Monday, October 27, 2008

Write to Marry Day



Proposition 8 is about discrimination. Period.
As a straight, married, white, middle/working class, middlewestern woman, I do not see how our country can afford to spend one more minute legislating hatefulness.
I want to weep when I listen to people who seem to have lost sight that Jesus preached love, acceptance (and a good dose of anti-imperialism if you are really paying attention).
He told us to Love our neighbors like ourselves. Might I remind these Christian folks that as a betting woman, I am going to say that Jesus meant all your damn neighbors, not just the ones that you choose. All this leads me to conclude (because I love making sweeping conclusions) that there must be a lot of self-hate out there folks.
I'm just saying.

It's not that mysterious - men loving men and women loving women, or people loving people. I think that if people who are so afraid of "gay marriage" actually met some gay folks, they would be sadly disappointed to find out that they are humans. This isn't a freak show (though I am ok with freak shows for people who want to attend them), these are just HUMAN BEINGS. And in our country HUMAN BEINGS get the same rights whether you like it or not. I don't particularly like bigots, but I certainly don't want them to go without health care. I don't have a lot of time for women who wear too much make up either, but they certainly have the right to make medical decisions for their spouses.


WHERE IS THE TOLERANCE PEOPLE? If you surrender to a little tolerance, hell, you might just learn a thing or two.


*******

You know, I am just so angry about it. And the joke of it all is that it really isn't that mysterious. These homophobes are making a complete mountain out of nothing. Absolutely nothing. Being gay and lesbian isn't really that exotic or mysterious (I have a couple of queer friends who would be disappointed that I am "outing" their Regularity.... )

I am not sure if anyone knows this, but lesbian and gay couples still have to do their laundry, they still have to pay their electric bills....they still need grass seed and snow shovels and diapers and laundry detergent. Oh and they still have to call plumbers and they still get bats in their houses. They watch Monday night football and eat too much Top the Tater. They have poor grammar and high cholesterol and need mammograms. They are generally better writers than most of us.

*********

I have two boys, ages 7 and 4. I hope that someday we are going to look back at this time in history and say, "Boy, wasn't homophobia fucked up?" To me, it is EXACTLY THE SAME as Racism. I know, I know. I am a white person saying that. But there you go. I don't see the difference. Black folks couldn't vote. They couldn't drink water out of the same fountain. They had to sit at the back of the bus. They had shitty access to education.

Gays and lesbians can't get legally married, they have to adopt their own children, they can't make medical decisions for their partners unless they spend money on attorney fees. They can't get family coverage for their health insurance.

That to me is just two sides of the same coin - That big ugly coin called Discrimination.


It's not about you. This isn't going to affect you. You will go on with your life much the same way it was. What this is about is giving all humans access to basic privileges that we have here. White straight people don't get the corner on the basic rights and privileges market. It is time for everyone to be included. Vote no on Proposition 8.










6 editorials:

Vikki said...

Beautifully said, my friend. I especially liked the "all your damn neighbors part".

Susan said...

some of them - annoyingly rocki - have kick ass grammar. and as an aside, i think that homophobia and racism are not at all the same thing except that they are forms of discrimination. i look forward to talking more with you about that when we are running and sweating. i adore you,

Sunshine said...

I think we've had this conversation, when I talked about my son getting called "gay" as a slur and it pissed me off, the slur....as if it is supposed to be an insult to be gay.

I think you're right, eventually people will look back and say "wasn't homophobia fucked up?"
I fear it will still be too long, but I think in even the last 10 years there has been a TON of progress.

*sigh* Someday...

Sunnyside Yogi said...

I agree with all...very nicely written and funny!

I have to agree, particularly, with Susan that homophobia and racism ARE both discrimination and have definite similarlities. However, the one sticking point for me, a black female, is that people know I'm black from looking at me. It's not a given that someone is homosexual (though some may argue this point)from just looking at them. I get no repreive from racism and discrimination. I can't hide the fact that I'm black. Not that I'm advocating hiding that one is gay; the point is the inherent choice to share or not to share.

Lots of love to you all!

Dave in Toronto said...

Well said, sweetie. You totally get it. I sometimes feel that I've taken the "easy" route because I moved to Canada. I no longer have to worry about having those rights. But I still support the cause in the U.S.
You rock!

John Bisceglia said...

I sincerely hope PROP 8 fails miserably.

BUT - if it DOES passes, is everyone prepared to spend another ba-zillion dollars on PR and possibly wait 20-30 years to "win" equality in CA?

AND - if it does NOT pass, which state will we focus on next so we can spend another ba-zillion dollars to purchase civil rights?

I know I am virtually alone here (except for Charles Merrill and his partner), but I think all of you are insane. Truly crazy....one step away from writing-on-the-wall-with-your-feces crazy.

Because if ALL of us truly believed we WERE equal, we would not be so patient as tax-payers and U.S. citizens. We'd simply KNOW we ARE equal, and refuse to pay into a system that not only denies our familes civil marriage but doesn't even acknowledge our existence (wait for the 2010 census).

I'm 43, and I will NOT wait until I'm 73 for fair and equal treatment. It's OK for the country at large to be ignorant, bigoted, mid-guided, and mid-informed. But that's not my fault. So until people GROW UP and show my family the same "civil" respect heterosexually-identified families are given, I owe this country and the IRS nothing.

How many times do I need to say this?

TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION AIN'T GWANNA HAPPEN!