Love has been a documented phenomenon for over six thousand years. A web of love connects us to family and friends like grapes clustering on the vine and anyone cut off from that web will wither and die. It is an emotion so powerful that it moves men to build monuments, write sonnets, and even face death for their wives and children.

Yet it remains undefined. We love our children or our spouse but unless we express the object of our love, it remains a mystery to the listener. It is defined only by the shared experience. When I say I love my sons, another father will understand exactly the depth of that emotion. When I say I love chocolate then anyone who has tasted it will also understand what I mean by that. The object of our love defines that love.

Yet there are some loves, even though they are ancient, that are forbidden by our modern society. I can love my friend Joe, but only if I declare it as a macho kind of love; a soldierly, ‘take a bullet for you’ kind of love that would bind us together as brothers. As long as that love remains asexual, then when I express it, the listener understands completely as long as they have had a close friend.

But there are those in our society who have the love of a close friend but also share a more physical side of it as well. Why is it that what we do with the flesh of our bodies will then take that love and ‘taint’ it in the eyes of many? Why has our nation built laws to codify love and the extent that we may express it with each other?

Laws are based on social values, which typically come from religion. In many of the religions of the world, homosexuality is taboo and thus the laws will mark it as a crime against society as well. But let’s not forget that it is just love, carried to a physical level.

There is a current debate over ‘gay marriage’. It is identical in scope to the arguments against interracial marriage that occurred in the 1960’s, and to the arguments against marriage between Catholics and Protestants at the turn of the century. Lawmakers make a stand based on numbers and polls, but ultimately should we care about this?

By being married to my beautiful wife who has an opposing (yet complimentary) sexual configuration, I am granted certain rights by the government. We share in our tax burden. We are protected together by certain laws (for instance, she can not be called to testify against me) and gain certain financial benefits and accommodations. Mutual custody over our property and children is assumed and granted by the legal system.

However there is a couple we know who have been together for longer than we have been alive. They share no such benefits. They face nothing but hassles and headaches from the medical community, financial industry, and government statutes. What is their crime? They love and have remained committed to a partner who shares the same sexual configuration. For this their marriage is considered ‘less true’ than my own, or that of a philandering (probably Republican) husband, or that of South Sea islanders who live in a grass hut and copulate freely on the beach every morning when the tide comes in (lucky bastards).

This is a foolish argument and we should not be squandering our time in the face of greater threats to the fabric of our society. What about the broken bond between government and citizen? A government that meddles in the lives of private citizens, constrains personal relationships, aids in the destruction of lives and welfare, and intentionally oppresses foreign peoples has lost the moral high ground to define what love is.

This and every future Valentine’s Day I’m calling for a vast protest. In defiance of our tyrannical government and the oppressive viewpoints of some of our neighbors, we must love. Take someone special to you and love them, regardless of their sexual orientation. Know that you do this with the complete support and understanding of everyone else who is participating in America’s Great Lovefest, as I have decided to call this day. We agree with your right to share the same legal benefits and protections of that love and associated commitment. We agree that all of us have a right to love anyone whom we choose in whatever manner we chose. So each of you, go forth and love … all night long.