A Letter from a Breeder to all Prop 8 and Amendment 2 Supporters - Your Unintended Consequence

[funkybug]

Yes, I'm thrilled that Obama was elected to serve my country! Yes, I'm overwhelmed at the reaction of the rest of the world to our majority choice. No longer will I have to pretend to be Canadian if I should ever be financially blessed enough to return to Italy. I can actually be an American that isn't apologizing for it. Yes, I'm hopeful on this dawning of a new political era.

But I'm pissed as hell. I'm pissed at California, pissed at Arizona, and pissed at Florida... but this rant goes out to CA and FL in particular.

How the #^$% could you drag your asses to the voting booth to place your trust in the hands of a man who promised hope and equality to the nation, and in the SAME #^$%ING BREATH vote to take those rights away from a minority of people your small minds fail to understand and accept?

BEING GAY IS NOT A CRIME. Felons have certain rights stripped from them as a consequence of their crimes. But they can still #^$%ing marry. So tell me, what crime did the gay community commit that would cause you all to refuse them the right to marry? As heterosexuals, we are people first, citizens with rights afforded to all. Why are homosexuals considered gay first in terms of their rights???? What's the difference between being gay and being straight? It's not lipstick, it's liberty.

And while I'm pissed as hell and ranting ... did you wake up MORE married today than you were yesterday? Now that a percentage of our population is unable to exercise their right to love in the way we can, is your union suddenly more holy and wonderful and secure than it was yesterday?

What the #^$%. Seriously.

So now, instead of basking in the glow of the promise of hope, I have to roll my sleeves up ONCE AGAIN and start fighting against ignorance and prejudice and discrimination to fix what you #^$%ers did with your little black pencils and little narrow minds. I could be out volunteering in a homeless shelter, or pounding nails for Habitat for Humanity, or working in my community to provide better options for latchkey kids to keep them safe while mum and pop work two jobs to pay the bills. I could be helping someone learn to read, or tutoring kids, or picking up #^$%ing trash along the highway. I could be spending my time doing my small part to usher in a new Camelot.

Instead, I'll be spending all my time fighting a battle that these two states have thrust upon us out of ignorance, hatred, and fear.

Nice job, Florida and California (and Arizona). You suck.

[ananda]

1. That was a righteous rant!

I hear you.

To my mind, equality and the right to happiness are inalienable as established by our founding fathers.. not negotiable and not subject to the whims of a popular election.

[But....]

2. Funky!!

:kick: :applause:

[ozymandius]

3. To the Greatest Page with ye!

Fear does horrible things. Unintended consequences certainly follow rash action.

[grace0418]

4. Did you write that funkybug? I like it very much.

Welcome!

[funkybug]

5. Thanks

I did write that. I'm a loud mouth with a big voice and a massive amount of frustration right now.

[bluedawg12]

6. Well said.

"...thrust upon us out of ignorance, hatred, and fear." So true.

[Duncan Grant]

7. This is what I have been struggling to say all day.

How the #^$% could you drag your asses to the voting booth to place your trust in the hands of a man who promised hope and equality to the nation, and in the SAME #^$%ING BREATH vote to take those rights away from a minority of people your small minds fail to understand and accept?

Look at the exit polls:

Prop 8 -- http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=CAI01p1

Amendment 2 -- http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=FLI01p1

[Zuiderelle]

8. What a GOOD POINT. A Felon in prison for life can marry and have benefits denied to gay people.

They can die and their Social Security benefits pass to their spouse. Any money or property they have on the outside can pass untaxed to their spouse.

The majority of Americans respect FELONS more than gay people.

Good fucking rant! :patriot:

[Doodler71]

9. Kick & Rec - Great Rant!

:dem:

[FloridaJudy]

10. Here's another breeder

Who is thoroughly disgusted with her fellow Floridians. Okay, I know over a third of you voted not to pass Amendment 2, but what were the rest of you thinking?

Jeez, just about the time I can hold my head up while calling myself a Floridian, you homophobic bigots have to make me feel ashamed again. You took a big step toward thinking like adults yesterday. Now finish growing the #%&! up.

