sex who love one another and wish to be married?

Denying any right, not just marriage, to someone because of their sexual orientation is reminiscent of the inequality we’ve experienced in the past, including racial and gender discrimination. Not allowing two people in love to be joined in marriage and legally recognized by the state is dehumanizing. Homosexual marriage is a civil right, not a moral issue.

Marriage has been stereotypically associated with churches for eons. The majority of marriage ceremonies we attend are completed there. This has led us to a prevalent belief that marriage is a religious ceremony, when it does, in fact, come adorned with legal benefits and rights to accompany the title. These benefits, in short, comprise of emergency medical decisions on behalf of your partner, visiting your spouse in the hospital, or sponsoring your loved one to immigrate to the United States. We often overlook simplistic benefits traditional couples take for granted, such as joint tax returns and eligibility for government grants or tax breaks, which are not given to homosexual couples. In total, there are 1,049 benefits available to gay couples only in a marriage, according to a 1999 study done by the General Accounting Office.

Civil unions are not a sufficient replacement for marriage. The rights of civil unions can vary depending on state laws, but more importantly, civil unions take away the title of marriage.

What about heterosexual couples who commit sodomy? Do they deserve to be married? What about atheists? They aren’t married in churches. What about couples who participate in “swinger” parties, men and women who engage in premarital sex and the mass amount of people who are married who could be classified as “drug dealers, thieves, and murderers?” I know God expressly prohibits these activities also. If all sin is equal before God, then where is the line drawn? Who deserves to receive matrimony?

Not everyone believes in the Bible; that can’t be the law we use to define our society. Saying it’s against nature is also a completely uneducated response. Apply something Socrates once said, “The more I know, the less I understand.” There are so many metaphysical concepts that are impossible to comprehend. Who is anyone to decide what we can or can’t do? We don’t know if there’s a heaven or a hell a god or not. There is no way to ascertain if there is an afterlife or reincarnation. Our life is based on uncertainty. Don’t let that be your deciding factor.

My cousin, a member of the homosexual community, was recently assaulted in Rochester for his sexual orientation. Four neo-Nazi men verbally battered and strangled him. Luckily, a bystander called the police, and he is still alive. Like Matthew Shepard, the teenager tortured and killed for his sexual orientation in Wyoming, my cousin is one of many who have sparked the outrage that accompanied the passage of a recent law making “hate crime” a federal offense.

The gay community has made significant political strides in the past few decades, repealing sodomy laws and placing the “hate crime” law in effect; however, laws such as Proposition 8 in California, which defines marriage as between a man and woman, and the Defense of Marriage Act, have impeded homosexuals’ ability to live a life free from discrimination.

It is now up to you. Can you speak up and advocate for those who deserve equal rights? Do it for Matthew Shepard, for my cousin and for all others who are tormented mentally and physically every day for their sexual orientation. Do it for those homosexuals who died from HIV/AIDs because of America’s inability to bring themselves to recognize a pandemic purely because it was associated with a certain group which violated their moral code, according to “And The Band Played On,” by Randy Shilts, which I highly recommend.

Do it for the sake of your own education and those around you who are misguided in their attempts to block the rights of homosexuals. But overall, do it because you know it’s the right thing to do. This is not a matter of what you personally believe to be right; it is a matter of rights guaranteed for everyone in the United States Constitution. The majority of the population should not vote on what is a right for everyone: to love and have that love recognized through marriage.

Jill Jensen is a senior at Albert Lea High School. This column first appeared in the Feb. 19 edition of the Ahlahasa monthly student newspaper.