The great State of New York recently passed legislation allowing gay and lesbian couples the same access to mutual misery that straight couples have possessed for quite some time.
That’s right! I am speaking of the opportunity to marry the person you knocked up, were betrothed to in the womb, or got drunk with and proposed to in Vegas (it really doesn’t stay in Vegas, you know that, right?) Or, as in my case, the person I fell head over heels in love with. My little sister set me up fearing I might actually follow through on a vague threat to join the priesthood.
And if that love of your life happens to have the same working parts in their nether regions that you do, all the merrier! Marry 'em. (This offer good only in the states of New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and D.C. Offer void when contested by bigoted, wealthy Christian denominations with more money than compassion and an energized faithful consisting of homo-phobes and the unenlightened willing to do their dirty work).
But I digress.
Bottom line:
Here’s what the church and the so-called tolerant want of their token gays. Be abstinent. Be silent. And don’t be seen. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll tolerate your presence within the congregation. But most likely not. But we still love you, and don’t let the cathedral door hit you in the ass on your way out. Love ya!
Arguments that gay marriage will single-handedly bring down the institution of marriage and destroy the family are baseless and provocative–and not in a good way. Heterosexuals are doing just fine destroying the estate of marriage, and the family as a whole.
Abusive husbands and absent fathers didn’t materialize over the ages because Elton John is gay. Unfortunately, in many cases the aforementioned are protected by the state and the church. Believe what you want, but children don’t end up in foster care and group homes because a lesbian couple in Connecticut wants to marry.
Opponents to gay marriage argue the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans-gendered) community is somehow deviant and evil and will lead to the downfall of civilization as we know it, or the return of leisure suits as a fashion statement--whichever keeps you up at night. I get night-sweats just thinking of the latter. Armageddon is a myth, polyester ain’t.
I have friends and family within the gay community who are neither deviant or evil. Unless you include the family cat. And as for those people that truly fall into the category of deviant and/or evil? Please, don’t get me started.. That’s a whole ’nother column.
Love is love, people. Whether it’s between two consenting adults of the opposite sex, same sex, or me and a pizza with double cheese, it will not be stopped. That’s what love is. It knows no boundaries and answers only to those it has chosen.
Go ahead, quote me!
There are many who like to cut and paste passages of the Bible to make a point. I’m not a fan.
But we Christians are taught that God has given her* children many gifts and through her Son asks this in return: First, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Second, love your neighbor as yourself.
If you can’t love your child, friend, or even a passer-by who is gay, then dude, you have some serious self-loathing issues.
You love your child right? Ok, maybe not all the time. But more so, than not. Anyway, would you love your child any less if they came to you and said they were gay or lesbian? You may not approve of their “choice” but isn’t that what unconditional love is?
No one should have to prove that being gay or lesbian isn’t an illness, or a choice. Although, even in today’s so-called enlightenment, many must choose to stay closeted for fear of their safety, loss of a families love (for if there is no love if there can be no acceptance), job loss, the list goes on.
Some argue that gays and lesbians ‘opt in’ to a lifestyle. It’s not a choice and it’s not a lifestyle. The choice is either live a lie, or lie to live. From my vantage point that kinda sucks. Not everyone is brave enough to live their lives openly gay.
Three cheers!
Thank you to Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow, Neil Patrick Harris, Russell T. Davies (Dr. Who fans will know), Anderson Cooper, as well as many others, for putting themselves out there, in the forefront, giving a face to what it is to be gay. Guess what? Looks pretty much like everyone else. So deal with it!
As a people, a nation, we shouldn’t have to legislate equality. Nor should our government be legislating morality. Yet after 230-some years, here we are. All equal under the eyes of law? Many would disagree, and rightfully so. Writing it down and voting on it doesn’t necessarily make it so.
I cannot, and will not quote polls to make my point. Anyone can do that. There are polls all over the internet skewed to any argument, about anything, you want to make. I will not invoke the wrath of God, her so-called faithful have cornered that market.
When I discuss gay marriage, DADT (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell), gays raising children no one else will take (because they talk back and don’t and have that new baby smell) with friends and relatives most of us agree that we’re okay with gay marriage, and gays in the military, and deep-fried Twinkies. I acknowledge others don’t. That’s a shame. For them.
We the Peeps!
The state and federal governments and those parties in power who fail to listen to their constituents apparently didn’t get the memo. We the People can think, and make informed decisions, in the bedroom and outside of it, for ourselves, without regret. Let us.
*Her, him, it, whatever. I think God’s pretty cool with just getting a shout-out in this day and age. - js
