Guest column | With liberty and justice for all

Throughout each of our respective childhoods, we began every morning by joining millions of our fellow American school children in placing our hands over our hearts and reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance.” One of us grew up a Connecticut Democrat, while the other is a born and bred Florida Republican, but each and every morning of our youth we both proudly proclaimed that ours is a nation that ensures “liberty and justice for all.”

We were taught that, in America’s finest hours, civil rights have been fought for and protected by those whom our history books now call heroes. We developed a deep patriotism based on the understanding that America is a nation founded on the idea that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Most of all, as the proud children of loving parents, we learned that love is the greatest happiness life knows.

It is in that same spirit that we are proud to express our firm support for marriage equality, as individuals and as the presidents of the Penn Democrats and Penn College Republicans, respectively. While we do not agree with each other on everything, we can both say unequivocally that the defense of liberty, equality and freedom is not a partisan imperative. It is an American duty.

As the United States Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8, support for marriage equality continues to grow. Last week, approximately 2.7 million Facebook users joined in solidarity with LGBTQ Americans and changed their profile pictures to the Human Rights Campaign’s pink equals sign. Additionally, according to a recent ABC News poll, 58 percent of Americans now support marriage equality, a historic high. And while several prominent Republicans have publicly stated their support for marriage equality, there is still much work to do. To date, only half of the U.S. Senate has pledged support for marriage equality, including only two Republicans, and the Republican Party platform remains antagonistic to same-sex marriage. As has been the case at many other critical inflection points in the history of American civil rights, young Americans have a unique opportunity to demand equality and justice. With 81 percent of young Americans ages 18 to 29 supporting marriage equality, now is the time to take a stand.

Today, we are proud to announce the release of a bipartisan leadership statement, sponsored by the Penn Democrats and Penn College Republicans and signed by 50 of our fellow College Democrats and College Republicans chapter presidents from around the country. The statement reads, “We, the Presidents of College Democrats and College Republicans chapters from across America, stand united to affirm the right of all Americans to marry the person they love, regardless of gender. We challenge our nation’s leaders to join us in defense of marriage equality for LGBTQ couples.” The signers of the statement come from every size school, every corner of America and both political parties. While we are fortunate to attend a university with a visible and vibrant LGBTQ community, not all universities have this luxury. We applaud the courage of the student leaders who made the decision to stand with us and sign this statement in support of equality, justice and freedom.

We are proud Americans in part because of the great feats of justice and equality that we read about in the history books growing up. We want our children to have the same opportunity to feel such deep pride when they read about this struggle in their history books. We want our children to know that when they place their hand over their heart and recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” every morning, their nation truly does ensure “liberty and justice for all.” We want our children to know that we did not remain silent in the face of injustice.

Matt Kalmans is a College sophomore and president of the Penn Democrats. Arielle Klepach is a College junior and president of College Republicans. They can be reached at pennbipartisan@gmail.com.

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