Thursday, October 9, 2008

Prop 8 - not my usual blog, humor shall return any day now

Well, its been awhile since I blogged and I have no idea if anyone even reads this, but something happened this morning which really irked me. Leaving my house this morning, I noticed that our new neighbors have posted a big yellow sign which read “VOTE YES ON PROP 8.” We all know that Prop 8 is the ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage in California. Although I am not wildly in favor of same sex marriage on a personal level, I cannot even begin to comprehend the mentality of an individual who would post, what is essentially anti-gay signage in his/her front yard. It is absolutely baffling to me that there are people in our great state that would openly encourage the passing of a law which serves only to discriminate against same sex couples.

This Proposition is often touted as “preserving the sanctity of marriage,” the sanctity of which can only be preserved by denying the civil right of marriage to same sex couples. How can this happen in a civil society governed by laws of equality? The proponents of Prop 8 concede that they do support civil unions, it is only marriage that they are opposed to. What is the difference between a civil union and a legally recognized marriage? NOTHING, other than the name, so it really comes down to semantics right? Well, sort of. If the legal benefits of a civil union and a legally recognized marriage are the same, then why not just call it one or the other? These two ideas are essentially separate but equal under the eyes of the law. However, the supreme court ruled in that famous case, you may have heard of it, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, that separate but equal is inherently unequal. How then can civil unions and legally recognized marriages co-exist as separate entities? According to federal law, this is unconstitutional, which is why the politicians in D.C. have left this issue up to the states to decide, much like they did for several decades with that other white hot issue - slavery.

We live in a country of laws, we have civil rights and that is exactly what same sex marriage is – a civil right. I think many proponents of Prop 8 feel threatened by same sex marriages because it goes against their religion or their perceived sense of morality, which makes no sense because this is a civil issue separate from any religious ideology.

Sorry for this politico manifesto, I am just so sick and tired of the rampant intolerance among certain groups of people. Civil rights are civil rights and they should be separated from personal feelings pertaining to religious faith.