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Current mood:  bullied Category: News and Politics
I think a lot of people, myself included, who are pro same sex marriage are very disheartened after the election results in Maine. But if we all give up and stop fighting then we have truly lost the war. As I have said many times, this is a long battle that we will win. Tolerance won out for women and for racial minorities in the 20th century and it will win out again in the 21st century for the LGBT community. I truly believe this and that is why I fight every day to bring that day closer.
The fight for marriage equality is possibly the most visible battle for gay rights. (Sidenote: I always jump back and forth between calling it "gay rights" and "LGBT rights" because I feel like some people may not know what LGBT means and I want to make sure I'm attracting the attention and passion of anyone and everyone who wants to support equality. For those that may not know, LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender and is the PC way to say "gay rights" so you're not leaving out any of the groups that can fall under that umbrella.)
Ahem... The fight for marriage equality is possibly the most visible battle for gay rights but there are many other fights where the LGBT community needs our help! In fact, the Senate is holding a hearing on the fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and the House could hold its first important vote on ENDA in the coming weeks. This bill would end a bitter injustice in our country: In 29 states, it's legal to fire someone because they're lesbian, gay, or bisexual; in 38 states, it's legal to fire someone for being transgender. Passing ENDA would put a stop to this absolutely horrible and discriminatory policy on a federal level.
We NEED this bill to be passed! Just like it should be illegal to fire someone based on gender, race, or religion so should it be illegal to fire someone based on sexual preference. Please tell your representatives to pass ENDA now and end workplace discrimination against LGBT people. Pass this along to all of your friends and family and get them to write to their congressmen and women as well. Every single voice raised to support ENDA is a reason for our representatives to do what is right. They will not do it without their constituents telling them that is what they want. Don't let us lose this based on silence. Take a minute to send them an email expressing your support of ENDA.
All of the people who took action to encourage their congressmen and women to pass the Matthew Shepard hate crime legislation were effective last month as the bill as finally been signed into law. This can be achieved with ENDA right now so please act and spread the word!
Going back to the same sex marriage fight, there are many things that can be done to bring about equal treatment for same sex couples. Maine was just one state and, as we sadly learned in California, even a victory can be taken away. So let's take this "victory" for discrimination away from the anti-LBGT bigots and work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA is the law that rejects same sex marriage on a federal level. There is a bill before the House RIGHT NOW called the Respect For Marriage Act that would repeal DOMA and recognize same sex marriage. So please make sure you sign the Million for Marriage petition and tell you congressmen and women to repeal DOMA now!
President Obama has repeatedly promised to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" which prevents LGBT people from serving openly in the military. He repeated this promise last month so lets make him make good on it. Go to whitehouse.gov and tell President Obama to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell like he has been promising. You can also tell your representatives to do the same. Not only is this policy flat wrong, just like any policy that allows for discrimination, but it actually hurts our military. According to Historian Nathaniel Frank the military has discharged "11,000 capable service members under the policy, including over 300 linguists, 49 nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare specialists, 90 nuclear power engineers, 52 missile guidance and control operators, 150 rocket, missile and other artillery specialists, and 340 infantrymen." Why the FUCK are we firing Arabic translators when we are having a massive crisis having enough people to translate terror chatter???? According to our military, its actually leading to terrorist threats slipping through the cracks! We need to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell not only because it is discriminatory and wrong but also for the safety of our nation!
There are many, many other issues the face the LGBT community. I list these three simply because there are bills in congress RIGHT NOW that address them that need our help. You can always get involved with the HRC, America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. I work for them and I love them. Please get involved by joining, by signing their petitions, by donating, and by staying active. You don't have to be rich or old to change the face of politics. Getting involved with the HRC can help change things for the better. Even if you aren't old enough to vote, you can always spread information and contact your representatives.
I also want to take a second to address those who are anti-LGBT equality. It would be easy to say "fuck you" and be done with it but I want to encourage everyone to never take that tact in any debate for any reason. Refusing to respect the other side and engage with our opponents with respect is what has led to this nation been a polarized mess that can't accomplish a goddamn thing because no one is willing to listen. So, to all of those people who are against the issues above (or to anyone who talks to someone who is against the above), I want us all to take a step back and listen to each other. So here is my side of the debate as it addresses the religious aspect.
I understand that the argument against same sex marriage is that God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman. And that may or may not be so - it is your right to believe whatever you want. However, this is not an issue of religion. It is an issue of law. No one will ever go into a church and force them to marry a gay couple. Marriage, as it is being argued here, it purely a legal institution. It gives married couples 1138 federal protections and many more state ones that are denied to same sex couples. I think that we can all agree that any law that gives rights to one group and denies them to another is discriminatory. If Jewish married couples had 1138 federal rights that Christian couples were denied, it is discrimination. If whites were allowed to marry when blacks were not, that is discrimination. Discrimination is discrimination no matter what hat you put on it.
I completely understand the religious aspect but, again, no one will every force a church to marry a gay couple. Just like Christians support the right for Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and all other faiths to get married despite that fact that they go against the First and Second (depending on your faith) Commandments, so too should everyone support the right of gays to marry. This is a legal issue and we are not a Christian nation. Our very first amendment, the very one that will ensure churches will never have to marry gay couples, ensures that the laws of any religion are not the laws of this nation. To make a legal argument, one must look at the law of the land not the law of the Lord. Otherwise, what is to say that Muslims could not outlaw pork or Catholics could not outlaw the practice of any faith but their own? If you want the freedom to practice your faith, you must be willing to put aside that faith when it intersects with the law. If you only preserve the laws that protect yourself then you are wronging everyone else.
When we leave the realm of marriage, I find absolutely no religious argument that can account for the legalized discrimination of LGBT people in the workplace or military. If you would not discriminate against someone of another race, religion, or gender then why is it acceptable to discriminate against someone of a different sexuality? We have sexual harassment laws and rape laws in this country so if anything untoward does happen, you have the same legal protection as someone who is harassed or violated by a heterosexual partner. And since women and gay men are much more likely to be sexually harassed and raped BY a straight man than do either TO a straight man, using this as an argument to fire LGBT citizens from the workplace or the military is totally illogical. And, as I said above, firing gays has hurt our nations security not helped it. I am much more afraid of terrorist committing something worse than 9/11 than I am of the threat of openly gay soldiers sodomizing unwilling partners with impunity.
Going back to LGBT supporters, please, please, PLEASE get involved as I linked above and PLEASE pass this information along. If we give up, we have no one to blame but ourselves for losing this battle. TAKE ACTION! We need you now!
12:06 AM
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