The week following the passage of Proposition 8, I was very pissed off. I made it so personal that you would have thought that the idiots of the world came together just to annoy me. I reacted accordingly. How dare they do that to me!
In one respect, I am exactly like the proponents of Prop. 8. I am absolutely convinced of the righteousness of my cause and anyone who disagrees with that righteousness is obviously (this is a multiple choice) (1) stupid, (2) an idiot (not quite the same as stupid), (3) evil, (4) amoral. Like the proponents of Prop. 8, everyone I know agrees with me. Just like the proponents of Prop. 8, my community which holds this opinion, is very domineering and aggressive, making dissidents shy of expressing disagreement.
A month ago, across these United States, thousands of people gathered to show support for same-sex marriage. In San Francisco, there was a lot of healing energy. There were speakers from each of the communities that voted overwhelmingly FOR Proposition 8. I found the demonstration to be healing and uplifting. It gave me back hope. Hope for the future. I left the demonstration thinking that the first order of business for me would be to send a thank you card to the six million Californians who voted against Proposition 8. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
In the past month, I learned that while many African-Americans voted for Proposition 8, not all of them did. Many Hispanics voted for Proposition 8, but not all of them. Most Mormons voted for Proposition 8, but not all of them. Not all evangelical Christians voted for Proposition 8. I know because I work with individuals from each of the above groups. Ten years ago, these same people whom I know and with whom I work, probably would have voted for Proposition 8 without even thinking about it. We don't have to go back that far, it was only 8 years ago that a 61% majority passed Proposition 22 which limited the state from recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. 2,909,370 Californians opposed that measure. Proposition 8, born of the same bigotry of Proposition 22, was opposed this time by 6,073,862 Californians. That is twice the number that supported us 8 years ago.
In the ensuing eight years, we have expanded the rights and obligations of domestic partners wth the intent of making them equal to those of married partners. This past summer the California Supreme Court acknowledged the responsibility of the government to provide the same recognition to same-sex couples as it does to opposite-sex couples. On November 3, a small majority of those Californians who voted that day, said whatever the state provided, it couldn't be called marriage.
Okay, I can live with that for the time being. If it were up to me, I'd put the whole issue to rest for about ten years. Time will take care of the problem. Unfortunately, it isn't up to me. Nor is it up to the millions of Gays and Lesbians around the world. We are being attacked by religious bigots here in this country and around the world. Literally and figuratively attacked. We are murdered, assaulted, discriminated against, imprisoned, ... I could go on, but I think my point is made.
I'm not in charge of the Gay Agenda. In fact, no one is in charge. I wish someone were. Then if we agreed to it, we could cheer her/him on, and if we didn't agree with it, we could vote them out. Unfortunately, we have no annointed leader, just a lot of unannointed ones who raise and spend money in our name. Sometimes these unannointed ones do good, sometimes they miss. In opposing Proposition 8, they missed.
Same-sex marriage was not defeated on November 3, just set back. We're going to win eventually. I'm no longer angry at the people who voted to deprive those in my community of this fundamental right. I will continue to ask them earnesly how two people who love each other and want to commit to each other injures or threatens the institution of marriage. If the only reason they can come up with is because their religion teaches them this, then I will continue to ask them why they do not respect my religion which teaches differently. I promise to ask in a normal voice and promise (most of the time) not to yell at them and tell them how stupid I think they are.
Now, let's move on and have a nice holiday.
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