If discrimination is wrong, then banning same-sex marriage is wrong.

Recall the Jim Crow laws that not only allowed segregation but also prohibited marriages between blacks and whites.

Equality was the only thing these victims of discrimination wanted. They had to sacrifice, push and fight for it. As a result, they were harassed, berated, assaulted and murdered.

Though the movement for marriage equality is not as violent as the civil rights movement, gays and lesbians are experiencing similar plights.

If it’s wrong to tell a white female or male it’s wrong to marry a black male or female, the concept should apply to telling a woman or man they can’t marry a woman or man of the same sex.

Think about how children are on the playground. Their minds don’t register if the other child they’re playing with has a socially accepted outlook on marriage. The only thing their minds register is if they’re having fun or not.

Over time, the innocence of acceptance is lost, and people start to naturally segregate into groups and force others to do the same.

Between legally consenting adults, marriage is currently defined in Texas and other states as a union between one man and one woman.

People should have the choice of who, when and where they marry.

There are no tangible benefits to the United States in denying same-sex couples the right to marriage. But there are 1,138 dilemmas resulting in the denial of same-sex marriage for those would-be couples.

Same-sex couples can’t file joint tax returns, file insurance for or visit their would-be spouse in the hospital just to name a few.

This nation was founded on freedom and independence. Yet as a nation today, it has pulled away from that concept, denying freedoms and rights to those who don’t fit the American mold.

We forget to look at and see one thing: there is no American mold. We are all different, and our ancestry displays that through our history.

There’s a saying, “We study history so we don’t make the same mistakes.” Yet we have made the same mistakes.

Our nation in the past has displaced an entire population of Native Americans, killed thousands on the Trail of Tears, defined African-Americans as three-fifths of a person, committed discrimination against Catholics and Jews and denied women the right to vote.

All of these things have happened in the United States of America.

We have discriminated, persecuted and judged enough.

It’s time the United States became the nation of freedom and equality it portrays itself to be.