equal rights

Thoughts 1 Minute

Congratulations USA for joining the club!

Here in Europe many countries already allow marriage for everyone. I don’t know if you remember, but Ireland joined the club a few weeks ago.

France joined the club not too long ago, and there was a lot of protest, from people worrying about the “traditional” family, does it actually still exist? They were all saying that a family consisted of a mother, a father and children, but what is with mono-parental families? recomposed families? families where the parents aren’t married? etc.

What got me thinking a lot back then (I think it was 2-3 years ago) was that many people took their kids along to march for the family as they would say, but what will happen to the now 3 year old kid, when they grow into a teen/grow up and find out that they are not of the sexual orientation preferred by their parent?

A few weeks ago The Economist on marriage rights in European countries. Now that catholic Ireland has legalised gay marriage the pressure is hight on my country of origin, Germany (I would say it is high on politicians as the public seems to support the legalisation of marriage for everyone). I once attended a marriage (ok a celebration of a civil partnership) by a same sex couple, and it was great fun.

So in Germany same sex couples are allowed to be in a civil partnership, giving them all sorts of rights of a married couple (taxes, inheritance etc) but not the right to adopt. The right to adopt is reserved to married couples and to single people (independent of sexual orientation), but not to unmarried couples.

Now I have heard people (of older generations) say that marriage is there to create a family. But haven’t they checked? So many people are married (especially in Germany) without planning on having a family. And then there are the others who have a family and aren’t married. My parents got married just before I turned four. S. and I have a daughter and still no marriage certificate…

Sorry for being a bit political lately, but it happens at times.

Have a great Sunday, Solveig

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13 thoughts on “equal rights”

    1. Thank you! Your comment came as a great relief, as this is really the first time that I have been political on here.
      And I do agree with you that it is an important issue to mention.

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  4. I was happy to see the SCOTUS do the right thing. Marriage is marriage. Equality for everyone should be the norm. Now they are talking about religious freedoms. If you are an employee of a county and you personally object to same-sex marriage they want to be able to reject the marriage application. For me, the key is that you are an employee and should not be able to use your personal views at your job. But, that is me. Nothing can ever be easy. I am still happy they passed the ruling. 🙂

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    1. I wrote a reply earlier, but Internet in tunnels isn’t the best… (I am lagging behind with answering comments,sorry…)
      I have no idea what religious freedoms have to do with it.
      After all our rights end where those of others start.

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      1. I don’t understand that part about religious freedoms either. I live in the South and everyone is obsessed with their religious freedoms. I just don’t get it. 😀

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  5. Great post, Solveig. The decision made me happy because it’s about time we saw positive change happening in the world. The wonderful vibe I’ve felt resonating from the internet; an explosion of colour – it fills me with hope that this is the first step towards a better future.

    Liked by 3 people

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I won't bite, seriously!

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