Lets Compare...

One governor wants his state to secede, while another is actually doing something that matters. This new trend in acceptance and tolerance is amazing!! I hope it doesn't end any time soon.



His speech is amazing. His delivery is a little scrambled, but he's eloquently speaking the truth. This is what people should be thinking about. We are not all equal in this country and it's not just an issue for gay people, but for all Americans. If there are still people in this country who are denied rights because of institutionalized discrimination, it effects everyone! It's amazing that people are finally starting to see the light... and most importantly actually take a stand!

I have many reasons to be happy right now

and one of the biggest ones is the recent decisions in Iowa and Vermont to allow gay marriage. I mean, this is a huge turn of events and hopefully other states will follow suit. Civil unions aren't acceptable... people should demand nothing less than equal rights and protection for all everyone. I can't fathom how someone can believe that someone else should be treated as less than a full citizen of our country because of sexual orientation. It makes me sick to my stomach. We all pay the same taxes, speak the same language, and pledge allegiance to the same flag so why aren't we all treated the same? It's not fucking fair.

Last summer I got into a little debate on a website forum thingy that I visit from time to time about gay marriage and what I said there completely sums up my reasons for supporting gay marriage (and gay rights in general) in only two paragraphs! Don't know how I did it actually. Sticking with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school of thought, I found it and I'll repost it here word for word:

I’m a pretty big fan of gay marriage. Putting aside the whole issue of whether or not it is natural, I think the argument that marriage is a religious institution is pretty much completely irrelevant and this seems to be the most prevalent reason behind “disagreeing” with gay marriage. I don’t know the history or marriage or anything, but I’m pretty sure that people committed themselves to each other because they are bound by mutual love and respect (and maybe other things… idk) throughout history long before there was even a word for it. Marriage in our society has become so much more than that; it’s pretty much lost it’s meaning entirely. If tax breaks and other things are of no importance and the only thing one cares about is love, no one would feel the need to have their government get involved. People would spend their lives together of their own choice and for their own personal reasons. Marriage would have a different meaning for everyone and in that way I think it would really retain the “sacred” value that people put on it today.

Once the government gets involved though, any ties to religious institutions that have a significant effect on it’s people becomes nothing less than suffocating for all it’s citizens. Basically, the government should not be able to use the argument that marriage is a sacred religious union between a man and a woman to keep gay people from getting married because in doing so they are seemingly forcing religious beliefs on people through lawmaking, which, btw is kinda illegal…. or I guess unconstitutional. If the label of “marriage” is soley, or at it’s core, a religious thing, it should not be something that anyone can get legally. All US citizens (gay and straight) should either all be allowed to freely marry without religious stipulation or get “civil unions” and leave the officiating of “marriage” to the various religions.

At the core though, it’s really all or nothing for me. Either we all get the same rights or none of us get them at all.

I typically stay away from the whole, love is love stuff because that doesn't work. People who would be receptive to that argument are the people who are already supporters of gay marriage. Opposers don't speak that language. They don't believe that gay people can actually be in love with a person of the same sex so that argument is completely irrelevant in debate. For me though, there isn't really much debate anyway. I say what I have to say and I'm done. I'll listen to anyone who wants to disagree, but I really have nothing more to add than what I just said.

I also don't think the decision should be left up to the public. The general population has a history of only looking out for themselves, not for any minority group. The government has to step in and protect all of its citizens. If it were left up to the people would we still have legal segregation? Would I have been able to go to my high school or college and even meet many of my friends? Would I or my best friend (we are both mixed) have even been born? We can't really know the answers to those questions because fortunately the government did not leave the ratification of the laws that say I am just as American and even as human as any white person to the majority of the population.

I don't see a difference in these issues no matter what anyone says, but I'm always open for someone to try to change my mind.