gay rights and my type A personality...
ok, so i was just given a serious victory. Now, lets be honest. I am the definition of a type a personality. Stubborn and competitive almost to a fault, emphasize the almost, b/c i dont lack respect for (most) other people.
so today in the living room of my house at school - a reminder to all of you, i live in the bible belt - a couple of girls start discussing that they dislike oprah (i love love loe oprah, btw) b/c she claims to be a christian and then turns artound and supports gay rights ... now im sitting there watching the marathon of next top model (my addiction) on VH1. I don't know how many of you have ever had a conversation with me about gay rights. i have a firm stance on equal rights for every living breathing human being who is a citizen of our country. and i am passionate about it, b/c i believe the government is trampling on everyones (straight gay asexual bisexual) rights by denying gay rights. and i am also passionate about the fact that no person or body of people should get to decide anyone elses happiness. and i also believe that this is our generations fight. for my grandmother, her generation fought the gender fight, and although there is not total equality still, they fought long enough and hard enough and womens rights have progressed. for my parents, their generation fought the racial fight. and again, not total equality, but their generation fought long and hard and desergregation was accomplished and rights for minorities have progressed. and since i am a child of that generation, and i dont think twice about giving a black person the same respect i would want as a white person, i believe that if we fight hard enough and long enough my children will not think twice when they grow up and go to their gay friends marriages.
so i orginally ignored the conversation b/c living with christians and born again christians ive learned that you cant argue everytime they speak, b/c they are entitled to what they believe, i will never change their minds about what they believe if they are serious about their faith... trust ME, these girls are.
but the conversation went far enough into the topic of gay marriage that i needed to speak up. i cannot accept anyones reasoning for being against gay marriage to be "its wrong" ... according to who? god, the bible, your pastor? ok, fine, what if i dont believe in your god, your bible, your pastor? you can not give me a religious reason as a basis to a federal affair. seperation of church and state, you learned about it when you were four and learned about the pilgrims and the foundation of our country.
so the intense conversation (i cant call this an argument b/c we all remained pretty respectful for the whole thing) went on 4 born agains vs me, for one hour and 37 minutes. it covered eveything, from the pledge of allegience, to having in god we trust on our money, to the inability to seperate church and state b/c the idea of marriage comes from god ...oh, i argued long and hard. and marie, one of the girls in my new house, who does not listen to music and avoids television b/c the media is corrupting her mind from god's path, told me i was right ... and her boyfriend, brittany, and audrey (they both live in my house too) agreed. if the government allows common law marriage, then they cannot deny a commited gay relationship the same rights to health insurance, tax benefits, car insurance, and the comfortability of a married life. and if freedom of religion means you can not be forced to believe anything besides what you want to believe, then the government can not say that gay marriage is wrong, b/c that is based on religious beliefs. this came from this girls mouth... this girl who does not freaking listen to the radio!
ha ... HA! 4 down, billions to go...
so today in the living room of my house at school - a reminder to all of you, i live in the bible belt - a couple of girls start discussing that they dislike oprah (i love love loe oprah, btw) b/c she claims to be a christian and then turns artound and supports gay rights ... now im sitting there watching the marathon of next top model (my addiction) on VH1. I don't know how many of you have ever had a conversation with me about gay rights. i have a firm stance on equal rights for every living breathing human being who is a citizen of our country. and i am passionate about it, b/c i believe the government is trampling on everyones (straight gay asexual bisexual) rights by denying gay rights. and i am also passionate about the fact that no person or body of people should get to decide anyone elses happiness. and i also believe that this is our generations fight. for my grandmother, her generation fought the gender fight, and although there is not total equality still, they fought long enough and hard enough and womens rights have progressed. for my parents, their generation fought the racial fight. and again, not total equality, but their generation fought long and hard and desergregation was accomplished and rights for minorities have progressed. and since i am a child of that generation, and i dont think twice about giving a black person the same respect i would want as a white person, i believe that if we fight hard enough and long enough my children will not think twice when they grow up and go to their gay friends marriages.
so i orginally ignored the conversation b/c living with christians and born again christians ive learned that you cant argue everytime they speak, b/c they are entitled to what they believe, i will never change their minds about what they believe if they are serious about their faith... trust ME, these girls are.
but the conversation went far enough into the topic of gay marriage that i needed to speak up. i cannot accept anyones reasoning for being against gay marriage to be "its wrong" ... according to who? god, the bible, your pastor? ok, fine, what if i dont believe in your god, your bible, your pastor? you can not give me a religious reason as a basis to a federal affair. seperation of church and state, you learned about it when you were four and learned about the pilgrims and the foundation of our country.
so the intense conversation (i cant call this an argument b/c we all remained pretty respectful for the whole thing) went on 4 born agains vs me, for one hour and 37 minutes. it covered eveything, from the pledge of allegience, to having in god we trust on our money, to the inability to seperate church and state b/c the idea of marriage comes from god ...oh, i argued long and hard. and marie, one of the girls in my new house, who does not listen to music and avoids television b/c the media is corrupting her mind from god's path, told me i was right ... and her boyfriend, brittany, and audrey (they both live in my house too) agreed. if the government allows common law marriage, then they cannot deny a commited gay relationship the same rights to health insurance, tax benefits, car insurance, and the comfortability of a married life. and if freedom of religion means you can not be forced to believe anything besides what you want to believe, then the government can not say that gay marriage is wrong, b/c that is based on religious beliefs. this came from this girls mouth... this girl who does not freaking listen to the radio!
ha ... HA! 4 down, billions to go...