BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN a divided (five-four) ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States of America on Friday, June 26, 2015, same-sex couples can now be legally married in all 50 states.
This means that America is now the 21st country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage nationwide, which allows same-sex couples to enjoy the same rights and benefits as married heterosexual couples. The union will also be recognised on all official documents such as birth and death certificates.
Following the ruling and speaking from the White House, CNN reported President Obama as saying: “Americans should be very proud,” because small acts of courage “slowly made an entire country realise that love is love.”
The media outlet also noted that President Obama called the ruling a “victory for America” and said “we’ve made our union a little more perfect”.
Further reports by CNN indicated that President Obama had called Jim Obergefell, one of the lead plaintiffs in the court battle to make state bureaucracy recognise him as the widower of the late John Arthur, with whom he shared a relationship for 21 years.
“Your leadership on this change the county,” Obama told Obergefell, who was standing in front of the High Court building talking to CNN. “I’m really proud of you”.
A Brief Background
For more than four decades, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in the US and others around the world have been fighting for equal rights and, in recent years, the fight had moved to higher heights – same-sex marriage – which had seen many litigations and activism.
Up until Friday (Jun. 26), same-sex marriage was already allowed in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Reportedly, the first law providing for marriage of people of the same sex in modern times was enacted in 2001 in the Netherlands.
Other countries in which same-sex marriage is allowed include Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
According to reports, the US Supreme Court’s ruling stemmed from the Jim Obergefell’s case. He was married to John Arthur in 2013, months before the latter died.
The two men were living together in Ohio as a couple for some 21 years but had to travel to Maryland aboard a medical jet to get married when Arthur became gravely ill.
However, in 2014, voters in Ohio had amended their State Constitution to prohibit gay marriage from being valid or recognised, and Obergefell began his legal battle against that State so that he could be recognised as Arthur’s spouse.
ABC News reported that the potential monetary benefits for Obergefell of winning his lawsuit against the state of Ohio are small. He told the media house that Ohio’s recognition of his marriage would bring with it $255 in Social Security benefits and potentially a small disability benefit when he retires.
“That was never our driving reason for doing this," he told ABC News, explaining that “it was all about our dignity and the respect we expect from the state we call home”.
Now that same-sex marriage is legal in the USA and a number of other countries, SKNVibes took to the streets of Basseterre to get the views of individuals of both sexes on this topical issue.
The question asked was: “America has legalised same-sex marriage, what are your views on that decision?”
Of the 92 individuals to whom the question was posed, 54 were males and 38 were females between the ages of 20 and 60. Eighty-two or 89% of them were against, which comprised 48 or 89% males and 36 or 95% females.
Eight or 9% of the respondents have claimed to be living a Christian life...six females and two males.
The majority of respondents had opted to remain anonymous; therefore no name will be mentioned and only a small percentage of their comments will be published.
The first respondent, a 28-year-old male construction worker, declared that he is not a regular church-goer but spends much time reading the Holy Bible.
“I occasionally go to church but read the Bible a lot. I don’t believe that a man should have sexual relations with another man, and this also goes for the women, because God made Adam for Eve and not Adam for Steve.”
A female resident of Lower Monkey Hill, who is one of the six that claimed to be living a Christian life, was very emotional in her comments and also made reference to the Holy Bible.
“I do not, in any shape whatsoever, support this legalising of same-sex marriage. How did we get to the point where we legalise something that is not only wrong and not only sinful, but an abomination? God clearly expresses in His word that when He created the human race He created both man and woman. He didn't create two men or two women!
“In Romans Chapter 1, Leviticus Chapters 18 and 20, the heart of God is clearly expressed as it relates to homosexuality. He totally detests it and calls it unnatural. We must not forget is that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God because of such immorality.”
The 33-year-old added: “This is not even a matter of opinion; it is the word of God through which He expresses His heart. God abhors homosexuality!”
One 58-year-old male, like most respondents, also referred to Sodom and Gomorrah as well as other passages in the Bible.
He opined that if sodomy were to be the “order of the day” worldwide, the human race would become extinct.
