USVI: Committing incest is also being human

Chris Teare, the author of the editorial, Being gay is also being human never once comes to grip with the issue of gay "marriage." Instead, he tells a heart warming little story about his homosexual college room-mate, Gary, before he concludes, mushily,

So, when courts rule that sexual orientation is not a legal reason to leave anyone out of anything, I can't make a compelling case against them. It seems kinda hard for heterosexuals, who fail at marriage about half the time, to deny homosexuals their own chance to try to handle all the rights and responsibilities involved. And I think, too, of Rodney King, who might once again ask, "Can't we all just get along?"

Because Gary was "a good roommate" who let Teare "use his stereo" and didn't "make a mess," leading Teare to conclude that Gary was "a nice guy," the writer considers that his experience with Gary is sufficient basis for an opinion on the definition and identity of marriage. The editorial contains no deep thought on the history and theology of marriage, or on its purpose and function in relation to the family and society. Instead, Teare treats marriage as a construct rooted only in law. For him, unreflectively, marriage appears to be a matter of civil right rather than divine ordinance.

Additionally, the title of Teare's editorial is misleading. The issue has nothing to do with whether homosexuals are human, but whether marriage amongst humans should be entirely unrestricted. If marriage is regarded as a civil right of which homosexuals must be allowed to partake, it is but a short road away from a man marrying his mother/sister/daughter/grand-daughter. One wonders whether Chris Teare will then follow up with another essay, Committing incest is also being human.