I’m feeling very sad today. Despite all the wonderful things going on in my life, I find I’m being dragged down by the bile and the venom being spewed the hate mongers out to “protect” “traditional” marriage. I know, I know…being the bleeding-heart liberal that I am, I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinions. And I know I’m just hearing more of the filth spilling from their mouths because of all the attention around the upcoming vote in the New York Senate. And the pragmatist in me knows full well that these people have chosen their words carefully to incite as much fear in the hearts of the fearful and easily-swayed as possible. But on this day, all that makes me sad.
Think I’m the only one? No, I’m not. New York State Senator Diane J. Savino, a Democrat from Staten Island who is right in the middle of all the brou-ha-ha in Albany, got so fed up with the pure hatred spilling from these people, she put a box outside her office door, with a sign on it reading, “Bigots and homophobes please put your literature here.” When asked why, she replied, “If you could see and hear some of the rhetoric you would appreciate my sign.”
I know damn well my words won’t change anyone’s mind. A mind has to be open in order to even consider making changes. I also know that I really don’t need to make my case. The bumbling idiots who tried to defend California’s Prop 8 basically did that for me. Yes, I said the defendants. In case you haven’t been following, the case presented by those fools was so weak that even some of the expert witnesses for the defense admitted the weakness of their arguments on the witness stand. In their appeal, the Prop 8 supporters tried to claim that Judge Vaughn Walker was not impartial, because it turned out he himself is gay (that silly argument was also shot down). But in actuality, the case presented by the Prop 8 supports was so weak that any judge who ruled in their favor who have had his or her legal training questioned. So despite the fact that the arguments against marriage equality have already been shot to pieces (by people much more eloquent than I), maybe if I spill my guts, I can actually get some work done around the house.
So to all you haters out there:
To the Traditionalists, who claim, “Humankind has been in existence for thousands of years, and no society anywhere on the planet has ever had a tradition of allowing same-sex marriages.” To you, I counter with, “I could throw a dart at a timeline, and make the claim, ‘Humankind has been in existence for thousands of years, and no society anywhere on the planet has ever had electricity.’ Does that make electricity wrong? Should we turn off all the power just because it wasn’t ‘traditional’ at some point?”
To the Parentalists, who claim marriage is about child-rearing, and gay marriage endangers the children. To you, I say that, although they frequently go hand-in-hand, marriage and procreation are actually two different things. Look it up. And to those who say that only the biological mother and the biological father can raise a child “properly”, I say to you, “MY kids’ biological mother was called to heaven by God, so your little ideal situation ain’t never gonna happen in this family. And I have it on good authority that she isn’t the first mother (or father) to die and leave small children behind. So stop trying to shove that this-is-the-one-and-only-way bullshit down our throats.”
To the Slippery-Slope-ists, who claim that allowing they gays to marry will lead to legalized polygamy, marriage between species, and God-knows-what, I want to say something like, “My partner and I REALLY love our toaster, but it’s just not ready to commit,” just to point out how silly you sound. In fact, I will say that, because you Santorum-lovin’ fools really do sound that stupid.
To the Christians, who pretty much take all of the above, wrap it in a package with paper that reads, “If you allow gay marriage, the government will force us to perform them in our churches,” and then tie it all up with a bow that says something to the effect of, “The love between a man and a woman, bound by marriage, is like the love between an individual with God.” I want to say so many things:
- Oh yeah? Do you do with God what you do with your wife? And if so, does she know about it? Either you and God are cheating on her behind her back, or it’s some kind of sick, three-way, polygamist marriage between mortals and an immortal. Just the kind of stuff Rick Santorum is working so hard to keep us from
- I, for one, don’t want to get married in your church, and don’t give a damn who you chose to allow or refuse to get married at your altar. This is about my CIVIL rights, and has nothing to do with you and the god you pray to on Saturday, Sunday, or five times a day seven days a week.
- For those Christians who keep spouting claims of “A church in Canada was defrocked because they wouldn’t rent their hall to a gay couple for their wedding reception,” or “A heterosexual couple in England was not permitted to adopt a baby because they refused to teach that gay marriage is OK,”": PRODUCE SOME FUCKING PROOF THAT ANY OF THESE EVENTS ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE. I know it’s been 60 years since Joe McCarthy claimed to have a list of ’57 known communists’. But some of us actually studied history, and those of us that did know that your claims are not just lies, but that your style is plagiaristic.
- And finally dear churches, stay the FUCK out of my government, or start paying taxes.
Finally, to the Benefitists, who claim that allowing me and Brian to marry will drain the Social Security coffers more quickly, because the government will have to pay benefits to the survivor when one of us dies. To you, I say, “You’re right. It will take money from Social Security which could have been spent on YOU.” It’s a benefit that you receive that you’re trying to deny me. It’s called equality.
It is the so-called Christians that make me saddest of all today, because they claim to follow this man/god who only really ever tried to teach one thing: “Love each other”. But these miserable, stupid, vile, mean-spirited, close-minded hate-filled mudslingers have chosen to twist and mold and misinterpret this simple lesson into whatever they want it to be. And then they stand behind it and tell me I’m “unholy” for disagreeing with them. I leave you with the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who is a wise and famous non-Christian, so you blithering idiots have probably never heard of him:
“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”
Timmy will now step down from his soap box…
