By Andrew L. Jaffee

Eastern Europe is where it’s at nowadays — a renaissance, if you will. The Czech Republic has decided to allow same-sex unions, in a true liberal move, by a country that has carefully chosen its alliances in the post-Soviet era. After all, the Czechs have joined NATO and are a member of the “Coalition of the Willing” helping to rebuild Iraq. The U.S. could learn a few things from a country that has survived through almost a century of outside domination and war. We should keep careful touch with what legislation is succeeding or failing in Eastern Europe, as the region is exploding with free, creative thought. According to the Czech News Agency:

The Czech Republic joined the countries where homosexuals can conclude registered partnership as the Chamber of Deputies overrode President Vaclav Klaus’s veto of the legislation.

The law on the unions of the people with the same sex was backed by 101 out of the 177 deputies present.

It was the fifth, successful, attempt at approving the controversial legislation.

This is true liberalism, as would be expected from a stable, prosperous democracy, but a stark change from what was not so long ago ultra-conservative fascist and then communist domination. True definitions of intolerance, prudishness, and repression in the early-to-mid 20th century were defined by fascism and communism (and in our time, Islamism).

Some Eastern Europeans suffered under the czars with their Orthodox uptightness; most all agonized under the Germans with their confusing politico-religious domination; and all languished under the Russian/communist/Soviet empire. For example, the Czechs had to suffer through years of German occupation, then many more under Russian communist rule. But with the fall of the Soviets, large swaths of Eastern Europe freed themselves from their Russian and indigenous collaborator overlords.

Remember that many of the Eastern European countries experienced brief stints as free-market, parliamentary democracies before getting stepped on by the Germans and Russians. They tasted from the holy grail of freedom, and did not forget that taste while they were occupied satellite states. Even during communist repression, the Eastern Europeans maintained a higher standard of living and culture than their Soviet dominators. The Motherland tried and tried, but could not drag the Eastern Europeans down to the lowest common denominator — e.g., by stealing resources to feed Mother Russia’s needs.

Remember that the Czechs threw out the Russians with a “Velvet Revolution,” in which citizens protested against their national imprisonment peacefully. The Russians weren’t so peaceful in response, but the demonstrators persisted, and Ruskies eventually left.

So it is safe to say that the Czech people and their elected representatives have collected some meaningful wisdom, especially in light of all they’ve been through in the last 75 years.

Some Czechs contesting the new legalization of same-sex civil unions have expressed the usual reservations:

Its opponents chiefly argued with the fear of the weakening of traditional family.

Its proponents are not afraid of this. They say there is no reason for a part of citizens not to have the same rights as the rest only because of a different sexual orientation.

Sounds like good old common sense — from the proponents, that is. If two gay men want to be together, not allowing them to marry probably won’t cause them to go straight. And why should heterosexual couples feel threatened by a same-sex couple living next door — unless they’re really insecure about their own sexuality?

Allowing gays to marry would further assimilate them into the society as a whole — a win-win for gays and straights. Interracial couples were once taboo, but now are fully integrated. Are same-sex couples somehow different? Seems like yet another adjustment that society can easily afford.

The ancient Greeks and Romans had no problem with homosexuality, yet they invented democracy, and rose to great scientific and cultural heights. Their societies eventually collapsed for many reasons, but certainly not because of the acceptance of gay relationships. Our Founding Fathers were educated men. They were well-read in Greek and Roman history, but didn’t enshrine homophobic sentiments into the beautiful texts that form the foundation for our great country (like the Federalist Papers).

The U.S. populace should familiarize itself with the history of the Greeks and Romans vis-à-vis gay relationships. Americans should pay attention to the Czech Republic’s great step forward in permitting same-sex unions. If they considered these issues/history carefully, they might just find their fear of homosexuals waning.

I am by no means advocating that same-sex issues be forced down American throats by activist judges, but I do wish people would consider the fact that gays responsibly participate in our great institutions — academia, government, business, etc. How many of our friends, family, coworkers, etc., are gay? How much strength, talent, creativity, skills, and knowledge is contained in the bodies, minds, and spirits of our gay citizens? How long will it take for people to recognize these obvious facts?

I know it will take time, but we don’t want to move too slow. Why would we want to place obstacles in front of a group of people who already contribute so much to our society, like the Log Cabin Republicans? The rest of the civilized world may leave us behind, and at a disadvantage.

---

---

Related: United States, Europe, Society

---