Gay Marriage Legalized: Love Won, Right?
I must admit, I didn't think it would happen. I thought I would always be the guy screaming from the "radical left" that America needs to get with the program but it will never happen because our government blah blah blah... Then I got the text from Swedie that it was official. The Supreme Court had made it illegal to ban the marriage of homosexuals. Just like that it was over. You can't appeal higher than that. A broad smile was plastered on my face. I was ecstatic. There was one less thing that foreigners could say about stuck-in-the-past America. We did it. We really did it! I told Swedish people. Most of them didn't even know that it wasn't allowed yet. It's been legal here since 2009 (legally recognized unions since 1995, but the term "marriage" applied in '09). To them it wasn't a big deal. Whoop-dee-doo. Welcome to modern times.
I knew I was in favor of marriage equality. I knew I supported the LGBT community. But I didn't know how happy this would make me. I wasn't only happy for my gay brothers and sisters. I was happy for America. We were finally waking up and getting with the times. Maybe church and state were separated after all. This was proof of that. I was disappointed that it was a 5-4 vote. Come on justices. How can four of you justify a state denying marriage of two human beings? But whatever. It's done now. It made my vote for Barack Obama feel even more valuable. He did put two justices in those seats, you know. No telling who Romney or McCain would have selected. I was on cloud 9.
I went on Twitter to tweet my excitement. I needed a hashtag. I tried to think of stuff. #GayRights? No, that's bland. #MarriageEqualityFinally? Too long. Then I saw #LoveWins. How appropriate. Despite what detractors were saying, love won. All people wanted to do was recognize their love like other people in love. More love would be recognized. Love was the winner here. America was the winner in my view. I was proud. I even snagged a #LoveWins picture from Hillary Clinton's Twitter feed (good strategy of her team to get out in front of this) and posted it on my Facebook wall. Now my Facebook friends would see it and know that I feel that love won.
I didn't expect the debates. How naive I was! I knew that I had Christian Facebook friends that post stuff that annoys me like "Type 'Amen' if God woke you up this morning" (seriously?), but I didn't think any of those people would be so bothered to get angry. This didn't directly effect them. They weren't LOSING anything. I was wrong. I've seen too much negativity, hatred and judgement in the last few days. I guess living here made me oblivious to it. Most people that I know here feel it's not their business what goes on in other people's homes. Most people that I know here are not religious. That's the part that bothers me the most. The Christian response.
It's funny when I look at that last sentence considering Christian means "Christ-like". The Jesus I learned about growing up would not harbor so much animosity. People are so passionate about other people getting a piece of freaking paper recognizing their union. To those people it's more than just the certificate. They can now be official "next of kin", visit each other in the hospital, file joint taxes and whatever else I can do with my wife. Why shouldn't they be allowed to do that? I think Jesus would be down for that. And while we're on Jesus, he is the figure that the entire religion is based upon, yet I have yet to see any words in red lettering (Jesus' words are red in many Bibles) against homosexuality. So if homosexuality didn't bother Jesus enough to mention it to his disciples, why is it such a big deal to any Christian? I thought Christianity was about loving your neighbor no matter what. What happened to the golden rule? Do unto others, right?
Speaking of the Golden Rule, I get extra perturbed when black people speak against gay rights. People were trying to actively and legally keep civil rights from blacks just one generation ago. We KNOW the struggle. Why put that on someone else? Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. Do you want someone telling you who you can love? Telling you that you will burn in eternal fire because you are in love with whom you are in love with? Or worse, that you could be a good person if you loved someone else, but you're CHOOSING to be in love with who you're in love with? It's disturbing. It's judgmental. It's not "Christ-like".
I know I may seem to be pretty hard on Christians. That is the religion that I'm most familiar with. It's also the people that are the most vocal in their disapproval of this monumental decision. Homosexuality is condemned in Islam and Judaism as well. But I haven't seen any backlash at all from Muslims or Jews. Some people added a rainbow filter to their Facebook profiles to show support for the LGBT community. I've now seen some Christians with a similar filter, but with a cross instead. As if the two are polar opposites. I've seen warnings that this is a sign of the imminency of the End of Days. As if America is the first country to legalize this. Hell, our next door neighbor Canada legalized gay marriage 10 years ago! There hasn't been leprosy or a plague or raining frogs there. Don't take it so personal, people. This literally is NOT ABOUT YOU.