[funkybug]

11. Wow. I wish I'd added that to my rant

Beautifully said! I feel the same ... proud to be American again, but so ashamed to be from one of the states that pulled this @#%ing stunt.

[stopwastingmymoney]

27. what she said

in CA too

[stopwastingmymoney]

28. Delete

duplicate

[GRLMGC]

12. That completely sums up how I feel

I couldn't feel any happiness today because 8 passed. It's an abomination and I'm so disappointed in my fellow Californians. I guess I'm not surprised, though. California has passed all kinds of awful propositions in the past. I just hope we can fight this. It had no business being on the ballot. People shouldn't be able to vote on the rights of others. They obviously can't be trusted to do the right thing.

[LostinVA]

13. Righteous post!

[Mollis]

14. Exactly how I feel

It is a bittersweet victory in Cali. We got Obama, but 8 passed, and I am pissed.
It was so close, I can't beleive it. How could so many Obama supporters support this hatred?
The lies of the yes ads worked.
I am ashamed of the people in my county. It was 70-30 here.

[funkybug]

15. Probably not all Obama Supporters

Figure in the McCain/Palin supporters, and the conservatives who voted Obama because they couldn't bring themselves to vote for McCain/Palin.

We got out the vote, and we wooed the swing voters and even stole some conservative voters. I'm just sorry we were too short sighted to realize that in doing so, we weren't educating them on Prop 8 / Amendment 2.

And while California is currently fighting this, Florida is just sitting back and letting it happen.

Total BS, and something has to be done about it!

Anyone know a Cali lawyer that will take up arms for us here in FL?

[Mollis]

17. That's true

those people, too.
But still, people that I know that support Obama, but also voted yes.
Or, just anyone in general that's not a wing-nut.

[Zhade]

16. HEAR, HEAR!

NT!

[xchrom]

18. well said. nt

[jdppartners]

19. ...and I protected these very rights that I can't even enjoy

I stood at the front lines to protect this great country and all she stands for, equality and freedom to all. I was thrilled to move back to California and finally get married to the one I love. I apparently was only allowed to enjoy that for just a minute because now that has been lost. The one thing they can't take away is that we're still married in our hearts.
The thing that hurts so much is that I defended the rights of Americans to enjoy their freedom and dog on it, I'm an American too. At least my partner and I in our life time were able to enjoy being married legally, for real for a whole minute. I'll never forget the day we said "I DO".

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. Can I just say...

...this post has me in tears again. I spent the better part of my evening crying that my husband wasn't here with me to share this, that I had lost him too young. But, I had him... and no one ever questioned whether or not it was my right to have him. My tears, last night, turned to tears in memory of happy posts from newly wedded DUers with the passing of legislation to allow that which should have been taken away...

...I am sorry that we have failed you as a country, but we are in this together and I won't rest until I see you with what I took for granted, what I was lucky to have and lost far too soon.

[funkybug]

21. I'm so sorry

Here's to Gloria Allred and the frontline she's on. I'll think of you both every time she fights, and every time I contribute to the fight here in Florida.

[Sancho]

22. Some of us are not convinced that Florida always votes the way that is reported.

During the last three elections, there are a number of inconsistencies that don't make sense. Why would a large college and minority turnout vote for Obama but vote for amendment #2 in stark contrast to polls?

Simply put, if someone isn't auditing or watching every aspect of the process in Florida, you'll often see GOP winners and ballot initiatives that defy logic. I know McCain supporters in my red neighborhood who voted against amendment #2!

Unless the process is fixed, I have no confidence in any voting that is not watched carefully. This election, a combination of watching for manipulation, large turnout that overcame some of the cheating, and early voting on paper instead of DRE's made it harder to fix the election. Still, the exit polls don't match the reported results or Obama would have won bigger.

No one watches the tabulators or other parts of the process as carefully, so amendment 2 passed by a convenient 62% where it needed 60% to pass? If it had needed 50% to pass, you likely would have seen a 52% total!

