Catholic Church is at it again

I read in The Tico Times the other day that the Catholic Church has reiterated its stand against gay unions, in light of a bill in Costa Rica's Congress to allow gay couples to form legal unions (stopping short of calling them marriages, of course). They (the Pope, the dyed-in-the-wool Catholics, etc.) brought out the same old tired arguments against the bill, citing such things as gays being an abberation (even though God made gay people they way they are), and that gay marriages somehow threaten the sanctity of hetero marriages. Sigh.

What century are we living in, people? I would like someone, anyone, from the Catholic Church to explain to me, a woman in a hetero marriage, how, exactly, gay people threaten to destroy my marriage. Short answer: They don't. And by the way, I am really, really sick of hearing people use God and religion to justify their prejudices against homosexuality. Marriage is not a religious institution unless you want it to be. Esposo and I did not get married in a church; in Costa Rica, you may legally get married by a lawyer, which is exactly what we did (two lawyers, in fact -- one did the ceremony in Spanish and the other in English). And I know lots of people who were never married in a church. Does that make their marriages worthless in the eyes of God or whomever? Sorry, don't think so. Marriage is a social contract between two people, and I'd like to say between two people, no matter whether they're straight, gay, blue or purple. Once upon a time, a lot of people would have thought I was disgusting for marrying someone outside of my "race" (even though I believe there is only one race -- human). It is more accepted to see people of different skin colors together, and I do hope and believe it will, sooner or later, become acceptable to see couples of the same gender together. People are people. I hope this bill becomes law.

On a similar note, I recall a few years back the Costa Rican courts allowing a cross-dressing homosexual man to adopt a child that he had cared for since the child's mother dumped the kid in favor of crack. The courts found that he was an excellent father and there was no reason not to allow the adoption to go through. I remember thinking at the time, Hooray for Costa Rica! For being an officially Catholic country, we do have a few progressive thinkers here and there.

Speaking of bills in Congress, I also read that there's another one pending that would make it illegal to punish a child by hitting them. I can't tell you how much I'd love to see this one pass! It is, disgustingly enough, the old-fashioned Costa Rican way to hit first and ask questions later. I hate that. I hate seeing anyone hurt a child, especially physically, when I know there are better ways to handle the situation. But since it is not yet illegal here, the PANI really won't do anything unless it is a serious abuse situation. Stay tuned...