Wednesday, November 5th was not a day of celebration for me. Sure, I was happy that the democratic candidate for president, for whom I voted, was elected to the highest seat in the land. I was saddened to know that he didn’t have the courage to speak out on Prop 8 in California. However, he made his stance known. He is against homosexuality and it’s a sin. I get it. I’ve got the t-shirt.
I applaud the Republican govenor of California for speaking out and asking his constiutents to not vote hate into law. It’s a shame that the robocalls reminding people to vote for Obama didn’t do the same thing. Oh well, you get what you pay for.
I was wrong, Americans are no longer racist. I assumed, that because of the way I’m treated, that Americans were still inherently racist and homophobes. I guess it’s not the same thing. I’m glad for that, but I’m also sad that I’ve been repeatedly told over and over that my plight is not the same. That you don’t choose to be born black you just are. It’s funny, because I’ve always been this way. Even as a child. I carried around a red patent leather pocketbook with lettuce in it to represent cash. Or was I choosing to do that at 4 years old? Was I choosing to play with dolls rather than trucks as a statement? I don’t think so.
It’s a scary thing when we willingly legislate hate. That’s what Florida, Arizona, and California did this year. They wrote hate and bigotry into their laws and the people that are suppused to protect us didn’t speak out.
To friends and family when they think perhaps I should let it go, or shut my mouth, or get over it — please think of that when your liberties are taken away. I hope someone speaks up for you, and doesn’t tell you to get over it, that your suffering isn’t as great as someone elses suffering.
Yes, it’s true, my people have never had to ride at the back of the bus. We were just forced to live in fear and hide. It wasn’t until we were being forced out of our neighborhoods by the police in NYC before we spoke out. It wasn’t until we started to die in record numbers that we spoke out. That’s our fault. We waited to have our say.
The irony is that I don’t think I would ever get married. It’s just too gay; however, I should be able to if I wanted to. I’ve been in a relationship with my partner for longer than all of Britney Spears’ marriages combined. Somehow that slag is allowed to get married and divorced at will. Sadly the same people that voted to save the sanctity of marriage, most likely run off to buy US Weekly every week to see which celebrity is getting divorced.
Now that they’ve legislated hate, let’s hope they don’t round us fags up and make us take the long march to the camps. After all when the Nazis came after the Jews it started like this. Little laws, taking away rights, one by one and no one said anything….
To have a different perspective here’s a great article written by Harvey Firestein for the Huffington Post:
See:
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1051404.html
By: davidinfanger on November 7, 2008
at 11:59 pm
David-
The point is this– He could have mentioned it in a press conference or two. He really didn’t. He sent one letter, to a group in San Francisco. He did allow the grassroots organization: Vote No on 8 to use the letter, and to use his likeness.
Should I be thankful? He agrees with my enemy. He agrees that homosexuality is a sin and I’m a sinner. His deep belief in his God has me in hell because I love another man. Do you understand how that doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy?
I helped elect a man that thinks less of me than someone else. I’m not thrilled. I do appreciate that you did a quick google search to find that he sent this one letter in July. FYI pride month is June and he didn’t say anything about it then.
He wrote a letter. I hope that when the religious right comes for me they don’t decide that people who are “mixed” are sinners too, because they’ll come for him.
By: Billy on November 8, 2008
at 8:37 pm