something to think about

For those of you that know me, I love to read Perez Hilton's celebrity blog. He is an openly gay man who also blogs about gay rights. The other night he was one of the judges for the Ms USA pageant and by "chance" Ms. California picked him for her question. It was..."Vermont, recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not?" And her answer was..."Well, I think that it is great that Americans can choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and you know what? In my country and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anyone out there..but, that's how I was raised and that's how I think it should be...between a man and a woman." (I still don't think that she answered the question and in "her" country not everyone actually gets the right to choose). She came in second. There has been tons of interviews done with her and with Perez. In one of the interviews it came up how it used to be illegal for a black and a white person to marry and how that has changed because it was discriminating against groups of people who wanted something different than the "norm".. When I hear all the arguments on this topic or tons of others, I think something is missed. She has been defending her right to her opinion, which in this country is a right that we have but, it is really not the point of why a lot of people are upset. I believe that everyone does have a right to their opinion, doesn't necessarily mean that it is right or wrong but, we are supposed to be a country that has equality for everyone. Just because you don't believe that a black person or a white person should be married, doesn't give us the right to decide that for our neighbor. Just because you don't believe that gays or lesbians should be married doesn't give us the right to decide that for our neighbor. Just because you don't believe that co-sleeping is right, doesn't give us the right to choose that for our neighbor. and on and on. You do not have to personally want or believe in something for you and your family, but in the USA there should not be a choice to harm others because they want something different for their family than their next door neighbor.

I feel sad, listening or reading the debates on this topic in particular. Whether my lesbian or gay friends are married does not change anything thing at all in my life (except give me some more celebrations to be happy for). So, why should one of them have to be the sole bread winner while the other one is a stay at home mom and they not get the same tax breaks that I would? Why should anyone have to be scared that if something should happen to their partner that they have spent 40+ years with and they die, they do not get the same protection as me? Why does anyone care when there is more love in this world filled with so much anger and hatred?

My prayer for my girlies, is that one day they get to see a world full of compassion and acceptance for "different". I am thankful that in "our" home, we try very hard to be accepting of differences and that I have the right to my opinion :)