The MAINE Rant

From New York Magazine:

"Yesterday, an unexpectedly high number of voters turned out in Maine to vote on a referendum to repeal a bill passed last May legalizing gay marriage there. This morning, with nearly 90 percent of the votes tallied, the measure has succeeded with 53 points — killing marriage equality in Maine before it got off the ground. It was a severe blow to the well-funded and well-organized supporters, who had viewed this battle as a chance to put to rest the notion that their goals could not be achieved without the help of courts or a liberal legislature."

I don't even know where to start. I'm hurting so much right now for so many of my friends who are in beautiful relationships and can't get married because the person they want to spend the rest of their life with happens to be the same sex as them. Are you kidding me, Maine?? Really?! And not just Maine - Are you kidding me, America?!

There have been a lot of cases made for why gay marriage should not be legalized and made equal to hetero marriage. Let me tell you, they're all BAD arguments. I'm an open-minded person. I understand that people have the right to have different views and different opinions. This is America, we're all free, blah blah blah. So you think allowing gay couples to have the same rights as hetero couples would ruin the sanctity of marriage? Let me as you this - What about marriage these days makes you think "sanctity"? I could run into someone on the street right now, tell them I'll pay them $1 million dollars to fly to Vegas with me and get married so I can get the tax breaks that go along with marriage. That might be completely backward and insane, but I can do that because I happen to be heterosexual. If I got knocked up by accident and my parents forced me to marry the guy, that could happen because I'm straight. If I lived in a culture where arranged marriage was practiced, I could be forced to marry someone I DON'T EVEN KNOW OR CARE ABOUT because it's acceptable in my culture and I'm straight. I could fall madly in love with the next guy that walks by my cubicle, marry him 6 weeks later because we get carried away, and then when we realize we were stupid and it was the worst decision of our lives, we could totally dissolve that marriage and move on with our lives because I'm a woman and he's a man. None of that says "sanctity" to me.

So you're against gay marriage for religious reasons? Fine. I accept that. It is your right to believe that God would smite two loving individuals for being together. Gay men and women shouldn't be allowed to marry because the church doesn't accept it. Really? Really?! If I'm straight, and I'm atheist, I can get married in a church just because I think it's pretty. If I have never said a prayer in my life, if I'm a Wicca, if I'm a member of some psychotic cult that lives on a commune in the middle of nowhere, I can marry whoever I want because I'm a woman and I happen to be attracted to men. People who have never given God or religion a second thought get married every day without thinking about the Godly aspects of that commitment. They can do that though. Ya know, because they're straight, which means the "sanctity" of marriage is totally preserved. Really??? Seriously?!?

I know it's a sensitive subject to compare the struggle for gay rights to the struggles that African Americans went through in this country. I will make one point though. Segregation and "Separate but Equal" were not left up to a popular vote. If this country had voted on segregation back in the 60s when it was outlawed, segregation would not have happened for a very long time. And Separate but Equal? It took a Supreme Court ruling for that to be abolished. And you can bet your ass if it had been put up to a popular vote back then, the law would have been upheld. Because, and I think we can all agree on this, there were some ignorant people in the U.S. at that time. Bad decisions and horrible laws were made. Luckily, our government took the first step and made things right. It baffles me as to why this is not being done with gay rights.

Some of the best couples I have ever known have been homosexual couples - men and women alike. These couples love each other just like any hetero couple does, sometimes more. They want the same life together. They want the same family. They want the same white picket fence, minivan and golden retriever. They want the same rights. I don't understand why this country thinks it should be against the law for two people - ANY TWO PEOPLE - who love each other enough to want to spend the rest of their lives with each other to get married. THAT is what's backward. THAT is what's wrong with this country.