Rights
In highschool, my social studies teacher explained that several students who lived in the north, were sent in buses to the south to help with the civil rights movement. He then asked our class if we would have been on that bus. All of us raised our hands.
He then begin telling us what it was like for those that stood up. Police violence. Water hoses. He asked his question again. A few hands were not raised.
He went on for days and weeks. He showed movies, read passages, quoted historians and explained the horrors (and triumphs) of the civil rights movement: the cross-burnings, the threats, the torture. Every time he asked the question of who would have stood up to this, the count was fewer and fewer. Finally, we ended the unit by watching Mississippi Burning in which civil rights activists were tortured and killed.
He asked the question for the last time, which one of you would still stand up to this. I was the only one who raised my hand.
It is not that dying or being tortured didn't scare me (oh, it does!) but that I can't stand injustice being done. The discrimination against nonwhites was outrageously ridiculous that if there was a movement to change, you bet I'd be on board. It isn't that I'm a better person, that's not what my story is here to illustrate, it's just that it's so obvious to me that it's the right thing to do and I just feel compelled to do it. It's just who I am, I guess. It's just blatantly obvious to me that everyone should have equal rights.
That being said, I think another great civil rights movement is upon us. I do not think it'll be as violent or as drastic as the ones for African-Americans in the 60s. They're rights were opressed quite a deal more, after all, but I do think it's atrocious that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people are not entitled to the rights that heterosexuals have.
Thusfar, the only arguement I have heard against homosexual marriages is a religious one. To this, I say, seperation of church and state. If marriage is really a religious act, then why is government controlling it? If it is not a religious act, then why can't two legally consenting adults who are in a loving and committed relationship enter into a legally binding contract?
For those that say why should a loving and committed relationship need a 'piece of paper' validifying their union. Because marriage is more than a piece of paper. It comes with a whole slue of rights behind it. A married couple can file jointly, for example. Here is a sampling of what married couples can do:
joint parenting;
joint adoption;
joint foster care, custody, and visitation (including non-biological parents);
status as next-of-kin for hospital visits and medical decisions where one partner is too ill to be competent;
joint insurance policies for home, auto and health;
dissolution and divorce protections such as community property and child support;
immigration and residency for partners from other countries;
inheritance automatically in the absence of a will;
joint leases with automatic renewal rights in the event one partner dies or leaves the house or apartment;
inheritance of jointly-owned real and personal property through the right of survivorship (which avoids the time and expense and taxes in probate);
benefits such as annuities, pension plans, Social Security, and Medicare;
spousal exemptions to property tax increases upon the death of one partner who is a co-owner of the home;
veterans' discounts on medical care, education, and home loans; joint filing of tax returns;
joint filing of customs claims when traveling;
wrongful death benefits for a surviving partner and children;
bereavement or sick leave to care for a partner or child;
decision-making power with respect to whether a deceased partner will be cremated or not and where to bury him or her;
crime victims' recovery benefits;
loss of consortium tort benefits;
domestic violence protection orders;
judicial protections and evidentiary immunity;
and more....
By marrying another individual, all of these rights are immediately activated. By having a loving and committed relationship without the 'piece of paper', all of these rights are not inherent.
For those that say that a couple could gain these rights without marriage. For some of these rights, yes. But most of them would require the time and expense of attorney fees. That and it would be loopholes, paperwork, filing, etc. All because of what, exactly? Why do that when they should be able to, like any heterosexual couple, marry.
Yes, all of this is in response to California's failure to turn down Proposition 8 which effectively BANS same-sex couples. At first I was shocked, now I am outraged. Constitutions are meant to guarantee and protect our rights, not strip them away. How can there be that many people who are still denying people the right to MARRY? (When they are two legally consenting adults, of course)
I am ready to take action. I don't know what the next step is, so if someone does, let me know. I might join some local organizations, but I really want to fight and do what it takes to get people to understand that LOVE IS NOT A BAD THING.
I am getting married in less than a year. I am thrilled and excited to embark on this new journey and new chapter in my life. While I consider Daniel my family now, I know next September he will officially be family. I can call him my husband and I will be his wife. We will delight in the excitement and joy of marriage and we will have all the rights and responsibility that goes along with it. It makes me weep that some of my good friends cannot share this right. I will do my damndest to make it possible.
