Earlier this year the Civil Marriage Protection Act was approved by the Maryland House of Representatives, which allows same-sex couples to legally get married in the state of Maryland beginning Jan. 1, 2013. For the greatly advancing gay rights movement, this was a monumental achievement, as Maryland will be the seventh state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage, joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington DC.

However, for this bill to officially go into effect it must receive a majority vote later this week or same-sex couples will continue to be denied marriage in the state of Maryland. As of September 2012 Washington Post and EqualityMaryland predicted that over fifty percent of the populace will vote for the referred bill, meaning that the bill will become active January 1^st, as originally planned.

In this day and age the idea that the United States is still a racist, sexist and hateful country isn’t insane. While there have been some changes in the past they shy in comparison to the amount of problems still remaining. While all people can vote as long as they are citizens and have certain rights, certain types of people still can’t get married or live a normal life in a country known for freedom. Take, for instance, the immigration law that was passed two years ago in Arizona, the Safe Neighborhood Act, which allows police to search anyone they suspected to be an illegal immigrants and require them to carry around certain papers at all times. Is that the kind of country you want to live in?

Not only does racism still exist, but the discrimination against certain types of people such as same-sex couples is often debated whether or not same-sex marriage should be allowed or if homosexuals  are mentally sick. Though in Maryland we are all fairly liberal and many of us support same-sex marriages, much of our country despise the idea of homosexual love. This is similar to the view of those against interracial love, which took over a hundred years to finally become legalized in 1967. This shouldn’t be how 21^st century America behaves, and instead same-sex marriage should be legalized now.

While I am still under the legal age to vote, I would vote for the referred law on Question 6 this November. This may not affect all of us the same way, but this law could impact thousands.  Straight Americans have the right to marry, so why shouldn’t same-sex couples? Vote Question 6!