Shame on you, California

I am reminded recently of a quote from one of my favorite movies, Men in Black…

Edwards: “People are smart. They can handle it.”

Kay: “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.”

I have to agree. People are dumb, panicky and dangerous. They demonstrated this on November 4^th.

As most of my family and friends know, I voted for the Libertarian, Bob Barr. The country voted Obama into presidency. Do I think that was stupid? Nope. He says he’s an agent of change, and boy does this country need change! We’ll see what he can do. So what am I talking about? Read on…

In California, voters picked Obama as well, by a better than 3-2 margin. He got a 61% vote! How did this happen? Exit polls show that there was a larger than average turnout of black voters, and that made a very large difference in the results. I don’t know the statistics, but it was covered by several of the stations I watched. What floors me is what this group of people also did.

Another issue on the ballots in California was Proposition 8, a measure that proposed putting a ban on gay marriages in the Constitution. Specifically, it adds these words to the California Constitution: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

And it passed!

The exit polls showed that while white people voted No by a small margin, and Latinos and Asians were split, blacks voted Yes on Prop 8 by a large margin. It was this large margin that tipped the scales enough to pass this discriminatory, bigoted, and outrageous Proposition.

So… why am I bringing race up in this topic? Quite simple – this is an issue of discrimination, and the group of people whom you would think would be against such outrageous injustices are the very people who outlawed gay marriage.

Those who support Prop 8 have this to say in their ads (among other things):

1. Making gay marriage legal would force schools to teach our children about gay marriage
2. Churches will be required to marry gay couples
3. Adoption agencies will be required to allow gay couples to adopt children
4. Marriage is a sacred institution, for procreation and ensuring the continuation of the species.

The ads are not really about these issues. The ads are meant to scare people, and they did their job. But those points are bullshit. Here’s my take on it – if you agree or disagree, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Making gay marriage legal would force schools to teach our children about gay marriage

This just isn’t true. The pundits for the Proposition like to cite an example where a teacher in Massachusetts (where gay marriage is legal) read a story about two princes to her second grade class. Parents complained and were told that they had no right to know beforehand that this was being taught in the class. This would not happen in California, because there are currently laws in place protecting parents’ rights in the classroom. Proposition 8 does not have anything to do with school teaching.

Churches will be required to marry gay couples

No. Churches are not currently required to marry anyone – they can, and DO, turn couples away all of the time, because of many reasons. That wouldn’t change, and if a certain church did not want to marry a same-sex couple, they wouldn’t have to. The Proposition mentions NOTHING about churches.

Adoption agencies will be required to allow gay couples to adopt children.

What? First of all, denying Proposition 8 would have changed nothing. It would not have added anything to the Constitution, it simply would have been “business as usual.” Are adoption agencies currently required to allow gay couples to adopt? Nothing would change. Second of all… SO WHAT? My brother was raised by my mother and her partner for his entire life. He is a wonderful, well-rounded, and quite masculine individual. He was raised with good moral values, and he is just an all-around awesome guy. Children are raised by gay couples all the time, and they don’t turn out any more messed up than children raised by “traditional” families.

I would think that we should worry about children growing up in families where the parents are abusive, do drugs, drink too much, or getting divorced. Rapists, murderers and child molesters have every right to get married and have children of their own… why are people not protesting this?Single mothers and fathers are celebrated for their ability to raise their children. Why should it be different if there happens to be two women, or two men raising the child? This argument is not about “the children.” It is about gay discrimination, and homophobia.

Marriage is a sacred institution, for procreation and ensuring the continuation of the species

Really? How many marriages end in divorce? How many children are born OUT of wedlock? How many deadbeat dads and moms are there? Don’t tell me marriage is sacred, and that gay marriage is where you are going to draw the line. Are we really on the edge of extinction, where allowing gay people to marry will tip the scales to our doom? Yes, perhaps we should force these gay folks to marry the opposite sex, and raise children in a loveless relationship while they have adulterous sex behind their spouses back. Because marriage is sacred, dammit. Oh… and all of you people who are infertile, either by choice or by nature are out of luck. You’ll need to divorce, and live a life of solitude from now on. Marriage is all about procreation and continuation of the species, not about love, commitment, and partnership.

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Hey, I’m not saying I’m perfect, of course. I have sinned enough in my lifetime. But I seriously do not believe that I have any right to tell someone else who they are allowed to love and marry. And in this country of ours, where we pride ourselves on being the “land of the free,” it is appalling to think that we would pass a law that takes away a basic human right.

Just imagine this: Less than 100 years ago, we could have easily passed laws stating “Only marriage between a same-colored man and woman is valid or recognized in [your state].” We recognize that to be wrong now. Why can’t we recognize how wrong it is to discriminate against gay people?

It’s wrong, plain and simple. You Californians who passed this measure should be ashamed of yourselves, and for those of you fighting to repeal it, bless you and good luck!