Marriage equality as declared by the UN

Here is something interesting that I came across and wanted to share. Nearly 61 years ago, on December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The goal of the Declaration of Human Rights was to define basic freedoms that every human being is entitled to. Article 1 states: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Article 2 continues with "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty."

Here's where it gets interesting. If you read article 16, it states in 3 parts:
"(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State."

Note that in part 1 it does not specify that men have the right to marry women and women have the right to marry men, only that both men and women have the right to marry and found a family (again it does not specify by what methods that family is founded). It also states that marriage shall be entered into with the full consent of the intending spouses; Not husband and wife but SPOUSES! Article 2 declares that every human being is entitled to all of the rights set forth, including article 16, without distinction, I repeat: without distinction.

How sad that in the United States, we purport to be the greatest country on Earth, and yet we do not fully provide one of the most basic human rights, which the collective countries of this planet have deemed as essential. Regardless of your religious beliefs, the United States is not a religious state but an independent one and an important member of the United Nations. Regardless of your religious beliefs, you cannot deny that a person who is homosexual is still a human being, they are born of two human beings and are therefore human. For 61 years, our government has decided to alienate an entire segment of the population as ineligible of the rights outlined in article 16 simply because of the distinction of their sexual orientation. SIXTY ONE YEARS!

Think about that.