Although great strides have been made in achieving equality on issues of race and gender, homosexuals have achieved very little in terms of concrete laws aimed to create and preserve fair treatment. We live in a society that devalues gays by denying them the right to marry, donate blood, and serve openly in the military. Gay men cannot join the boy scouts, must fight for hospital visitation rights, and are often excluded from family gatherings. Gay men can be fired from their job, simply for being gay and are often discouraged or outright banned from adopting children in some states. In the most extreme situations, homosexuals are even the target of violent crime that is meant to terrify the community into submission and silence. On November 12th of this year, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, a gay college student and activist in Puerto Rico was partially decapitated, burned, and left by the side of the road. We can all help solve this problem by working diligently towards creating an atmosphere of acceptance around homosexuals, starting with legalizing civil marriage for same-sex couples. Marriage is not only a financial and spiritual affirmation of a relationship, but also a societal acknowledgement that a relationship has value. Although there are many inequalities to be dealt with, marriage would create the biggest sea-change in public opinion and in turn make the broadest statement about America’s passion for freedom, liberty, and equality. In Canada, where same-sex marriage is legal and also more broadly accepted, the number of hate crimes per capita is roughly 1/3 as many as here in the United States. Their culture and society has found a way to keep a connection with faith and religion without letting it dictate the laws of a democracy. Not only will a change in policy create a change in how people treat gays and lesbians, it will also open the door to solving all of the other inequalities thrust on homosexuals in this country. Additionally, a strong argument can and should be made that the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution established a government that “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. If the only legitimate political argument against same-sex marriage is a religious one, we must ask ourselves: are we using “law” to respect “an establishment of religion? Also, when looking for justification to end segregation and allow inter-racial marriage, the Supreme Court of the United States of America turned to the 14th amendment to the Constitution that states that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens”. The biggest opponents of carving out any more equality from the Constitution seems to be religious conservatives. I accept that the religious dogma that guides them clearly denounces homosexuality as a sin and an abomination. What I am asking religious conservatives to accept is that when Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther described the imperative division between the “City of Man” and the “City of God”, he did not include any caveats. You can keep your faith, embrace your religion, and still allow others to experience the freedom and equality that you have been so fortunate to receive. If this justification does not quell your fears, then maybe the answer is to completely cut the umbilical cord between state-approved marriage and religiously-approved marriage. The answer may be to make all documents, forms, and descriptions by the government concerning marriage to simply be “civil-marriage”, completely exorcising the religious connotations that many in the faith community find to be so distasteful. We must find a solution to this problem or our society will continue to scapegoat classes of people and fail to live up to the promise of the Constitution and subsequent amendments. Just keep in mind that history has not, and will not, view positively those who work against the expansion of freedom liberty, and equality.