I honestly tried looking at the other side. Did opposition to gay marriage have a point? I just can't see it. We're all free to believe what we believe. Believing that sexual orientation is a choice is ignorant (after all, I never chose to be straight, I just am), but one is free to think it is a choice if they want to. Ignorance is allowed (and sometimes encouraged) in our society. Your religious beliefs could have you convinced that homosexuals are all going to burn in eternal flames. That's well and good, but that has nothing to do with our government. I'm glad the separation of church and state shined through this time. Human rights are human rights. More humans got more rights on Friday. How could you respond to that with anything other than love? The decision itself made me prouder to be an American. We all win when love wins. Until next time...
I knew I was in favor of marriage equality. I knew I supported the LGBT community. But I didn't know how happy this would make me. I wasn't only happy for my gay brothers and sisters. I was happy for America. We were finally waking up and getting with the times. Maybe church and state were separated after all. This was proof of that. I was disappointed that it was a 5-4 vote. Come on justices. How can four of you justify a state denying marriage of two human beings? But whatever. It's done now. It made my vote for Barack Obama feel even more valuable. He did put two justices in those seats, you know. No telling who Romney or McCain would have selected. I was on cloud 9.
I went on Twitter to tweet my excitement. I needed a hashtag. I tried to think of stuff. #GayRights? No, that's bland. #MarriageEqualityFinally? Too long. Then I saw #LoveWins. How appropriate. Despite what detractors were saying, love won. All people wanted to do was recognize their love like other people in love. More love would be recognized. Love was the winner here. America was the winner in my view. I was proud. I even snagged a #LoveWins picture from Hillary Clinton's Twitter feed (good strategy of her team to get out in front of this) and posted it on my Facebook wall. Now my Facebook friends would see it and know that I feel that love won.
I didn't expect the debates. How naive I was! I knew that I had Christian Facebook friends that post stuff that annoys me like "Type 'Amen' if God woke you up this morning" (seriously?), but I didn't think any of those people would be so bothered to get angry. This didn't directly effect them. They weren't LOSING anything. I was wrong. I've seen too much negativity, hatred and judgement in the last few days. I guess living here made me oblivious to it. Most people that I know here feel it's not their business what goes on in other people's homes. Most people that I know here are not religious. That's the part that bothers me the most. The Christian response.
It's funny when I look at that last sentence considering Christian means "Christ-like". The Jesus I learned about growing up would not harbor so much animosity. People are so passionate about other people getting a piece of freaking paper recognizing their union. To those people it's more than just the certificate. They can now be official "next of kin", visit each other in the hospital, file joint taxes and whatever else I can do with my wife. Why shouldn't they be allowed to do that? I think Jesus would be down for that. And while we're on Jesus, he is the figure that the entire religion is based upon, yet I have yet to see any words in red lettering (Jesus' words are red in many Bibles) against homosexuality. So if homosexuality didn't bother Jesus enough to mention it to his disciples, why is it such a big deal to any Christian? I thought Christianity was about loving your neighbor no matter what. What happened to the golden rule? Do unto others, right?
Speaking of the Golden Rule, I get extra perturbed when black people speak against gay rights. People were trying to actively and legally keep civil rights from blacks just one generation ago. We KNOW the struggle. Why put that on someone else? Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. Do you want someone telling you who you can love? Telling you that you will burn in eternal fire because you are in love with whom you are in love with? Or worse, that you could be a good person if you loved someone else, but you're CHOOSING to be in love with who you're in love with? It's disturbing. It's judgmental. It's not "Christ-like".
I know I may seem to be pretty hard on Christians. That is the religion that I'm most familiar with. It's also the people that are the most vocal in their disapproval of this monumental decision. Homosexuality is condemned in Islam and Judaism as well. But I haven't seen any backlash at all from Muslims or Jews. Some people added a rainbow filter to their Facebook profiles to show support for the LGBT community. I've now seen some Christians with a similar filter, but with a cross instead. As if the two are polar opposites. I've seen warnings that this is a sign of the imminency of the End of Days. As if America is the first country to legalize this. Hell, our next door neighbor Canada legalized gay marriage 10 years ago! There hasn't been leprosy or a plague or raining frogs there. Don't take it so personal, people. This literally is NOT ABOUT YOU.
I honestly tried looking at the other side. Did opposition to gay marriage have a point? I just can't see it. We're all free to believe what we believe. Believing that sexual orientation is a choice is ignorant (after all, I never chose to be straight, I just am), but one is free to think it is a choice if they want to. Ignorance is allowed (and sometimes encouraged) in our society. Your religious beliefs could have you convinced that homosexuals are all going to burn in eternal flames. That's well and good, but that has nothing to do with our government. I'm glad the separation of church and state shined through this time. Human rights are human rights. More humans got more rights on Friday. How could you respond to that with anything other than love? The decision itself made me prouder to be an American. We all win when love wins. Until next time...
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