When I was young I dropped the ball & it hurt LGBTQ in CO w/some stupid Amendment

[Madam45for2923]

I was just out from military service, nicely married to my fellow military hubby honey.

Minding my FUCKING BUSINESS w/o a care.

I did not believe this amendment would pass b/c in my young mind it was so rude.

How could fellow human beings try to hurt others just because.

But it did & they did.

THIS WAS MY WAKE-UP CALL.

I joined whatever I needed to fight the fight and take this bullshit amendment all the way to the supreme court.

Which we did and it got to be overturned a couple years later.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME I KNEW I ALLOWED HUMAN BEINGS SOULS TO BE HURT UNDER MY WATCH.

I thought about how they must've felt. To know that others surrounding them did not wish them well.

Wanting them to be stamped & stomped on.

This must've hurt their humanity.

Which hurt mine.

[Madam45for2923]

1. .

[J_William_Ryan]

2. And gay Americans will once again will be hurt.

Romer v. Evans (1996)

Colorado Amendment 2, prohibiting gay Americans to avail themselves of state anti-discrimination laws.

Invalidated by the Supreme Court as a violation of the 14th Amendment.

“This Colorado cannot do. A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws. Amendment 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause[.]” ibid

This and other rulings protecting the equal protection rights of gay Americans will be overturned in time by the future Trump Court, and gay and transgender Americans will once again be subject to the ignorance, hate, and bigotry of the states.

[Madam45for2923]

5. Yes, that the one. Amendment 2 voted for in 1992, overturned in 1996.

Approved by a vote of 53% to 47%

[Ms. Toad]

3. Thank you.

As much as you can try to imagine how it must have felt, what you imagine is a faint shadow of how it actually felt.

In Ohio, because there was not an organized anti-marriage discrimination movement, I chose to campaign for Kerry and not mingle the two - knowing my marriage was being used to drive people to the polls to vote for Bush AND that there were potential Kerry voters who believed I did not have the right to marry. Late at night, after door knocking and phone calling for Kerry, I printed posters, maintained a website, and did everything I could (without the support of an organization) to oppose Issue 1. I knew Issue 1 would pass.

But NOTHING prepared for the reality of how I felt when
(1) Kerry conceded before Ohio's votes were even close to being done with counting , and
(2) Issue 1 passed.

Unbelievably betrayed and angry - as to the former - after I had subverted my own personal interests to more effectively get out the vote for Kerry. As to the latter, as if I was drowning in spittle from 3,329,335 of my fellow Ohioans who had personally taken time off from work the day before, in order to walk by and spit on me (and my, then, nearly quarter of a century marriage).

What is done is done - nothing can fix it. But I sincerely appreciate your attempt to imagine how it might have felt to be me, and to recognize the role you played in a similar ballot initiative in Colorado.

[Madam45for2923]

4. Ms. Toad when this f*cker passed I was shocked & horrified. I had to look at my hands that did

nothing to make it stop.

I knew then I could have done something. I was healthy & had LOTS free time. I HAD NO EXCUSE.

I WAS AVAILABLE THAT TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

It made me wake up from my happy somnambulance.

EVEN though I was & am an atheist I realized, that yes I AM MY BROTHER'S KEEPER & I AM MY SISTER'S KEEPER!

It also made me look at the people around me with new understanding.

There are people out there that mean to fuck with others.

Am I OK WITH THAT?

OR DID I BEAR SOME RESPONSIBILITY?

[Ms. Toad]

6. Of course you bear some responsibility -

But no one makes the "right" decision all the time.

In Ohio, Issue 1 was infinitely winnable. It had such a weak underbelly that an organized group could just have rolled it over and it would have been dead in few quick strokes. But when it was clear there was no state-wide organization, and that I didn't have the time/skills to organize a group, I chose to focus my efforts on Kerry - with Supreme Court seats up for grabs, and an issue that would ultimately end up being a court decision - because there was a better chance that with my limited times and skills I could make an impact there. So in a sense, I ceded Issue 1 to the bullies.

Acknowledging that your silence contributed to passing a law that caused a fair amount of pain is helpful to those of us who were the victims. But we need all hands on deck going forward - so put your energy into making better decisions the next time!

[Madam45for2923]

7. Yes, that was long ago and I agree with you since then: we need all hands on deck going forward...

Because the so called "family values" people don't rest.