Piss & vinegar.

[offbalance]

Okay, here's the thing:

I am hetero. It happens. I was born this way, yadda yadda.

However, I am fortunate enough to have wonderful, amazing people in my life that fall on every different point of the Kinsey scale. What are those points? Up to them. All I care is that they're good people, honest people, loyal people, kind people. Who they date is only relevant to me if I'm making some kind of attempt at matchmaking, because I have this cockeyed optimistic belief that everyone deserves a chance with love and happiness with the right person, whomever they may be. I was lucky in that regard, and I want that luck to spread around.

What's more, my paralegal learnings thus far have taught me of the huge numbers of legal benefits and rights to being legally married, both on the state and federal level. It's also taught me that the law is about fairness, and about providing the best protections and equal rights among all its citizens, and that the law is in a constant state of flux to best reflect how to make things as fair and equal as possible, at least on the surface. All of the things I learned in my Matrimonial Law, Tax Law, and even Bankruptcy Law classes have cemented my belief that ALL PEOPLE should have the right to marry. People who have a committed life together and a shared household should be allowed to file a joint tax return, to have equally vested shares in a bankruptcy proceeding, and receive all spousal benefits. If you share bed, board, bank accounts, and household expenses, your gender shouldn't determine your ability to marry. I can marry, because of a preference set by biology, and they can't for the same reason. This doesn't add up.

So it's absolutely infuriating, flabbergasting, and depressing to me that there are so many people in this country are so hell bent in denying rights to others. In creating this big, scary, OTHER that they have to hate, oppress, fight and eliminate to protect their precious FAMILY VALUES and THINK OF THE CHILDREN. I'm pretty sure the reason these bigots get so freaked about the kids is because children are so accepting, as they are still learning about the world, and if they learn something as a fact, they'll just accept it and move on, and it'll be all okay. And it's terrifying to them - so they're redoubling their efforts to create as many bigots as possible, to keep the bigot production line rolling, because otherwise, someday the ENTIRE WORLD might not only allow, but celebrate non-heterosexual unions. CAN YOU IMAGINE. And no one has been able to give me a compelling reason as to why this is a BAD THING that isn't some bizarre cha-cha involving misquoted Bible verses, personal squick, and a lot of what amounts to I DON'T WAAAANAAAAA IT'S NOT FAIR IT'S MY TREEHOUSE THEY CAN'T HAVE IT NO NO NO NO MINE MINE MINE NOOOOT FAAAAIIIIIR.

And I can't point fingers at a particular group. They're neatly spread all over, into everything.

So, what my rant comes down to is this: if you don't support full and equal rights and protection under law of all GLBTQ people?

GET OFF MY LAWN.

My lawn is my journal. If you don't think people who aren't living a tidy little life that you approve of in your narrow little worldview deserve ALL of the rights, privledges and protections that being an American Citizen should have, get lost. Unfriend me. We're done here.

And before you ask:

They should choose to be "normal" if they want all these rights.
1. It's not a choice.
2. Who are you to say what's normal?

I have no problem with gay people, but do they have to get married?
YES. Yes they do. They have to for the same reasons you wanted to.

Does it have to be marriage marriage ?

YES.

Does it have to be now?

Why not? They've only been waiting for what? Thousands of years? What's a few more? A LOT, ACTUALLY.

Can't you just respect my beliefs?
Because you're providing such a shining example of live and let live? I'm supposed to respect your right to deny the rights of others? That sentence should give you a headache, too.

Feel free to link/post/share/or gripe at me, I'm sure I've glossed over a few things here or there. But what I'm trying to do is stand up for people I love dearly and who I feel are being unfairly segregated from rights I enjoy, for really stupid, arbitrary, outdated reasons. I've marched for this, I've signed petitions, and tried my best to put myself out there as a supporter. This is just one more thing, however tiny.

Comments

[fragbert.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who's been married three times, I think if homosexuals want to put themselves through that, they should be more than welcome to.

Seriously, though...

My standard argument-stopper still works: if you don't think homosexuals should be allowed to marry, tell me why -- without using any form of religious dogma as a reason.

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

Seriously!! I always joke is that they should have the right to be as miserable as anyone else.

The only argument that comes close that I've heard becomes an argument about how the government should get out of the marriage business entirely, but that's about as likely to happen as the repeal of income taxes, so I'm not sure how far that carries.

[fragbert.livejournal.com]

That idea has merit...everyone says that the elephant is an example of a horse designed by committee, and the present state of the institution of marriage is no different.

Maybe we should stop asking for gays to be allowed to marry, and instead lobby for ALL marriages to be changed to Federal Civil Unions.

*sings* "You love me, and I love you, so won't you be my FCU?"