I Do... Support Gay Marriage!

On the issue of marriage equality, understand this: I am NOT asking for anything that is YOUR RIGHT to deny me. I am demanding that I and others be treated equally, as a citizen, a man or a woman, an individual whose rights are self-evident.

Need I remind my elected officials of their duties and my rights as a citizen of the United States of America: "We hold these truths to be self-evident...."

Maggie Gallagher and the latest brain-child, Carrie Prejean (We all know that Maggie truly hates that pretty, skinny bitch. God! you couldn't find two people with less in common.), NOM's (National Organization for Marriage) President and in the nude babewatch moral enforcer, respectively, have stated that they're here to protect the sanctity of marriage from, what I can gather are, the fags and lesbians. I find this statement so interesting because I don't know a single gay person who is so faith-committed that they are demanding that their preferred religion provide them the Rite of Marriage, which might even lead one to say that NOM and its members are naive in their belief that marriage is a right truly afforded through a religious body, not the State. On closer review, however, we see it's really just prejudice working with a cloak of religious pretenses. Apparently, NOM's specific issue with the gay community is that they don't want them sharing in the human values derived through family. Wait, is that right? Yes, unbelievably gay men and women want to embrace the very same values that this community of worshipers demand is the ONLY way to live, and yet NOM and its advocates want to deny this very basic human behavior to an entire group of people that they don't know, don’t have any right to disavow and presume to demoralize. Rather than preaching of love and spreading the good fortunes of family values that they dare to interpret from their scripture, they spin their biblical words to cast hatred and bigotry. They deny that gays have a right to live in a family union and to have children. They deny that gay men and women can unite with the one person in the world they love and call it marriage, or have the same State benefits that are provided to heterosexual couples; they deny that two men or two women actually do provide a "family atmosphere" and bring into question their rights to even have children. Yet, interestingly, they do nothing to show how heterosexual lifestyle is superior. Why? Because they can't. NOM can't deny that heterosexuals participation in marriage fails 50% of the time, nor can they advocate that these type of unions provide stronger family atmospheres! As a matter of fact, they have no substance for any of their claims of homosexuals’ supposed inabilities to marry or create a family. And their claim that they are protecting family values and the wellbeing of children is ludicrous. If NOM is so concerned with family values, why is it that they spend countless millions of dollars fighting a group of people that want to live as a family? This organization certainly doesn't have family values or children as their forefront issue, for if they did, they would be doing something to help U.S. families with the many issues that plague them, like education, healthcare, single mothers and fathers (heterosexual, of course), proper nutrition guidelines and after-school programs for kids of working parents. So, what is NOM’s real agenda? I don't know, simple bigotry. I've read their webpage and it says absolutely nothing, except that the gays are coming! Who are these people of NOM? Not surprisingly, they are America’s religious leaders and wealthy conservatives who simply have a unfounded prejudice against a select group of others, the homosexuals. I’m sure all of you reading this remember past events of hatred and recognize bigotry when you see it, and likely, some of you have even experienced it! Let’s name a few select groups that come to mind: The African Americans, all Asians, anyone Muslim especially living in America, Mexicans, hell, all Latinos for that matter, Jews, hmmm...., women, mixed-race marriage couples, and if we go back far enough, Irish, Italians and Catholics. You get the idea. The absolutely shameful thing about this recent out lash is that all of these minorities themselves are forsaking and denying human rights to their own children by silently sitting by and supporting legislation that denies equal rights to gays in their county. To be fair, you can’t just blame the hugely funded organization NOM and the other religious extremists that support this ideology (the Catholic Church and its newly Vatican appointed Bishop of Oakland, CA for his clever deceptiveness in California’s Proposition 8, the Mormons, and Conservative Synagogues, to name a few) – we’re all guilty of silence and servitude.

Why do the members of NOM and other religious extremists feel so threatened by gay marriage?

Honestly, I can’t imagine. Perhaps if an alien from another world were to hear this issue for the first time, the creature might logically imagine that the battle between NOM and the gay community would be that the gays actually refuse to unite and marry; refuse to settle down with one committed partner and be willing to be a member of a family-style community that NOM supposedly endorses. Because wouldn’t that be the real problem – someone not wanting to participate in a secure, loving community? After all, if you hear the members of the religious right talk, they do claim that they want the basic tenant of a loving and caring union, much like they believe their God provides for humanity… The alien would surely be confused and ask, “Wait, I don't understand, what’s the problem with gays marrying?” Now, I'm sure some extremists might argue that the basic tenant is to worship God, but we already know that none of us can agree as to which is the right way to do that, or even if there is, in fact, the same Higher Being to worship....

Why do some feel threatened that gays want to marry?

I suspect that it’s fear. Those who object to gay marriage will have their prejudices shown for what they really are - just a bunch of made-up fears that have been perpetuated by hate-mongering circles who feel they might have something to lose if another group shares in the Union.

What do the religious folks believe these days, anyway?

God! It used to be so simple when different religions were equally prejudice against each other! For example, if you were Catholic you had to marry a Catholic (of opposite sex, just to be crystal clear here). It didn't matter if the other person was just another type of a "Christian" be it Lutheran, Baptist, or fill in the blank... It was forbidden to marry outside of the faith because you and your family would be living a life outside of the Church – OMG! Thinking for yourselves! You could not receive Communion and not matter how much you may have Confessed, you were an awful, Church-challenging sinner that could only be redeemed by converting your spouse to THE faith and getting it blessed by a priest. You weren't "really" married until the Church blessed it. And you can only imagine what the Church might say if you wanted to marry, Oh, my God, a Jew or Muslim or even worse, a Buddhist! They don't even believe Jesus was the messiah! So, what changed that allowed a person of one Christian faith to marry someone of a different faith and for the marriage to be recognized? I suppose simple loss of control and therefore eventual (partial) acceptance by the Church – hey, at least your children won’t be bastards! But why did the Church advance on this front? I suspect it’s because so many people rebelled, and they just did it without the Church’s blessing. Oh, it also helped that even when the religious establishments frowned on the Union, you still had the backing of the State. This is a novel concept. So, in essence, at the founding of our nation, the government has recognized a marriage without the support of a religious institution. Isn't this what we gay folks are asking for? Recognition of our Union by our government! The right to join together with the same Federal and State benefits as provided to a heterosexual couple. Who cares if the religious folks like it! To my understanding, we're not asking them to accept it, nor are we asking to change anything in their rubrics, and we are certainly not asking them to perform the marriage, so, why are they fighting us? And why does NOM even exist?

Now, these same Christian institutions, yes, the same ones who oppose each other’s dogma and I suspect because attendance is in the dumps and scandal after scandal has ripped apart their authority, have joined arms and are all marching to the same beat to stave off complete and utter obscurity. You really should take a note from your Episcopalian brethren and try to practice tolerance and the virtues of love that you others claim to be so knowledgeable about; if nothing else, as evolution has taught us, we need to adapt and change with the times. Hell, all big businesses do it - they modify their services and give the customers what they're looking for... But I'm, unfairly, beginning to question religious institutions’ dogma, and I'm only here to debate my right as a U.S. citizen. I could care less if the Christians, Jews, Muslims or any other mind-bending institutions agree with, recognize or ever accept my partnership with the person of my choice. I'm not asking them to do so. On the contrary, I'm demanding that my country uphold the basic tenant of its founding and actually separate the religious rhetoric from the State and provide me with the liberty to unite or marry (whichever you prefer) any person of my choosing.