[Lisa0825]

23. Great post and welcome to DU!

:pals:

[funkybug]

32. Thanks, and love that shot! nt

[RetiredTrotskyite]

24. Funkybug...

:yourock: :headbang: :kick: :applause:

[Iggo]

25. California here.

Fuck you, too.

Not all of us voted for that piece of shit prop.

[funkybug]

26. I didn't vote for it, that's for damned sure

So the rant does not apply to you ... just to our collective states.

[Silver Gaia]

29. I didn't vote for Prop 8, either.

Interesting stats in the link for exit polls at CNN posted upthread:

78% of Liberals and 53% of Moderates voted against Prop 8, while 85% of Conservatives voted for Prop 8.

So, it was the cross-over voters, conservatives who voted for Obama/Biden over McCain/Palin, who pushed Prop 8 over the edge.

I am also disgusted with my state, but it's important, I think, to take note of who is actually responsible.

I agree with whoever said upthread that we didn't do enough to educate voters about Prop 8. The pro-Prop 8 ads came in a heavy blitz right near the end of the election season. They used children in a false claim that scared the daylights out of conservative voters. Those of us who opposed Prop 8 were unable to respond quickly enough nor strongly enough to challenge them effectively. We were so focused on winning the presidential election, and most of us probably felt surely the GOTV for Obama would carry over to Prop 8. The cross-over conservative vote--welcome as it was in the presidential race--caught California by surprise on Prop 8. This, coupled with the fact, as reported in the Chron, that over half of registered voters in San Francisco County did not even bother to vote, unfortunately, helped Prop 8 to succeed. IMHO.

I was also surprised and disgusted when "Arnie" was elected. ugh California can do some bizarre things sometimes. :(

I am hoping that the challenges to Prop 8 already filed in the courts will succeed. On the bright side, we have Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown on our side. It is my hope that it will go down in the courts as unconstitutional.

It IS a blot on my state, though, and I am also livid.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. thank you so much. people like you give me so much joy and hope

[funkybug]

31. Thanks :) nt

[bluhoodie]

33. Thanks for saying this so well

And I like your use of expletives. Very fitting.

[yardwork]

34. Thanks from a lesbian breeder!

Your post sums up how I'm feeling this week. And don't forget Arkansas, where the people had to be so sure that no gays could ever adopt a child they made it illegal for any single person - gay or straight - to ever adopt.

So now there will be lots of children in foster homes instead of growing up in loving adoptive families. Good job Arkansas!

[Cherchez la Femme]

35. Great post

very sad I'm too late to Rec it :(

[funkybug]

36. An Update - (See, I TOLD you so)

This weekend is the weekend I usually volunteer my time at an animal shelter. Won't be there this weekend because I'll be at the Orlando Prop 8 protest instead.

I knew this was going to happen.

Not that those caring conservatives really give a damn about abandoned puppies, or abandoned babies (i.e. those that won't be adopted by gay couples/singles).

[keepCAblue]

37. Please don't neglect Arkansas...they are a testing ground for what's to come

Now that the h8rs have succeeded in getting ssm bans in the majority (60%) of the 50 states, they will now begin trying to take away adoption and foster parenting rights from glbts. Arkansas was a test case for this and now that the ban has passed, expect to see similar adoption/foster bans on other states' ballots in the future. In fact, the Arkansas ballot initiative to ban any unmarried persons from adopting or fostering was a reaction to the July 2008 unanimous decision made by the AR Supreme Court that ruled such bans against glbts were unconstitutional. So, just like in CA, xtian hate groups allied together (e.g., Focus on the Family) to get the adoption/foster ban on the Arkansas ballot. The initiative passed 57% - 43%.

P.S., Florida already bans glbts from adopting

From wikipedia:

John Thomas, vice president of the Arkansas Family Council, is the proponent of the measure. The group is also working with the Focus on Family Action group. The groups plan to work closely with Christian religious groups to gather signatures.

Mona Passignano, state issues analyst for the Colorado-based Focus on the Family Action, said "I'm sure that many states are going to have to deal with this at some point. Right now, Arkansas is the only one actively trying to let the people decide."