Yesterday, Maine’s vote sent a(nother) clear message to me: gay people do not matter to the majority of Americans. I am sure that many will argue that this is not the position of most Americans, but the message is too clear to ignore. Our civil rights are constantly up for debate, and constantly, we have them taken away. I cannot interpret that as anything other than a message that we do not matter; this society does not see fit to grant us the same rights and liberties as the rest of Americans.
It’s interesting, because this same society gladly takes our tax money, our contributions to society, and expects us to serve our country, but people continue to pass laws that reflect whether or not they feel “comfortable” with the “idea” of us getting married? Um, how does that work? That’s not just “unfair”, it’s un-American.
Isn’t the constitution supposed to grant freedom; not take it away? Additionally, isn’t the constitution supposed to protect us from the government making decisions about whether or not to strip us of our civil rights? Where are the values and principles that represent the underlying foundation of this nation? They are glaringly absent when you look at any vote for or against anyone’s civil rights. This bears repeating: voting for or against anyone’s rights goes against the very foundation of this country. We are all supposed to be free and equal. By putting this up for a vote, more than half of the people in Maine have gone against the foundation of our nation, and have made it clear that they feel as if it is okay to make the decision against gay people being equal.
Again, how does this make sense?
Every time we vote for or against the civil rights of any group of people in this country, especially minorities, we are sending a clear message that their rights do not matter. No one should ever have to campaign to have the popular vote determine whether or not they can have the same rights as everyone else. It’s just plain wrong.
Shame on 53% of Maine voters for believing that their opinion matters more than the rights of gays and lesbians living in Maine. Since this isn’t the first, and it will not be the last time that our rights are in the hands of those that wish to discriminate, I also say shame on any American who thinks that their opinion matters more than someone’s civil rights.
One final thing. In looking for the results of the vote this morning, I came across this article, and I have to comment on the quote from Jeff Flint:
Voters have a pretty good grasp about what they think marriage should be. It’s not that they’re discriminatory or bigoted. They just draw the line at what they think marriage should be.
Um, what? I’m sorry, but I will never allow anyone who says bullshit like this to have a free pass. If you are against gay marriage, you are against it because of discrimination; that is what you voted on. You voted specifically in order to discriminate against gay people. Jeff, just because you are able to some how twist your illogical thoughts into what you consider rational doesn’t not get you off the hook. You represent a discriminatory body of Americans that have “values” and beliefs that are most certainly based on bigotry. You can’t take away someone’s rights and say that you did it for “personal reasons” or “personal beliefs”, and then in the same breath say, “but I have nothing against them”. Perhaps he should actually look up the word discrimination, because I don’t think he understands the concept.
Perhaps he, and others like him, should keep their opinions to themselves, and stop using them to determine whether or not someone else should or should not have equal rights. Feel free to define marriage however you want; just don’t decide how I, or anyone else, has access to my civil rights.
This is one of the biggest social injustices of our time. I still cannot comprehend how this is justified – daily and often.
@mingaling: Me either, yet here we are. People that keep reassuring me that we will eventually have equal civil rights have a harder time convincing me each time something like this sets us back.
As my friend Deb said this morning, “living in the USA is so demoralizing. when will our leaders finally stop putting civil rights to the vote and actually step up and do something?”. Exactly. When will they?
Despite the obvious reasons people seem to be against gay marriage (fear, hatred, whatever) what also annoys me is so many people use the religious aspect of marriage to go against gay marriage. I do not think religion should have anything to do with politics and that really annoys me. They need to step outside this religious concept of marriage they have and realize it’s about their rights and having the same ones everyone else does. It’s this crap that turns me more and more against religious enthusiasts.
@Robin: Agreed. The more you really dissect people’s religious position and what they use it to justify, it makes me run further and further from religion itself. I used to be incredibly religious, and since I came out, I have been less and less so; not because I believe in God any less, but explicitly because of his followers.
I also find it interesting how explicit the government is about not including religion, and how we are supposed to subscribe to a system of checks and balances, yet in the case of gay marriage, we abandon both in every instance. It makes no sense. Not to mention, if you were to do the EXACT same thing to them (challenge their rights because of religion, meaning take away their freedom of religion) they would NOT stand for it; yet they don’t “understand” why we are so upset. Fuck you, you selfish nitwits.
Hello, my name is nate douglass. I live in maine and although i am not old enough to vote i voted yes on quastion 1 in my school votes. I know what your saying right now, “this kid is a frigin bigot, and probably is a gay basher or somethin”. Well your wrong, I voted yes on 1 because of my personal view of marriage being between one man and one woman.I am personally pissed of all gays and lezbians calling people like me a bigot. I am not a bigot. My great uncle was gay, and he wasn’t a good man. He was actually a dick to a lot of people, but yeah know i let that go because i know not all gay people are like that. Also to the morons who say religion shouldn’t be part of politics, well shit it’s part of most people’s lives. You can’t live your life by something and when a ballot comes around not let it influance you. But in general what im saying is shutup with all this your a bigot, and his a bigot bullshit. yes there aare some people out there who voted yes on 1 just so they can stick it to the gays, but theirs other people who didn’t, like me who just wants to express his opinion but can’t do so without being called a bigot gay hater or numerous other terms. So before you go calling people bigots frigin shutup, and please just be civil about it. Because the other sides got people who are willing to talk as well. Sorry if i rambled a little bit I just want people to understand that im not a bigot, but you can say whatever you want.
I’m amazed at the feeling of ownership of marriage straights have. There is no legal basis for this arbitrary denial of rights. And I think it demonstrates the visceral disgust many have for gays. This is the same things that happened to blacks (only they had it much worse) but in the end I believe we will also win.
@Nate: You fall under the same fallacy as the guy I quoted in the article. You say that you are not a bigot, yet your vote represents bigoted, discriminatory views. You can’t vote for something that represents discrimination and say you aren’t discriminatory.
You said:
My point to you, is that it isn’t your place to “make an opinion” about anyone else’s civil rights. Additionally, if you don’t want to be lumped in with bigots and discriminatory people, you probably should agree with their positions, and vote along side them. Point blank, this vote is discriminatory, and represents bigoted values; you voted for it, so you are saying it is okay.
Finally, you said:
I’m not the one saying that; the Constitution of the United States says that, and I just happen to agree with the principle.