Bad things happen when I think

[umbralillium]

Okay, so maybe that's exaggerating, but I get all philosophical (read:preachy, I really need to shut up about 8, huh?) when I think.

Anyway, last week I think I mentioned that one of the characters on Knight Rider dressed up as Captain Jack Harkness for Halloween. Of course, people posted about it on a couple of my Torchwood comms and one of the members commented that she was disappointed that they focused on Jack's 'omnisexuality' more than anything else.

I was thinking about it and, really, it makes sense that they focused on Jack's sexuality because Americans are so hung up on sexuality. For more than a century, we got hung up on race, before that it was about Brits. We love having something to piss on another person about. Think about it, a very common insult these days is 'you're so gay.' If a guy is seen as anything other than completely masculine, people think he's gay. If a woman tends to dress in a masculine manner, people think she's a dyke.

Some time since Nov. 4th, I'm not entirely sure when, Keith Olbermann made a Special Comment concerning Prop 8. I won't go into all of it, you can watch the video on YouTube for that, but the thing that stuck with me the most was that he said it's a civil rights issue, and he's completely right. It's not about children, it's not about the church. It's about a majority denying a minority a basic human right. He also brought up a point that I made last week: how would straight people like it if we were the majority and denied them the right to be married? Would they stand for it? NO. If it hadn't passed, would the proponents just accept that? NO. So really, is it any wonder that we've taken Prop 8 to court?

I'm usually pretty content living in the IE, but I really wish I lived in LA county so I could go to the rallies and show my support that way since I don't have the money to donate to the cause.

Most of you probably know this already, but this isn't an abstract issue for me, it's not an issue that I associate with strangers. I have two wonderful friends on LJ who are a couple, though they don't live in California. I'm pretty sure half the women on my friends list are bisexual. Hell, I'm bisexual. I have a woman that I love very much. This issue is about me and the people in this world who are like me. If the most progressive state in the Union can't stand up for a minority, what hope do the people in other states who will eventually face this issue have? Massachusetts started it. It's California's duty to keep it going, to set an example for everyone else in this country that we all love so much.

I haven't lost hope that I will eventually have the right to marry the woman I love, if we ever get to that point. Why? Because the majority of my country had the good sense to elect a man who is from a minority group, who is progressive, who bloody well said 'no' on 8. That's what made me vote for President-Elect Obama. Not because he's black, or progressive. I honestly didn't read what he does or does not support. That ad I saw on TV for No on 8 with Obama's picture was what made my decision. In his own vlog about 8 passing, Sam Harris said that the Yes campaign took audio clips and spliced them together to make it sound like Obama supported 8 on the bot recordings. He did not. How many people said 'yes' because of those bots? How many people destroyed a lot of other people's hopes because the Yes campaign lied? Too many.

This is probably very foolish to post unlocked, but my real name is Susan Ward and Proposition 8 passing hurt me very deeply. If you didn't know anyone who was affected by it, now you do. I hope anyone who voted yes who sees this post realizes the enormity of what they've done; how many people they've hurt, and feel ashamed.

If anyone wants to post a link to this, feel free. I, personally, will not be going around spamming communities with it, but I think that people need to know what's at stake.

Comments

[angelicvampyre.livejournal.com]

Hugs - as bad as all this is what I want to know is what about the people who got married? Are their marriages still legal? What a horrible situation all around.

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

From what I've heard it's not retroactive, so marriages from before 8 passed aren't null. Sam Harris mentions it in his vlog.

[angelicvampyre.livejournal.com]

Well that is at least something. It's strange I have alot of friends who are Mormon and live in the state I have e-mailed or spoken to them and it seems the Mormons got blamed for the passing but most of them either did not vote or voted no but then again maybe that is what they are telling me. I have been having a discussion with a few that told me they voted yes to it and find some of their arugments strange like they say "it's morally wrong" ok what is morally wrong with it "it's against morals" huh ok so a two men can't get married because "it's morally wrong" I feel like I am going in circles. Also they all deny that they have private broadcasts into the churchs urging them to vote yes on Prop 8 but all the news reports say that they did. I want to belive my friends but I am starting to feel like they are very closed minded or brainwashed or something. It's only now that I am starting to get worked up about this. I to am Bi or I call myself Tri (eg I will tri anything once ;P) at the moment I am in a relationship with a guy but have had female partners in the past so I don't get what the big deal is. I just can't work it out.

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

I don't get it, either. I left the church long before I figured myself out, but I think the 'morally wrong' part stems from God's admonition for Adam and Eve to 'be fruitful and multiply.' I think that Christians see homosexuality as going against God's command because of that. I don't know. I'd ask my sister, but she's not home very often anymore.

Good news, though! I found a couple rallies this weekend and my other sister is willing to go with me to one of them. \o/

[angelicvampyre.livejournal.com]

Honey I just wanted to drop you a line. I made some posts on my LJ that people took in the wrong way, maybe it was the way I worded them, maybe it was what I said. You got me thinking about Prop 8 and I started looking into it and talking to people. I read news article and had discussions, watch videos and I came out the other side with questions, Ideas and thoughts and now I am being called a Bigot and have been defriended and even had physical violence threatend against me. But none of that really matters I can take it and I don't really care but I do care about you. I don't want you to think that I don't support you I do, I would have voted no if I could but I am trying to see all sides of the argument because only seeing one is being a Bigot. I hope my post did not upset of offen you. I do want to keep you as a friend and I wanted to make sure that you knew it was not a personal attack against you. I should have worded it better but now it's out there re wording it would seem like I was bowing to pressure and deleting it would have made people think I was running away. I hope that you understand and I am very very sorry if I have upset you in any way.

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

I understand asking questions. You can't be informed if you don't ask questions. I'm not upset or offended. I'm actually kind of proud that what I had to say made you think as well. So no worries. *HUGS* You're still on my friends list

[angelicvampyre.livejournal.com]

thanks, my biggest worry about the whole thing has been that I had offended you and I just wanted to make sure that I had not as I never wanted to do that with anyone let alone you. Thanks again HUGS *sares at your icon* oh I miss QAF

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

*smiles* Definitely not offended. I know where you stand on the issue and I knew that you were just trying to get everything clear in your own head.

I've only seen half of the first season, I kinda gorged myself on it and burned myself out. *sheepish* I might go back to it later.

[angelicvampyre.livejournal.com]

Oh it keeps getting better! What you should do it make a time each week that it is on. What I did with it, one ep a week at the same time each week that makes it stetch out and also means you don't go ingo porn overload!

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Well, I rent from Netflix, so doing that would mean keeping one disc for a whole month (I get one disc, the other two go to the rest of the family). Ehhh, not my ideal set up. Unless you know somewhere I can download the eps?

[angelicvampyre.livejournal.com]

I use to have them on my external hard drive but it does not work might see if my bf can fix it to work for me then I can either burn them and post them to you or up the up for you to dl

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Either way would work. uploading would be cheaper, though.

[muurahainen.livejournal.com]

I admit I haven't been following the Prop 8 issue as closely as I probably should've (it's gotten lost behind all the other media ruckus in Finland) but this kind of bigotry always gets me so angry. I just can't understand people who don't. Agh. Who just don't get it that it doesn't matter who you love, the important thing is just that you love.

Iread the below comments and once upon a time I translated some Finnish notes on 'Homosexuality and the interpretation of the Bible' that might touch upon the subject">

[muurahainen.livejournal.com]

1. I just screwed up the tagging of that link there, though it still works.
2. The above comments, obviously. They were below when I was typing my reply. *g*
3. Typos, grrrr...
4. My brain has not been working today. At all.