Gay Marriage.

Monica Hunt

Documentary (1:30)

Gay Marriage Documentary

Cruelty, discrimination, and hatred towards a group of people. When you read that sentence, you might be thinking it’s about racism, but I’m referring to treatment of the gay community that wishes to get married. This country is divided by the legalization of marriage. With California recently making gay marriage legal, many around the country are waiting for their right to join the one they love in marriage.

The gay community has been fighting for decades, for their rights. Not only their rights, but for respect. No one wants their rights more than my lifelong friend, Tanner Strong. We grew up in a very small town where open minded people weren’t very common. I always knew Tanner was gay, and defended him against the bullies in the small town, but I can’t defend him against our government taking away his rights. It’s a little bit more difficult than the neighborhood bullies.

Growing up in a small town, I constantly saw Tanner getting picked on, threatened, and targeted. He couldn’t wait to get out of the town. He currently attends Dominican and is a Library studies major. I went to visit Tanner and see what it’s like for him in a larger city. When I arrived Tanner and his boyfriend showed me around the school. He seemed to know every single person who walked by and they adored him. This was the happiest I ever saw him in my entire life. No one judged him for who he loved or wanted to be with. They loved him for who he was. As I’m watching my friend finally be accepted, and love who he is, I’m hopeful that soon more people will be accepting. Seeing him walking around his college campus, holding his boyfriend's hand, no one even looked twice. This is how it should be. In time, hopefully, the government won't look twice at it either.