The Heterosexual Privilege: Marriage

The Heterosexual Privilege: Marriage

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/court-overturns-prop-8-california-says-state-t-181451250.html

     Referring to Proposition 8 that was passed in 2008 after the state had previously allowed same-sex marriage for five months prior, a federal appeals court just recently ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Judge Stephen Reinhardt supported his decision by noting that "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite sex-couples." But, why does this courts ruling only apply to California? Sure California is one of the few states that had legalized gay-marriage, but as seen in Judge Reinhardt's claim, Prop. 8 "serves no purpose."If this is the case then why can't the entire United States see this? It is because a majority of the United States still possesses a strict, confining definition of heterosexuality and homosexuality.
     The discrimination between varying sexual preferences did not fully exist until after 1868, when the term "heterosexuality" was first introduced by Germans Karl Ulrichs and Karl-Maria Kertbeny, who forever changed the way we view sexuality. Although their use of that word does not resemble the popularized connotation it holds today, the creation of the term "heterosexual" unintentionally influenced the modern concept of "normal" sexuality.  Heterosexuality, as reflected in Prop. 8, confirms the believe that in our society, heterosexuality is normal, whereas, homosexuality is the socially unacceptable. The nation allots heterosexual individuals with more privileges than homosexual individuals can ever imagine. But why? Why does there need to be a separation between the different sexual preferences? Luckily though, heterosexuality is a fairly new concept with little truly understood about it, and therefore, is subject to much change in the future. BABY STEPS. Six states currently recognized same-sex marriages, and California may possibly be on its way towards a newer, fairer definition of heterosexuality.