Propped Up On 8
Yep, this is a political blog post, but I’ll keep it short and to the point.
VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 8
I am a heterosexual male that is passionate about human rights. The constitution, the Bill of Rights and other laws and guidelines our founding fathers set up were created to extend rights to people. In June 2008, California became the second state in the nation to allow marriage for same-sex couples. Now many groups are pouring large amounts of money, time, energy and effort into removing that, redefining marriage to an exclusive group of people. They call this “the right thing do”. I call it pure and utter discrimination.
I know people are concerned. Maybe some are naive about this and just want to “protect marriage”. Others have serious issues against those that are part of the GLBT communities and just want to “stop the perversion”. Whatever your reason for supporting this proposition, please take a moment and consider the following:
- No heterosexual marriages will be dissolved. Your marriages will not be affected by allowing same-sex couples to marry. Nothing will change.
- No church will be forced to marry a same-sex couple.
- Schools are not forcing children to learn how to be a homosexual. Stop thinking this. It’s dumb and it’s stupid.
- If you are a member of a church that’s supporting this, you have the right to disagree. That is an alienable human right to think how you want and with your own conscience. If your heart tells you one thing, but your preachers and leaders tell you something else, follow your heart.
- If you have to think of a reason to vote NO and can’t remove any other reason, look at it from a civil point of view. As a tax-paying adult, you expect certain rights and privileges. How would you feel if a group of people came in and wanted to vote away one of your civil rights? This is regarding something civil. Marriage is civil, plain and simple. It’s not exclusive to a church or race.
There’s so much more I can go on about, but I don’t want to labor this subject. This should be a no brainer. Today, it only affects Californians. But in the end, it affects everyone…. maybe even a loved one or a close friend. Don’t let discrimination go any further. It’s happened to too many states already. Keep California Legal. If you live there, I urge you to consider the above and consider voting NO on Proposition 8.
Check out the following site for links to sites against Prop 8: Californians Against Hate
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Thank you for stating this all so concisely. For years, I have presented the argument that in many countries, people have to go through one to two ceromonies. The first is the civil — legal –ceremony. The second is the religious one. The fact that a religious ceremony is not a legal one makes it clear to me that marriage as far as the state is concerned is completely separate — and possibly different — from that of the church. If we are supposed to have separation of church and state, then clearly civil ceremonies should be allowed.
On the religion end? I remind myself of what my Pentecostal grandma tells me. If someone is not hurting you, then why do you care what they do? She also points out that for her, it’s not her place to judge others. Your belief that something is wrong does not give you the right to stop others.
Great post, very well said.
We are voting in this election as Californian residents and though we’re bummed we don’t get to vote for our governor here in Washington, we will get to vote against this stupid proposition.
great post; i could not agree more.
how is it polling? what are the chances it will pass?
I will be very disappointed if it passes. That’s just ridiculous.
dagny – Your welcome. It’s amazing how many people don’t realize the civil part in any religious wedding. I like your grandma’s wisdom and fore thought. Very wise person and great advice to follow.
brandon – Thank you. And that’s right, since you’ve not been gone from California that long. And it is stupid.
crys – Thank you. The latest polls (as of 10/8/08) show an advantage to the YES campaign, but that’s based on the amount they’ve raised so far. I hope that changes here in the next couple of weeks.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-gaymarriage8-2008oct08,0,1678837.story
avitable – That goes for me, too. A lot of us will be disappointed.
There’s a similar thing here in Arizona, Prop 102. There’s a family 3 doors down from me and they’ve painted their car with “vote yes on 102” and “marriage is only between a man and a woman” slogans.
Oh yeah, it’s classy alright. Whenever I see it I just roll my eyes. It’s like they think the whole world will end if same sex marriage is allowed. Do they seriously think their lives will change one iota either way? It won’t of course so just live and let live, stop worrying about what other people are doing and get on with your own life.
I’ll never understand how ignorance and prejudice can be taught in church or promoted by a political party. Fucking Republicans. Sheesh.
What are people afraid of? Homosexual marriage is not going to hurt heterosexuals in marriage. Sigh. Sometimes I am surprised how prejudiced people still are. I forget.
kevin – Thanks for that link to Arizona’s Prop 102. That family sound like real winners with that car. There’s a lot of Mormons in Arizona, and I’m sure they are doing their best to raise every last dollar to pass this. I read more about it and it looks like same-sex marriage is already illegal in the state. So they want to make it extra-illegal if this passes? I’m rolling my eyes at this. As you said, let people live their lives and worry about their own.
ajooja – Agreed. I will never understand either.
kilax – I really wish I knew what people were afraid of. Nothing gets changed. Even some of these people that talk about how this will be “taught in the schools” I wish they would look at the details instead of trying to distort the facts. Some people will always find their prejudiced group to fight against.
I don’t even understand why this is an issue. Seriously. This is what people are choosing to fight about? Treating others with respect and giving everyone the same rights no matter what gender they are attracted to? I wasn’t aware that should be a choice. As long as it involves two of age consenting people, they should be allowed to marry if they want to.
tori – I know, it really gets me wondering about some people and their focus. And it’s not a choice. Since when do others get to vote on the rights of consenting adults when it really doesn’t even effect them.