Editorial

Since October of 2014 same-sex marriage has been legal in Oklahoma due to a declined review of a voter-approved ban. Since then, Republican State Representative Todd Russ has filed a bill that would take marriage out of the hands of the government.

This House Bill 1125 basically would keep any clerk or judge from having to approve the marriage of anyone they don’t believe should be married.

Oklahoma is part of what some would call the Bible Belt of America. With that being said, most citizens will want to keep same-sex marriage out of our state. However, marriage is no longer just between a man and woman now. We have to face those facts. Times have changed.

Nobody should be forced to believe anything they don’t want to believe in. Those with a deep-rooted belief in religion can praise God however they want, but there is no need to “shove religion down someone’s throat.” This goes for those that believe in same-sex marriage: don’t rub your “victory” in the face of your opposer.

As for Rep. Russ, this bill inadvertently targets men and women that have same-sex partners and want the same right as anyone else. Russ is also a credentialed Assemblies of God minister according to newsok.com. Anyone else see an agenda?

If this bill is passed, couples wanting a marriage would have to get a religious official to sign a marriage certificate. I am not sure about every religious official, but I am sure that some or even most have a belief against same-sex marriage. Therefore, why would they endorse a marriage when they don’t have to? If a couple cannot get a signed marriage certificate, then they would have to file for common law marriage.

Russ was quoted in an article on newsok.com saying “marriages are not supposed to be a government thing anyway.”

Russ is dancing on the fine line separating church and state. He is trying to keep marriage as part of a religious sanction, which some could see as a step in the right direction. However, it is the law that a man and a man or a woman and woman have the right to marry each other, enough said.

Russ may honestly have the people of Oklahoma’s best interest in mind, but he needs to realize that homosexuals are just as much citizens of Oklahoma as heterosexuals.

This proposed bill seems to be more of an attack on the government for allowing same-sex marriage to happen in Oklahoma and does not seem to solve the problem that Rep. Russ stated. Actually HB 1125 would more than likely create an uprising in those that have less of a conservative view on the issue.

“All men are created equal.” From the founding Declaration of Independence this statement has been forgotten and misinterpreted throughout the years of our country. If everyone was created equal, then everyone should have the same rights, even the same rights to marriage.

Marriage licenses would be reinstated with a marriage certificate if this bill were to pass. However, the system of a marriage license has been working great since the Middle Ages. This bill would change a good system into a controversial and unfair system.