As a professional, I think I do a decent job delivering online news in a way that is as balanced and fair as possible (pardon the cliche slogan), even if in my engagement with our viewers, I do take the side as the dissenter to provoke a little more thought and response. Lately, a topic has come up that made me realize I had to step out of my professional role and step into a role as an individual.
California has been the focal point of the gay marriage debate for the last decade or so. Proponents and opponents have poured hundreds of millions of dollars to promote their viewpoint and influence your opinion -- and in 2008, your vote. As it turns out, Proposition 8 may have violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, though whether or not that's the case is still open for debate and will likely be settled in appellate court.
Both sides have made pretty strong arguments -- is gay marriage an equal right? Was this country founded on religious doctrine, and would gay marriage violate that? What does the constitution say? Will same-sex relationships seep into the curriculum of primary education? Do gay couples make good parents? Proponents of gay marriage have somewhat valid arguments, and opponents of gay marriage have somewhat valid worries, when it comes to these questions.
But one question stands out as being perhaps one of the most ridiculous and, quite frankly, offending questions proposed by those who oppose gay marriage: Would same-sex marriage lead to marriage with animals? With inanimate objects? With children?
This question has been posed not only by our viewers, but by my colleagues at FOX40 News -- in interviews with prominent figures on both sides of the gay marriage debate, and in casual watercooler conversation off-camera.
As a gay individual, I can say the comparison to a pedophile who wants to marry a child or a zoophile (that's actually the term) who wants to marry an animal, is not only offensive, it's degrading and it's hurtful. I can tell you this viewpoint is felt not only by myself, but by some of my close friends and by some of my colleagues at work who happen to identify as a gay or lesbian individual.
It's hurtful to think that our viewers -- who I know come from various walks of life, various backgrounds and have various colorful opinions -- would compare me to a pedophile or a person who commits acts of bestiality It's hurtful to think some of my colleagues would do the same (a very small handful -- don't get me wrong, everyone I work with is wonderful and I appreciate and respect the diversity in opinions and views).
It's an unfair comparison that casts gay and lesbian individuals in the same light as those who have sex with animals and with children. Simply put, it makes us feel as if we are less than human beings.
It's been said that teenagers and young adults who identify as gay or lesbian individuals are eight times more likely to commit suicide or otherwise harm themselves. When I read some of the hurtful and damaging comments that come in to our station by e-mail, Facebook, text message -- and even people who are bold enough to make a phone call to our newsroom -- I can understand why that statistic is so high.
I hope that those who have differing opinions on gay marriage understand that gay and lesbian individuals are not zoo animals, nor are they pedophiles. They are human beings who happen to have opposing viewpoints on a debatable issue. I'm not saying gay marriage is right, and I'm not saying gay marriage is wrong. It's not for me to say, and it's not something I've quite decided in my own mind. What I am saying is this: Stop comparing me to an animal and stop comparing me to a pedophile. Stop thinking that a gay person marrying another gay person yields gives validity to the argument that a pedophile could marry a child, or a person could marry an animal.
It's degrading, it's disrespectful and it's damaging. I know our viewers, and my colleagues, are smarter than that.
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Matthew Keys: matthew.keys@fox40.com • Read more: Judge removes stay on Prop 8 ruling
