On Tuesday two votes in two different countries made mighty declarations for the gay community. One vote made a positive leap forward, while the other continues to support homophobia and discrimination.

The same day the South African Parliament voted overwhelmingly to legalize same-sex marriage, the United States' Roman Catholic bishops passed support for initiatives to teach gay and lesbian Catholics to remain celibate by a vote of 194-37.

As the first nation in Africa to remove legal barriers from same-sex marriage, the South African Parliament's decision is courageous and representative of progressive steps every country should be taking.

The ruling is brave, especially considering some other African nations still treat homosexuality as a crime with penalties that can be stiffer than those for rape and murder.

On the other hand, in the United States, the approved Catholic guidelines — called "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination" — take a step backward for equality as they label gay people as "inherently disordered."

According to the Catholic teachings, while it is not sinful to have homosexual inclinations, any type of gay sexual activity is immoral and wrong.

Much like the religion's call to abstain from sex until marriage and, even then, to not utilize artificial contraception, these guidelines are unrealistic.

The vote by South Africa's Parliament is pivotal for gay rights and shocking because this is the same country that had apartheid rule until 1994.

Although it's unrealistic to believe the Catholic church will change its discriminatory views toward gay people, we should be pushing for our government to follow in South Africa's, and many other nations' footsteps, to allow same-sex marriage.

The arguments against same-sex marriage are wearing thin, especially the completely invalid stance that by allowing same-sex marriage, we would be destroying its sanctity.

Marriage is becoming an increasingly abused institution and to believe that same-sex marriage would lessen its importance is ridiculous, especially considering the United States' high divorce rate — and all those getting divorced are heterosexuals.

If we want to live in an equal and accepting society, we must start by dropping judgments and assumptions that one type of love is more appropriate or moral than another. Conservative politics need to stay out of our bedrooms.