Wii Do.
Oregon passed an anti-discrimination law today, or maybe yesterday, stating that gays and lesbians cannot be paid differently, given different benefits, or not receive employment based on their sexual orientation. woohoo. i do see this as a victory of sorts but I wonder if we have forgotten about the big, fat amendment that Oregon wrote into their constitution a couple years ago: BANNING GAY MARRIAGE. Gays and lesbians are totally allowed to have all the rights of any straight person, except for that whole marriage thing. Another law that was passed gave domestic partnerships new rights when it came to berevement, sick leave, end of life issues, and inheritance. Again, this is a victory, but it seems a bit hypocritical for us to say, you can't discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation, but we CAN and HAVE written discrimination into our constitution. UGH.
On a lighter note, Paterson bought me a Wii. I feel like I am now a member of an exclusive club. You see, let's say the Wii is "equal rights," the rights all humans should have. With these laws it's like we gave Wiis to all the gay people, but we made it so they can't ever buy a second controller, or they can only play it during certain times of the day. There are still infringements on people's personal freedoms.
And really, when it boils down to what this is about--it's church and state. How can we, as a religiously free society, write into our constitution that gays are not allowed to marry? Bare bones marriage is a religious insitution and if you take your vows and feel that you are bound in the eyes of God, the government can recognize that union, but it cannot give it preference over any other union.
Right?
A few years ago, 2003 maybe, I made a promise to my brother, who is gay, that I wouldn't get married until he could. Until a marriage between two men would be recognized and given equal rights at the federal level. I've accepted that I will never get married. I could get a civil union or a domestic partnership if I wanted to. It would make buying a house easier, doing taxes, other things. But if it came down to the end and my life partner had no say in where my money would go or how I wanted to die, how can you govern that? How can you claim the importance of one couple's love over another? And if you say, well, it says so in the bible--guess what? America isn't governed by the bible.
So, this is what I have to say to all my friends that are getting married (once you turn twenty-five it becomes an epidemic), get a civil union, get a domestic partnership. We are part of a liberal generation--if you want your gay neighbor, friend, brother or sister to truly have equal rights, don't allow yourself any rights that they are not.