My Uncle on Newfoundland always told me that if the U.S. reinstated the draft, I'd always have a place on the rock where I could go hide. I'm not one for hiding, but I'm also not one for participating in unjustified conflicts, and unless someone is waving a gun in my family's face there is very little that could provoke me to use violence. Besides the fact that I'm an avid pacifist, I also don't believe in fighting for a country that doesn't allot the same rights to me and people like me based on inconsequential circumstances.
I guess I had a lot more faith in Mr. Obama, that he would do more for the community. Takes our votes... then forget about us. Sickening really. I wouldn't get the chance to fight for this country even if I wanted to, because I can't be who I am. I'm sure I could tote a gun just as well as any other person out there. A friend of mine in the Army told me that I should join up and go into the ministry in the Army, that they had a shortage of ministers and they needed more (she was drunk when she told me this, and I had to chuckle a little because... well the Army wouldn't want someone like me. If you tell me the sky is blue, I'm probably going to argue that's it's really more of an off-purple hue. Not to mention the fact that I'm queerer than Christmas). Long story short, I could preach the Word out there probably just as well as the next guy. I'll tell you all about Yahweh and God and Allah and Jehovah (all the same dude) and help make your journey through life a little more peaceful. I'd love to give back to my country (even though they hate me for some reason?), but I can't because I can't enlist and remain an out individual.
I have this vision of a country where everyone is free, where we as taxpaying, country-loving, flag waving, American Idol watching citizens aren't forced subscribers to religions that we never chose to be a part of.
And, like I said to my mother when she asked about the "California thing," this country was founded by queers, you can't even tell me the founding fathers weren't a bunch of homos (no offense intended at all, I happen to be a proud American and I know my history very well, I also know that, more often then not for the better part of the history of most civilizations: men prefered the company of men and women, the company of women).
I guess what I'm trying to say is, this country is really cutting off its nose to spite its face, for lack of a better expression. I don't want to raise a family here when I could pack of my little car and haul it off to Canada where my rights are the same as the heterosexual next door. But I don't want to leave the country where I was born and raised, where my family lives (mainly), where my friends are and likely will remain.
I'm glad Connecticut and Massachusetts (the only two states I give a crap about, sorry to the other 48) have granted marriage equality, but it's just not enough. When my rights are different when I travel to Florida, something is not right. When my relationship with the person whom I love is not equivalent to a heterosexual relationship simply because I can't procreate with my partner of choice, something is not right. When my country tells me to get lost when I try to live my life the way I choose to live my life, hurting no one (in fact, I try to help out as much as possible in order to make life better for people), something is not right.
I just want to graduate from college, go to graduate school, become a Licensed Mental Health Clinician and eventually get my PhD (or PsyD as they're calling it these days for us psych geeks) and just... help people. I want to get married to a nice, soft spoken, warm hearted, charming girl who will make me laugh every day and who I can make laugh too. I want to have a kid or two and watch them learn new things, make mistakes, learn to love this beautiful world and this wonderful life. I just want to be as financially, emotionally and physically secure in my relationship with another human being (and eventually bringing more human beings into the picture), and I don't think that's too much to ask of this life or this world, or particularly this country where we're supposedly "free."
Sorry this is long and probably very disconnected, but I needed some time to process the "California thing" (as my mum calls it).
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
We're Here Too
I made posters tonight for the rally on Saturday. I am SO excited! One is neon green, one side says "Closets are for Clothes" and the other side says "Out and very Proud." The other is bright pink and says Equal Rights. I need to spruce them up a bit but figuring out what I wanted them to say was the hardest part.
I've heard a lot of people, including non-straight people, saying things like "I don't understand what these protests are going to do, it's a matter of that state, it's a matter of their supreme court, etc. etc." The fact of the matter is the supreme court of California ruled that same-sex marriage should be legal, that it is unconstitutional to deny homosexuals the right to marry. I was always led to believe that the supreme court is the highest power in the land. In any event, we're protesting to show this country that we're not small in numbers, we're not going to tolerate being treated this way. We're mad as hell and we're not going to stand it anymore. Personally, I'm a ninteen year old out lesbian. I've known I was gay for most of my life, I've been certain of it since I was 14/15, I've been coming out since senior year in high school. I only recently came out to my mother, despite how terrified I was. We shouldn't have to be afraid to be ourselves. I'm going to go out on a limb and speak for all the little ones trying desperately to find their place in the world, the kids who know there is something different about them but they just can't put their finger on it, the kids who want so badly to belong, but they simply can't, the kids who would rather suffocate in a place of death than have to force the world to face the truth. I made it out of that place, but there are MANY who don't. This country is letting its own children suffer, knowingly. I'm not going to stand by and let this happen anymore, something must be done.
