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[personal profile] bovil
repost as much or as little (or none) of this as you like:

Are you a California voter?

3 years ago, we had a commitment ceremony. It was presided over by a minister. 3 months ago we got married. It was provided over by a minister. California Proposition 8 isn't about religious rights. This is about denying religious rights.

You can't save marriage by destroying marriages.

A vote for California Proposition 8 is a vote to destroy my marriage.

A vote for California Proposition 8 is a vote to destroy my family's life.

A vote for California Proposition 8 is a vote to destroy my friends' lives.

A vote for California Proposition 8 is a vote to ruin the lives of ordinary Californians.

And I'm going to take it personally.

What? You don't vote? It's too hard? It's too inconvenient?

I'm going to take that personally too. An abstention might as well be a vote in favor. Get your sorry ass registered and out to the polls. Read up on the other propositions too. Read up on the candidates for office. Do your fucking civil duty.

Date: 2008-10-14 10:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bovil.livejournal.com
Ah, the classic "sit back and wait, and maybe someday you'll get what you want" argument. It doesn't hold water.

Every civil rights advance has faced monumental opposition. Most of them have been forced rather than generally acclaimed.

Date: 2008-10-14 10:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madoc62.livejournal.com
Andy,

No, it's not the "sit back and wait" argument.

Rather, it's fight the battles you can win - and don't fight the battles you can't afford to lose.

And as far as the other minorities go, look at the different results between those which fought for acceptance and "earned" it versus those which had such acceptance "handed" to them.

In many ways, blacks in this country have been severely held back due to the government's stepping in and forcing the issue. Not just enforcing equal application of existing law but in granting what was perceived as "special" rights.

It has only been through the establishment of the black middle class - and their proving themselves as capable as anyone else _without_ the government's saying so - that blacks in this country have really started moving ahead of where they were in the 60's.

Andy, I'm not saying it's "right" or that this is the way it "should" be. I am saying, that if you look at how this nation has operated and if you look at how people actually _are_, then you'll see that forcing such a recognition is a bad idea.

We might get away with it in California and if we do then I'll be cheering right alongside you. But pushing for it entails a horrendous risk and that's one which the gay community simply didn't have to take on.

Madoc

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Andrew T Trembley

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