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It's a sad thing to wake up on a dreary Wednesday morning, and discover that only 18% of the voting population of your home state (Tennessee in this case), a state you love, believe that gay people fall into that prestigious "all men" of "all men are created equal" fame. Some truths, it would appear, are not always self-evident.
And who am I? Just a straight male, a U.S. Citizen. I have a B.S., a forty hour work week, a house, and a dog. But this affects me. It affects me because one day I might have a child. He/She might be gay. And if they fell, madly, deeply in love, they couldn't marry that person. They wouldn't be able to file jointly, wouldn't be guaranteed the normal rights of a spouse, upon the death of their other half. Of course, in their heart, they could still marry this person. They might still have a ceremony; might still wear a ring. But in the eyes of the law, there would be no bond.
It affects me, because when if I die, and leave an orphan behind, that child may not be adopted, because, though there are wonderful people out there, wanting to adopt him/her, they can't. Why? Because, though they're a couple, they are not allowed to marry, and can't be approved for the adoption singly. So my child might grow up, bouncing from foster home to foster home, when there are people who would and could take him/her in, if not for this amendment.
But beyond how it could affect me, I care, because, as a spiritual person, I have a conviction to do what is right; I care, because, as an American, I have a conviction to allow people their freedoms. The same freedoms I get. Being gay is not a crime. We deny rights to criminals. Now we have denied the rights to UNITED STATES CITIZENS. It's shameful.
Is it right, to be required to know the sex of someone, to know if they are breaking a law? Was it right to say "females can not vote"? How can it be ok to say "females can not marry this person"? And if gay marriages are a threat, what do we outlaw next? Divorce? Interracial marriages? I doubt it will be credit cards, though, as Dave Ramsey is fond of saying, financial problems are a leading cause of divorce.
Martin Luther King Jr. said also, in that famous speech "many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom." It is your duty, as Americans to hold the government responsible for giving equal rights to all citizens.
It is your duty, as Christians, to refrain from the throwing of stones, and leave the judgments not to our hearts, or the hearts of our government, but to the heart of God. It is your duty, as a human being, to extend equality, and fairness to the extent that we have in our power to do.
What has been done can be undone. This verdict on marriage, turned in by the voters this election is what was expected of us. It was not expected of us, because it is the right thing to do, but because we are the South. Because when Mr. King made his speech, though he was in D.C. it was the South he had to address. It is here, that the toughest battles for racial equality were fought in this nation. I would like to defy those expectations of a backwards South. I would like to stand among the few who are now determined to do what is right, fair, just. There are times when this state has been the dark spot, on the table cloth of this nation, jealous of our rights and freedoms, and fearful of sharing them. Let us be the candle on the table: the beacon in the dark.
This battle is far from over....
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