Dear family and friends:
I hope you will read what I've written. It is my somewhat raw reaction to the passing of Proposition 8 in California. It would mean a lot to me if you would.
This has been a painful time for me, and I wanted to let you know how I felt as a gay Californian to be discriminated against and have my status as a full citizen diminished by the majority. Proposition 8 will rewrite the California constitution to enshrine bigotry against same-sex couples.
For my family and friends who don't live in California, the Wikipedia definition of Prop 8 is:
Proposition 8 is an initiative measure on the 2008 California General Election ballot titled Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. The proposition "changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in ....California...." A new section is being added stating "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
Although millions of heterosexual & religious people were thankfully AGAINST this proposition, seeing it as a matter of equal rights (as well as the California Teachers Association, Human Rights Campaign, huge companies such as Google, past/present Mayors & Governors, many other groups and Barack Obama himself) Prop 8 unfortunately still passed on Nov. 4th, 2008 winning 52% to 48% of the votes.
Prop 8 now takes away the rights of same sex couples to marry in California. I find this not only un-American, but disturbing at a very deep level. Prop 8 is bigotry codified in law. Americans should be better than this. We should know that in our country all people are equal under the law and have the same rights under the law. I haven't even gone into the religious factor in all this yet.
But here's how I felt Nov. 5th: sad and angry. Simple as that, but so deeply felt that it made me numb, so numb that for several hours I barely felt alive. I felt degraded. Less human. Californians had decided that I, as a lesbian, don't deserve to be considered as an equal. They decided that the love I feel is not as significant as the love they feel.
And the more I thought about the election, the worse I felt. The majority of California's voters had elected an African-American president. The majority passed a proposition for more humane treatment of chickens on California farms! Yet the majority told me that I was not worthy of equality. I was unable to appreciate the historic election of the nation's first black president. The joy -- or relief -- that you all felt election night and the day after, that maybe you still feel, was lost on me. I felt none of it. I wanted Obama to win. I dared to hope that our country would elect him. But I was robbed of sharing that joy with you by a majority of California voters.
Discrimination against fellow citizens as to whether and/or to whom they shall be allowed to marry has no place in this democratic, freedom-loving republic. Such possible restrictions are being propagated by inane religious fanatics. The same religious fanatics who told us 25 years ago that gays in the military were "evil." The same religious fanatics who told us 50 years ago that interracial marriage was a "sin and against nature." The same religious fanatics who told us 150 years ago that slavery was a part of "God's Laws." Fanatics who are restricting certain people from the joys of humanity.
Do you know that people spent more money and time to fight for Prop 8, than to provide law enforcement the resources to stop adults raping kids in America? The Protect Our Children Act barely passed with only $28 million fighting for child safety compared to $60 MILLION (85% of which were from religious groups) donated to support Prop 8 and ban same-sex marriages. Money that we donated to churches at Sunday collections were being used to fund this.
It's now day nine since Prop 8 passed. Movement for and against it rages on, and is going beyond California. to across the country. Yet groups like Couples for Christ, and the Church of Latter day Saints are still fighting, preaching discrimination & donating money for this cause. I wonder, are they tired yet? With all the anger, judgment, and intolerance fuming on both sides, I am tired. Mormons can have six wives and I can't have ONE? Do I get to vote on your marriage?
Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics experience. The overall divorce rate in America is between 45-50%, the remarriage divorce rate (when at least one partner has been married before) has been reported to be 65% what does the Church say about that?
Prop 8 alone rose up and broke the people of America in half, revealing that despite all our political correctness and "everybody's a winner" mentality, we still hate, discriminate, and we are hypocrites about it And here we thought it was just about gay marriage. It's been about so much more instead. Suddenly, the same people standing on tolerance are intolerant. They speak in anger and make assumptions. Those who are told by God not to judge are judging. Those affected by discrimination, discriminating. This, all in a free society and democracy.
I can only imagine how wrongfully maligned God must feel in all of this. I don't believe He has had any part of it, despite religious groups claiming they're of Him. If so, there's no doubt in my mind that things would be very different.....
I'm a Catholic and I'm very against Prop 8, because I see it as a civil, not religious, issue. Many of my gay friends, including relatives that I love and cherish are smart, sweet, well versed, environmentally aware, caring and good citizens. We deserve the same civil rights that you all have. Most of all, God says to love and not judge and I believe He himself would honor it. Just the same, religious groups are free to install and enforce their own stance in their own courts and systems, and I believe gays and others should (and would) equally respect it.
No race or non-religious group, gay, straight, or whoever, has the right to take away civil rights, be it a gay, Christian, Muslim, black, Jewish, whatever. No human being should discriminate or judge the other. Religion and God have as much of a place in society as all other groups here.
If Prop 8 has taught me anything, we're a long way away from this. To me, that's the real issue of the battle we're all in.
The bible says, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." That seems church and state separated. It is not an excuse for one party or another not to be allowed or exist, but it's a strong case for leaving what's of the law to the law, and of the church to the church in my opinion.
I believe in evolution. I believe in it through scientific fact, even though my mom raised me up in Church. I believe that they have the right to trust in their faith. It's what keeps them going and keeps them hoping. Through them, I have found God. I don't go to church, but I do have faith. God = faith and hope in all things good.
So with Prop 8 passing, it's easy for me to lose faith in God; the same way it's easy for Prop 8 supporters to blame gay people for their kids' future. But I'm not going for the easy way out. I can still believe in God, in faith and in hope because I know there are millions of people out there who have been misinformed or just not educated on this point of view.
Thanks for taking the time to read this vent...
........Regina........