Give us our constitutional rights, our birth rights. Tell me I matter as much as the straight person in the voting booth next to me. You take my taxes and my vote, but you can't treat me as a human being. I'm so ready for this rally. People are saying "but this is massachusetts, gay marriage has been legal for years." Right, it has, but there are bigots everywhere. We're rallying to show the rest of the country that we're here too, we see what's going on in California, and we're not going to let them stand alone. Take some comfort, maybe, in those who stand up all over the country and say we aren't taking no for an answer anymore. We're here too California.
I think the Colbert Report summed it up best with "We're going to out live, out last and out survive the bigots."
I've heard a lot of people, including non-straight people, saying things like "I don't understand what these protests are going to do, it's a matter of that state, it's a matter of their supreme court, etc. etc." The fact of the matter is the supreme court of California ruled that same-sex marriage should be legal, that it is unconstitutional to deny homosexuals the right to marry. I was always led to believe that the supreme court is the highest power in the land. In any event, we're protesting to show this country that we're not small in numbers, we're not going to tolerate being treated this way. We're mad as hell and we're not going to stand it anymore. Personally, I'm a ninteen year old out lesbian. I've known I was gay for most of my life, I've been certain of it since I was 14/15, I've been coming out since senior year in high school. I only recently came out to my mother, despite how terrified I was. We shouldn't have to be afraid to be ourselves. I'm going to go out on a limb and speak for all the little ones trying desperately to find their place in the world, the kids who know there is something different about them but they just can't put their finger on it, the kids who want so badly to belong, but they simply can't, the kids who would rather suffocate in a place of death than have to force the world to face the truth. I made it out of that place, but there are MANY who don't. This country is letting its own children suffer, knowingly. I'm not going to stand by and let this happen anymore, something must be done.
Give us our constitutional rights, our birth rights. Tell me I matter as much as the straight person in the voting booth next to me. You take my taxes and my vote, but you can't treat me as a human being. I'm so ready for this rally. People are saying "but this is massachusetts, gay marriage has been legal for years." Right, it has, but there are bigots everywhere. We're rallying to show the rest of the country that we're here too, we see what's going on in California, and we're not going to let them stand alone. Take some comfort, maybe, in those who stand up all over the country and say we aren't taking no for an answer anymore. We're here too California.
I think the Colbert Report summed it up best with "We're going to out live, out last and out survive the bigots."
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
4%
If I got 4% of my paycheck, and the rest was taken out for "social security" that my generation will never see, I'd be mighty pissed.
If I was having a house built and only 4% of the construction was finished on the day that the entire home was supposed to be done, I would be very upset.
If I were in a terrible accident and only 4% of my body was salvageable... I'd be dead.
I live in a country where 4% of the states allow EVERYONE to be married.
I, unfortunately, don't live in one of the states where marriage is a civil liberty. Well, I'm a registered voter in CT and I've never been employed in any other state, and I write resident of CT on paperwork, but I do reside in the great state of Massachusetts 9/12 of the year.
I don't want to live in a country where marriage isn't a civil liberty for everyone. Where bigots run the nation. Where honest, hard working people aren't granted the same rights as other honest, hard working people, for no reason other than who they love.
At least they are capable of love.
At least they don't have to hide who they are and have anonymous sex with people in airport bathrooms, or take advantage of young people in our nation's capitol, or hire prostitutes, or any number of the outrageous things our elected officials, THE CIVIL SERVANTS OF THIS NATION, do, constantly. And with YOUR tax money.
I work, I drive a car, I live in a home, I have a family who is counting on my having a future, I go to college, I have friends and family who love me, I LOVE my friends and family. I also am attracted to women. So where's the crime?
Once I didn't have enough money to pay for a pizza, and I promised the man I'd pay him back the next day, and I've never gone back since. That's the first and last time I ever "stole" and I certainly didn't mean to.
Sometimes I yell at the people I love when I get frustrated.
I don't keep my room as tidy as I should.
I drink sometimes, and I smoked cigarettes before I turned 18. That's the extent of my illegal biddings.
