Prop 8 supporters.
Listen up. I am not going to sugar coat this for you. If you voted for Prop 8, you didn't do any favours to the citizens whose rights you took away, so I am not doing any for you. Prop 8 is an example of how low we, as human beings, can sink when we live our lives on blind faith rather than reason. Prop 8 is not about families. Same-sex marriage does not, and never has, threatened your family or anyone else's. Prop 8 is not about education. Parents can opt out of teachings on marriage and sex, and even if they couldn't, the fear that your child might suddenly come home gay (or-- GASP!-- think same-sex marriage isn't repulsive) after hearing the story "Prince and Prince" is nothing compared to the fear that you will never be allowed to marry and raise children to begin with.
Prop 8 is about religion and prejudice. It's about being so used to one vision of what a family is that you will not empathize with anyone who doesn't fit your mold. It's about following a book written by dozens of different authors, over hundreds of years, with little to no historical validation, and basing your life on it. It's about deciding who God is based on what someone else told you, who got it from someone else, who got it from someone else who got it from someone else and so on until you get someone who claimed they knew God. We have a word for people who think they speak directly to God: deluded.
If you honestly believe that homosexuality is a sin, then fine. Pick one sin and choose to hate it an extra special amount. But don't outlaw it. According to the Bible, lying is a sin. Adultery. Having sex while you are menstruating. Taking the Lord's name in vain. All sins. And while we're talking about marriage, it's a sin to marry an unbeliever. Next on the agenda: co-faith marriage ban? Sin is no reason to legislate against a nonviolent act that does not hurt you in the slightest.
I am sick and tired of hearing that this issue isn't personal. PERSONS are involved. It is PERSON-al. Maybe it isn't for you, because you get to sit there and pass judgment and be unaffected, but it is personal for those you affect. It is personal for me that you just outlawed my two close friends' marriage and the future marriages of my gay and bisexual friends and that I can't marry a woman should I ever want to. It is personal to Ari and Mikko, who finally got to stand in front of a state appointed judge and declare their lifelong commitment. It is personal to the man I met on the street who just married the love of his life. It is personal to his daughter, who was so happy to see her father finally happy, in love and legally committed to his husband. It is personal to the young man, Justin, who joined us at the Prop 2 party to celebrate for animals, even while he was panic-stricken over whether YOU would take away HIS right to marry. He cried when the results continued to pour in, showing prejudice winning. It is personal to my friend Caleb, who has always wanted to raise a son. It is personal to my friend Ryan, who loves deeply and has seen My Best Friend's Wedding about 300 times. It's personal to my friend Tara, who married the love of her life this year in Washington DC, but has yet to see it recognized legally. It is personal to every single one of the 32,000 people who ran to the courts the day the same-sex marriage ban was overturned. It is personal.
To those who say civil unions are the same, they are not. They have not been treated as such historically, and do NOT have the same recognition. And there is no reason to set same-sex marriages in a different category. We have a word for that too: segregation. There was once a time when people of colored skin were told they could sit in the back of the bus, but not the front. There was a time when women were told they could work, but not rise up the corporate ladder. We are living in a time when gay people are told they can exist as long as they keep quiet. They may join the military, but never speak of their orientation. They may hold public office, but not be openly gay or risk losing their position. You may be married in your heart, but don't you dare make ME feel uncomfortable about MY marriage by sharing in this institution. Segregation is unconscionable. It is unacceptable. It is not the earmark of a moral society-- it is the hallmark of an unenlightened age.
This fight has just begun. We will fight for GLBT rights until this moment in history is looked on with the same retrospective sadness as institutionalized racism and sexism. We will not give up. Already, we are on the move, seeking to change the decision that you made to keep a class of people out of your hearts and onto the sidelines, where you can ignore them for only so long.
It is time to step out of the darkness. It is time to accept the future, as scary and unknown as it is, and say "even though I don't know what the future will look like once change is made, change is right. Change is necessary."
And when you are told that this isn't personal, look that person square in the eye and tell them: You take rights personally.
Prop 8 is about religion and prejudice. It's about being so used to one vision of what a family is that you will not empathize with anyone who doesn't fit your mold. It's about following a book written by dozens of different authors, over hundreds of years, with little to no historical validation, and basing your life on it. It's about deciding who God is based on what someone else told you, who got it from someone else, who got it from someone else who got it from someone else and so on until you get someone who claimed they knew God. We have a word for people who think they speak directly to God: deluded.
If you honestly believe that homosexuality is a sin, then fine. Pick one sin and choose to hate it an extra special amount. But don't outlaw it. According to the Bible, lying is a sin. Adultery. Having sex while you are menstruating. Taking the Lord's name in vain. All sins. And while we're talking about marriage, it's a sin to marry an unbeliever. Next on the agenda: co-faith marriage ban? Sin is no reason to legislate against a nonviolent act that does not hurt you in the slightest.
I am sick and tired of hearing that this issue isn't personal. PERSONS are involved. It is PERSON-al. Maybe it isn't for you, because you get to sit there and pass judgment and be unaffected, but it is personal for those you affect. It is personal for me that you just outlawed my two close friends' marriage and the future marriages of my gay and bisexual friends and that I can't marry a woman should I ever want to. It is personal to Ari and Mikko, who finally got to stand in front of a state appointed judge and declare their lifelong commitment. It is personal to the man I met on the street who just married the love of his life. It is personal to his daughter, who was so happy to see her father finally happy, in love and legally committed to his husband. It is personal to the young man, Justin, who joined us at the Prop 2 party to celebrate for animals, even while he was panic-stricken over whether YOU would take away HIS right to marry. He cried when the results continued to pour in, showing prejudice winning. It is personal to my friend Caleb, who has always wanted to raise a son. It is personal to my friend Ryan, who loves deeply and has seen My Best Friend's Wedding about 300 times. It's personal to my friend Tara, who married the love of her life this year in Washington DC, but has yet to see it recognized legally. It is personal to every single one of the 32,000 people who ran to the courts the day the same-sex marriage ban was overturned. It is personal.
To those who say civil unions are the same, they are not. They have not been treated as such historically, and do NOT have the same recognition. And there is no reason to set same-sex marriages in a different category. We have a word for that too: segregation. There was once a time when people of colored skin were told they could sit in the back of the bus, but not the front. There was a time when women were told they could work, but not rise up the corporate ladder. We are living in a time when gay people are told they can exist as long as they keep quiet. They may join the military, but never speak of their orientation. They may hold public office, but not be openly gay or risk losing their position. You may be married in your heart, but don't you dare make ME feel uncomfortable about MY marriage by sharing in this institution. Segregation is unconscionable. It is unacceptable. It is not the earmark of a moral society-- it is the hallmark of an unenlightened age.
This fight has just begun. We will fight for GLBT rights until this moment in history is looked on with the same retrospective sadness as institutionalized racism and sexism. We will not give up. Already, we are on the move, seeking to change the decision that you made to keep a class of people out of your hearts and onto the sidelines, where you can ignore them for only so long.
It is time to step out of the darkness. It is time to accept the future, as scary and unknown as it is, and say "even though I don't know what the future will look like once change is made, change is right. Change is necessary."
And when you are told that this isn't personal, look that person square in the eye and tell them: You take rights personally.