proposition 8 is going to court today. after three hours of a hearing of arguments against proposition 8 the state will have 90 days to make a decision.
as i said in november, i do not see an argument for proposition 8. i understand that many individuals, the majority being religious, see marriage as a sanctified union between a man and a woman. these people are entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, but by the same token, so is everyone else. opposition to proposition 8 in no way forces everyone to agree with homosexuality or a marriage commitment between two same sexed individuals, rather it offers those individuals a right that all people should have. it is not about whether homosexuality is right, moral, or what have you; it is about the having the freedom to be yourself.
in addition, this "sanctified union" has become a mockery all on its own. marriage is exploited and commercialized and in many ways devalued. personal/family lives have been taken out of the home and posted on billboards and on television. flipping through channels there are all kinds of dating shows from blind day to tila taquila and flava of love and then there are shows like bridzilla and whos wedding is it anyway and newly weds. these kind of shows take the intimacy out of such events. divorce rates are going up and everyday you hear about celebrity relationship drama making showing a lack of commitment in lieu of a commitment ceremony. if two people want to get married and are willing to commit to the commitment they are making and live out their vows why should anyone stop them. it should not matter the sex of the couple, but rather the love in their hearts and the intentions they have for making a commitment to one another.
in such a diverse country, and state, it makes it difficult for me to understand how people can be in opposition to marriage because it is not strictly between man and woman. it disgusts me that there is still hate and such blatant discrimination. it is hard to drive hate when we are hating friends and family, but that is exactly what is happening. whether you know it or not, everyone has someone in their life who is gay, bi, transgender, omnisexual, questioning, or something i may have not mentioned - if youre not fighting for all "queers" then fight for that one that you love.
im in a class called the problems of american history. in that class we discuss a variety of topics from immigration to hate to what it means to be an american. as we have sort of concluded, all minority groups at some point in time will or have been the target of hate and discrimination; in a progression of time that minority group grows acceptance and a new minority group is targeted. yesterday we were discussing a booked titled becoming a mexican american, in our discussion we sort of strayed from the topic of mexican american and made it inclusive to _____-american. in this discussion we discussed what it means to be american and if there is an underlying american culture and whether or not there should be social standards such as language that all citizens are expected to comply with. what the class seemed to agree on is that there are so many immigrants to america because it is so easy to "become and american", there is hate and social stigma and class restrictions with immigrants, but essentially it is not necessary to assimilate to "make it". you do not have to leave your culture behind and in many ways as seen in communities like china town, you do not need to adopt any customs or ways of life different than your own.
in a nation as diverse as our own, where cultures and traditions vary amongst friends and family, we should thrive from love, not hate.
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