My country would have me think that because I like chicks I am a second class citizen. STILL. After all these years. It was just over half a century ago, I believe, that homosexuality was taken out of the APA manual of psychological disorders. I don't have a psychological disorder. Certainly the ability to love another human being isn't a psychological disorder. It's a gift from God that should be cherished. Gender is of no consequence.
And don't bring God or the Bible into this. YOU IGNORANT BASTARDS! Read the Bible!!! Don't take it out of context and listen to those scumbags who spout hate!! They also beat their wives and children and perpetuate violence!! They also have 10 mouths to feed at home because they can't put a damn glove on it!! THEY ALSO ARE NOT THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION!
Most people are honest, hard working, quiet American citizens, just trying to get by, and love their families and make the most of the time they're given. THEY ELECTED YOU! Take their tax money and put it to good use!!
We all deserve the right to love whoever we chose, and to not be afraid to walk down the street holding hands with our lover, and to not be confronted with hate DAILY from the people who are supposed to be doing OUR WILL!
WASPS are not the majority anymore. I am a WASP, I am a woman, I am a decent, law abiding American citizen.
LET ME LOVE WHO I WANT TO LOVE IN PEACE!
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, that's all any American wants. And if anyone wants to take away the ability of other Americans to enjoy those rights that are guarenteed by our Constitution, well THEY will get a big dose of LOVE from me!!
P.S. that was kind of a rant, but it made me feel a lot better. Congratulations to California, God Bless all who are being married there now and in the coming months and God grant freedom for the rest of the nation!!
If I was having a house built and only 4% of the construction was finished on the day that the entire home was supposed to be done, I would be very upset.
If I were in a terrible accident and only 4% of my body was salvageable... I'd be dead.
I live in a country where 4% of the states allow EVERYONE to be married.
I, unfortunately, don't live in one of the states where marriage is a civil liberty. Well, I'm a registered voter in CT and I've never been employed in any other state, and I write resident of CT on paperwork, but I do reside in the great state of Massachusetts 9/12 of the year.
I don't want to live in a country where marriage isn't a civil liberty for everyone. Where bigots run the nation. Where honest, hard working people aren't granted the same rights as other honest, hard working people, for no reason other than who they love.
At least they are capable of love.
At least they don't have to hide who they are and have anonymous sex with people in airport bathrooms, or take advantage of young people in our nation's capitol, or hire prostitutes, or any number of the outrageous things our elected officials, THE CIVIL SERVANTS OF THIS NATION, do, constantly. And with YOUR tax money.
I work, I drive a car, I live in a home, I have a family who is counting on my having a future, I go to college, I have friends and family who love me, I LOVE my friends and family. I also am attracted to women. So where's the crime?
Once I didn't have enough money to pay for a pizza, and I promised the man I'd pay him back the next day, and I've never gone back since. That's the first and last time I ever "stole" and I certainly didn't mean to.
Sometimes I yell at the people I love when I get frustrated.
I don't keep my room as tidy as I should.
I drink sometimes, and I smoked cigarettes before I turned 18. That's the extent of my illegal biddings.
My country would have me think that because I like chicks I am a second class citizen. STILL. After all these years. It was just over half a century ago, I believe, that homosexuality was taken out of the APA manual of psychological disorders. I don't have a psychological disorder. Certainly the ability to love another human being isn't a psychological disorder. It's a gift from God that should be cherished. Gender is of no consequence.
And don't bring God or the Bible into this. YOU IGNORANT BASTARDS! Read the Bible!!! Don't take it out of context and listen to those scumbags who spout hate!! They also beat their wives and children and perpetuate violence!! They also have 10 mouths to feed at home because they can't put a damn glove on it!! THEY ALSO ARE NOT THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION!
Most people are honest, hard working, quiet American citizens, just trying to get by, and love their families and make the most of the time they're given. THEY ELECTED YOU! Take their tax money and put it to good use!!
We all deserve the right to love whoever we chose, and to not be afraid to walk down the street holding hands with our lover, and to not be confronted with hate DAILY from the people who are supposed to be doing OUR WILL!
WASPS are not the majority anymore. I am a WASP, I am a woman, I am a decent, law abiding American citizen.
LET ME LOVE WHO I WANT TO LOVE IN PEACE!
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, that's all any American wants. And if anyone wants to take away the ability of other Americans to enjoy those rights that are guarenteed by our Constitution, well THEY will get a big dose of LOVE from me!!
P.S. that was kind of a rant, but it made me feel a lot better. Congratulations to California, God Bless all who are being married there now and in the coming months and God grant freedom for the rest of the nation!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)