It's time to fight the Good Fight

"In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains
Yes he still remains."

Do I live in the land of the free and the brave?

Two days ago, the state of California made it sure that gay people are not part of that land and free statement. Nope, with outside peddling from the Catholic Church and the Mormons, Prop 8 passed, ensuring that gay men and women can be and will be discriminated against.

What strikes me most about this blow to equal rights is how some folks who have really no problem with gay people, the so called friends, who seem to think this is all about some judges who acted in defiance of the constitution (with the often ubiquitous "activist judges" thrown around because that seems to be the only word they know how to use; besides it also makes them sound smart) and the will of Californians. They claim they had to pass it, because if they let it fail, then the Constitution means nothing. That some sort of anarchy would be created if it was to fail.

These so called friends are not that at all, because a true friend would help out, no matter what the cost. These people are nothing but the mouth piece to religious zealots who command power through the use of money.

The influence of both the Mormons and the Catholics does not surprise me, but the fact that they got away with it, and the fact the Mormons now want everyone to treat people with "civility, with respect and with love" just astounds me beyond belief.

Jebus on a crutch, can Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the LDS be serious?

As Towleroad said, "Bitch, Please."

On Star Trek they say "revenge is a best dish served cold." And while revenge is petty and, at times, just as bad as the offense, I'm all for an appeal of all Church's tax exempt status. Force these weasels to start paying taxes, and they'll have less money to influence discrimination.

And this was never, ever about children (indecently, only children who are signed up for Comprehensive Sex Education in California schools are taught about gay relationships and sex., so you see how YES on 8 distorted the issue). I was talking to my cousins wife, a stalwart Republican. While she voted NO on Prop 8, she was able to shelter her two children, 11 and 8, from both the YES and NO groups. It wasn't until she passed a rally for YES on 8 that she had to explain to her kids what it was about. And as one who does not believe in lying to her children when they ask a question, she explained to them what was going on. She was not ready to say these things to her children, but she felt, in the end, that it was better to tell the truth.

So, ironically, it was the YES on 8 and not the NO people who forced her hand. Way to go.

But some of this failure to stop this was gays themselves. This was, perhaps, not the most important issue on our road to equal rights. Personally, as I've said before, call it a Civil Union. The word "marriage" carries too much baggage, too much pain and hate. Much like the abortion issue that polarizes a nation, having gays be able to call their commitment together a marriage is never, ever going to happen.

What we need to fight for, in all fifty states of this great Union, is equal rights when is comes to money, and life decisions. Once again, I'll note personal finance guru Suzie Orman when she says its sad that her partner is not entitled to get her money when she dies, because that partner is a woman and that their relationship is not seen as legal, like in straight and common law arrangements. Yes, even in common law arrangements, who ever survives does get their partners pension and inherits their belongings.

In a gay relationship, that is not so. If I have a pension and I die, my partner does not get it. As a matter of fact, my family members could then come to my survivng partner and take everything that was mine -including the roof over his head - and my partner would not have a legal foot to stand on.

And in anyone's book, that is not right.

And one more thing, before I leave, this is not a choice. The flimsy house of cards the religious right builds their argument on is quickly falling by the wayside, and that scares them. But the sad aspect, one I learned this past Saturday when a YES on rally was right outside my front door, that the only way these fools will change their argument is if science gives them 100% empirical evidence (though, they'll still cart out the "activist" phrase because, well, that's the only argument they'll have left). Nothing less than one hundred percent proof -as if the is any actual proof God actually exists.

And while the Catholics had modified their stance for the coming truth with the love the sinner, hate the sin propoganda, the Evangelical Christians will never, it appears, surrender to reality. They want to live in a closed world where only a few people have knowledge and power, and where the rest should be just just lambs, molified by endless episodes of Dancing with the Stars.

On Novemeber 4th, America overwhelming swept away the one of the last shackles of racial intolerence by electing a black man to lead our nation. We took a huge leap forward in this land of the free and brave, but after all the confetti settled, here in California, the people decided that discrimnating against the entire GLBT nation still okay.

After all, it was for the kids.

But like my friend JT said, I'm not done with Prop 8. It's time to become more visable in this battle for equality.

I can no longer sit back and let this intolerance continue. If the Mormons, if the Evangelicals, if the Catholics want a fight, well with my God behind me, I'll fight.

This separate but equal crap is over.