It’s Tuesday March 26th, 2013 and a familiar scene is being played out in America. You know, the one where a group of citizens is forced to bite, scratch and claw for something that should be a right, a given.
Today we wait to see if the case for equality will move forward. How will the court weigh in on the case(s) against California’s travesty of a law, Proposition 8 and the equally heinous 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)?
As I say, this is not the United States’ first rodeo.
Just in the past one hundred years we’ve watched protests against a woman’s right to vote:
These brainiacs even had a handy, dandy pamphlet spelling out their (nonsensical) “logic.”
There was the shame of our Jim Crow laws, an unequaled expression of hatred if ever there was one.
A few years later in the same decade America was divided over the issue of interracial marriage, settled by the Supreme Court’s landmark 1967 decision, Loving v. Virginia.
So here we are, waiting. Of course, we have these yahoos to keep us company.
Women gaining the right to vote, the abolition of segregation and the legalization of interracial marriage all brought this country, our society, even we as a people to a better, stronger place. How gay marriage is still an issue is beyond me.
And for crying out loud, Prop-8’ers, stop dressing up your hate in morality and claiming to be defending my marriage. My marriage is doing just fine, thank you, and I do not wish to enable your bigotry in any way, shape or form. As parents, one of the first things we teach our children is that you can never build yourself up by tearing someone else down, or in this case, holding them down. The hatred here is no different than that of a schoolyard bully or a tyrannical despot and just as constructive. Put your signs away- if only for the sake of your children and grandchildren.
They’re going to be so embarrassed when they see the pictures.
Waiting to move forward… come on, Supreme Court.
This post was written by Erika Gardner. If you enjoyed it, please sign up to receive updates on this blog. Or you can follow Erika on Twitter @Erika_Gardner or “Like” her Facebook page Erika Gardner- Writer and Storyteller.
