I was so hoping to be writing a completely different post this morning. But, unfortunately, once again voters have decided that they'd rather listen to Glenn Beck than their hearts.
Maine passed a law last spring that would have allowed gay people to get married, but a ballot referendum on Tuesday has erased that law from the books. Once again, like they did in California, the conservative group The National Organization for Marriage, spearheaded the opposition to the law and managed to convince people that gay people getting married would end the world as we know it.
This decision is especially painful for me, as my husband's entire family lives in Maine, including my brother-in-law and his partner of over 15 years. The first family function I attended was their commitment ceremony in 1997. While it was not a legal union, they are just as married in my eyes, as I am. I've watched a myriad of heterosexual couples fall apart in that time, while they are still going strong. But, according to our government, they are not worthy of the same rights I enjoy.
I just wish that before they step into the voting booth, people could put themselves in some one else's shoes. Imagine if your government told you that you couldn't be with the one you love, that your love wasn't real or equal in the eyes of the country. How hard would you fight to change it? How long would you allow yourself to be treated like a second-class citizen? What would *you* do?
I don't want to preach. I just want people to stop letting themselves be fooled. God doesn't hate anyone. Gay people marrying doesn't make anyone else less married. We are all equal. Someday, we'll live up to our own ideals. Until then, we'll just have to keep fighting.
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