All you need is love...
He then begin telling us what it was like for those that stood up. Police violence. Water hoses. He asked his question again. A few hands were not raised.
He went on for days and weeks. He showed movies, read passages, quoted historians and explained the horrors (and triumphs) of the civil rights movement: the cross-burnings, the threats, the torture. Every time he asked the question of who would have stood up to this, the count was fewer and fewer. Finally, we ended the unit by watching Mississippi Burning in which civil rights activists were tortured and killed.
He asked the question for the last time, which one of you would still stand up to this. I was the only one who raised my hand.
It is not that dying or being tortured didn't scare me (oh, it does!) but that I can't stand injustice being done. The discrimination against nonwhites was outrageously ridiculous that if there was a movement to change, you bet I'd be on board. It isn't that I'm a better person, that's not what my story is here to illustrate, it's just that it's so obvious to me that it's the right thing to do and I just feel compelled to do it. It's just who I am, I guess. It's just blatantly obvious to me that everyone should have equal rights.
That being said, I think another great civil rights movement is upon us. I do not think it'll be as violent or as drastic as the ones for African-Americans in the 60s. They're rights were opressed quite a deal more, after all, but I do think it's atrocious that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people are not entitled to the rights that heterosexuals have.
Thusfar, the only arguement I have heard against homosexual marriages is a religious one. To this, I say, seperation of church and state. If marriage is really a religious act, then why is government controlling it? If it is not a religious act, then why can't two legally consenting adults who are in a loving and committed relationship enter into a legally binding contract?
For those that say why should a loving and committed relationship need a 'piece of paper' validifying their union. Because marriage is more than a piece of paper. It comes with a whole slue of rights behind it. A married couple can file jointly, for example. Here is a sampling of what married couples can do:
joint parenting;
joint adoption;
joint foster care, custody, and visitation (including non-biological parents);
status as next-of-kin for hospital visits and medical decisions where one partner is too ill to be competent;
joint insurance policies for home, auto and health;
dissolution and divorce protections such as community property and child support;
immigration and residency for partners from other countries;
inheritance automatically in the absence of a will;
joint leases with automatic renewal rights in the event one partner dies or leaves the house or apartment;
inheritance of jointly-owned real and personal property through the right of survivorship (which avoids the time and expense and taxes in probate);
benefits such as annuities, pension plans, Social Security, and Medicare;
spousal exemptions to property tax increases upon the death of one partner who is a co-owner of the home;
veterans' discounts on medical care, education, and home loans; joint filing of tax returns;
joint filing of customs claims when traveling;
wrongful death benefits for a surviving partner and children;
bereavement or sick leave to care for a partner or child;
decision-making power with respect to whether a deceased partner will be cremated or not and where to bury him or her;
crime victims' recovery benefits;
loss of consortium tort benefits;
domestic violence protection orders;
judicial protections and evidentiary immunity;
and more....
By marrying another individual, all of these rights are immediately activated. By having a loving and committed relationship without the 'piece of paper', all of these rights are not inherent.
For those that say that a couple could gain these rights without marriage. For some of these rights, yes. But most of them would require the time and expense of attorney fees. That and it would be loopholes, paperwork, filing, etc. All because of what, exactly? Why do that when they should be able to, like any heterosexual couple, marry.
Yes, all of this is in response to California's failure to turn down Proposition 8 which effectively BANS same-sex couples. At first I was shocked, now I am outraged. Constitutions are meant to guarantee and protect our rights, not strip them away. How can there be that many people who are still denying people the right to MARRY? (When they are two legally consenting adults, of course)
I am ready to take action. I don't know what the next step is, so if someone does, let me know. I might join some local organizations, but I really want to fight and do what it takes to get people to understand that LOVE IS NOT A BAD THING.
I am getting married in less than a year. I am thrilled and excited to embark on this new journey and new chapter in my life. While I consider Daniel my family now, I know next September he will officially be family. I can call him my husband and I will be his wife. We will delight in the excitement and joy of marriage and we will have all the rights and responsibility that goes along with it. It makes me weep that some of my good friends cannot share this right. I will do my damndest to make it possible.
All you need is love...