“The good book says be fruitful and multiply. It does not say be barren and subtract! If it were the latter, you and I would not have been in this world today. There would not have been a race called humans, because two men, just like two women, cannot procreate.”
A male vendor in his early 30s also made reference to the Holy Bible and pointed to the story of the two angels who were in Lot’s home when the men of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded his house and said: “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sexual relations with them.”
“Lot even offered them his two virgin daughters but they refused,” the vendor said. “Sodomy is not right in the eyes of the Lord. If you understand biblical history, Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed...and if you want to bring it back that means you are going to spoil the whole Christian legacy of right formation as in man and woman. There will be no future for our children.”
Speaking with four gays, whose average age is 27, they were all in agreement to same-sex marriage. However, the eldest (35) among them said: “I totally agree with the US Supreme Court’s decision. I want to get married but I haven’t seen any man in St. Kitts that has the qualities I am looking for in a husband. Maybe I will soon go to the land of opportunity in search of him.”
Another one remarked: “Everybody knows that I am gay and the passing of this law certainly makes me feel no longer as an outcast in society. The Government needs to do the same like America so that we can have equal rights just like everybody else.”
While a third gay refused to comment, the youngest of them licked his shiny lips and with left hand akimbo and the right one effeminately gesticulating, said: “I was born this way...I didn’t make myself. Since in my early teens I was attracted to men and I am 100% percent certain that they have many more like me but they do their thing behind closed doors. Come out in the open, America made it legal and so should St. Kitts and Nevis.”
This media house also spoke to a number of lesbians.
One of them, a 42-year-old, said she was extremely happy about the decision and would marry if the opportunity presents itself. The younger one (29) however claimed that while she saw nothing wrong with same-sex marriage, she would not “go down that path”.
Asked why she would not marry one of her own gender but is currently engaged in sexual relations with females, she boldly responded: “I was brutally raped by a close relative at the age of 14. Since then, whenever a man engages me in conversation and he becomes forward, I have flashes of the past which leave me traumatised for days. But with a woman, I feel safe, loved, comfortable and secure.”
Another one, who was very candid during our discussion, said she is ambisexual.
“I am a single parent and I have five children for three different men. One of them was gunned down in 2011 and I heard that the other two are somewhere abroad and they don’t maintain their children.”
The 29-year-old said she is a minimum wage earner and circumstances had forced her into a relationship with another female.
“Since the death of the father of two of my children, I had found a job but the weekly money cannot pay rent, buy food, clothes for me and my children, pay for electricity and water. So I met this woman who you just talked to and she had been supporting me and my children since 2011. Is not that I like going with women, but circumstances alter intentions.”
A young member of the Defence Force said he is not against same-sex but he would not engage in that lifestyle.
“Life is all about choices! If a man wants to be with a man and a woman wants to be with a woman, that’s their choice in life. However, I am not for that and I am a man who keeps as far away as possible from men who engage in such activity.”
In response to the question, a member of the Rastafarian community said: “Rasta does not support or defend homosexuality. But the reality is that these people [US] have power and they are organised, so same-sex marriage had to come to pass.”
Interestingly, a middle-age male expatriate, who had mixed views, informed that he was more concerned with the effect that the US Supreme Court’s decision would have on St. Kitts and Nevis, but refrained from commenting on the morality of it.
“Political events experienced in the United States impact the Federation in the same way mass media programming, crime and social issue bleed into local values. We hear the phrase ‘porous boarders’ but this is not limited to immigration and homeland security - it also pertains to social values and attitudes.
“Without getting into the morality of the most recent Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage a right nationwide, St. Kitts and Nevis will certainly be facing similar national decisions. Events within the United States are often a forerunner in neighbouring Caribbean nations.
“This really amounts to what defines freedom...marriage equality, freedom of expression, religious freedom and what society deems to be fair. Again, I won’t weigh in with my personal reaction because I have mixed views. But one certainty is clear, what is trending in the US will be trending in the Caribbean. Stay tuned.”
As you have read the views of some of the people interviewed in Basseterre, what are yours on this topical issue?
