Hope... and Love
Gays are now protesting and taking our fight for equal rights to the streets. It's getting loud, and it's getting messy. But there is HOPE.
Today, gays began getting married legally, in Connecticut of all places!
It's another step forward after the devastating backwards movement last week in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida and even here in California.
But there is HOPE.
We've learned that for the most part there is no point in arguing. People who don't want gays to be able to marry feel this way because they are uneducated. They believe that gays choose the gay lifestyle, and therefore must influence more people into becoming gay. They don't understand that gays are born that way. They believe that they are morally allowed, in fact obligated to demonize gays and discriminate against us.
Most of them feel this way because they have never had an experience that expanded their minds the way that gays and our allies have had. Gays have gone through the process known as "coming out of the closet" - an unfortunately trivial name for a life-changing experience. Through coming out, gays have undergone extreme soul-searching, reconciling years of negative conditioning and religious hazing with their true emotions and identity. Many of our allies have been there, going through this process alongside us, gaining insight and understanding of our situation. And, as we have seen in California, more and more young people are growing up with a broader understanding and more accepting worldview than their parents and grandparents. In 2000, when California voters elected to ban gay marriage, it passed with nearly 62%. 8 years later, only 52.5% of the voters wanted to ban gay marriage. A narrow margin of 5% of Californians supported Prop 8, and even then it was only accomplished due to blatant false advertising and shameful exploitation of children by the Yes On 8 campaign.
So, there is HOPE. Our new president-elect knows something about oppression. He knows something about civil rights. Most comforting of all though, he knows a lot - he is an intelligent person, and a compassionate human being. We are headed in the right direction.
I am not going to argue that I am worthy of equal rights under the law. I know I am. I will protest in the streets, and I will silently boycott any businesses who do not support equal rights. I will not humor people who think I am a sinner because I love a member of the same gender.
Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Today, gays began getting married legally, in Connecticut of all places!
It's another step forward after the devastating backwards movement last week in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida and even here in California.
But there is HOPE.
We've learned that for the most part there is no point in arguing. People who don't want gays to be able to marry feel this way because they are uneducated. They believe that gays choose the gay lifestyle, and therefore must influence more people into becoming gay. They don't understand that gays are born that way. They believe that they are morally allowed, in fact obligated to demonize gays and discriminate against us.
Most of them feel this way because they have never had an experience that expanded their minds the way that gays and our allies have had. Gays have gone through the process known as "coming out of the closet" - an unfortunately trivial name for a life-changing experience. Through coming out, gays have undergone extreme soul-searching, reconciling years of negative conditioning and religious hazing with their true emotions and identity. Many of our allies have been there, going through this process alongside us, gaining insight and understanding of our situation. And, as we have seen in California, more and more young people are growing up with a broader understanding and more accepting worldview than their parents and grandparents. In 2000, when California voters elected to ban gay marriage, it passed with nearly 62%. 8 years later, only 52.5% of the voters wanted to ban gay marriage. A narrow margin of 5% of Californians supported Prop 8, and even then it was only accomplished due to blatant false advertising and shameful exploitation of children by the Yes On 8 campaign.
So, there is HOPE. Our new president-elect knows something about oppression. He knows something about civil rights. Most comforting of all though, he knows a lot - he is an intelligent person, and a compassionate human being. We are headed in the right direction.
I am not going to argue that I am worthy of equal rights under the law. I know I am. I will protest in the streets, and I will silently boycott any businesses who do not support equal rights. I will not humor people who think I am a sinner because I love a member of the same gender.
Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Comments