proposition 8

it's 10:07 pm on tuesday night, and as of right now, proposition 8 is leaning toward yes. for those of you that may not know what 8 is, or you're confused about what it means - basically if 8 passes, then the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender population is denied the right to marry.

i'm speechless right now. i just can't comprehend why or how people think that it's ok to deny rights to ANYONE. man, woman, child, gay, straight, black, white, asian, tall, short, vegetarian, musician, handicap. does it make sense to you? why should this even be an issue? we're actually going to change our constitution for this? we change the constitution to allow women the right to vote. we change the constitution to give slaves emancipation. we change the constitution to give people rights, not take them away.

ok, so how about if gay people can't share their love and get married, then black people shouldn't get married. how about that? that seems fair to me.

for many it's a religious thing. while i'm not a terribly religious person myself, my idea of God is that he loves everyone. why would he hate or deny rights to his own creation? and if the mormons or the catholics (or whatever) don't approve of gay marriage, ok that's fine. but keep it in your chapel, keep it in your temple. don't shove your political or social ideology on others who believe in love and equality.

and what's to protect in "traditional marriage?" what's traditional? a wife staying home all day and cooking for her husband? a husband who cheats on his wife with a younger woman? a husband beating his wife? a wife suing her husband in a divorce trial because she was with him before he made his money? yeah, this "traditional marriage" is definitely something that needs to be protected. look at how sacred it is. we really cherish marriage, don't we? wouldn't want to spoil anything (i hope you can read sarcasm).

i truly am crushed by these results. i am so excited that we have a new president, one who will bring change and hope to our country. yet at the same time i feel it hard to celebrate because i know that we're not quite there yet. we have a black president, but we're still afraid of gay people. "yay black president! oh gays? yeaah no, not so much."

i have friends, coworkers, teachers and heroes that are gay. why should anyone deny them the right to love someone? i cried for them tonight. i cried for every single one of them. i want to make a positive difference for them. i want to help. i want to make this right.

i don't know how you voted. i don't know what you think about this all. you are the only one who knows what you did in that polling booth, you are the only one who knows you marked YES on your ballot. so i can't hate you directly, but i pity you. and i hope you are ashamed.