By a 10-8 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee will allow the full Senate to vote on the gay marriage ban. Will the pandering never cease?
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Please stop trying to protect my marriage by denying other people rights. There is no way that seeing two people in love marry each other affects me in any way other than making me a little weepy, and if my husband is going to divorce me over that, well, we have a bigger problem than gay marriage.
Not long ago, I was having a personal service performed (I'll avoid saying which one so as not to cause any boycotts of an otherwise enlightened small business) and the service performer said to me, "I don't care if people are gay, but why do they have to, like, flaunt it?" Of all of the ignorant homophobic comments I don't enjoy, this one ranks possibly the highest. It's the equivalent, in my mind, of "Why can't gay men just marry women to fit in better so I don't feel uncomfortable?"
So, I unleashed my standard response to this brand of ignorance, my own ignorance: "Could you explain what you mean by flaunting it?" I asked her. "Did you get a visit from the anal sex patrol, too? Gosh, I do so hate it when the two guys show up to do it on my porch."
After the stammering and stuttering ends, it's usually revealed the flaunting it means things like holding hands with partners and displaying family photos in workspaces, and so it was in this case.
My only hope--and I admit it's probably a vain one--is that voters will look at the timing of this vote and recognize it for the shameless distraction technique that it is. Soldiers are dying in Iraq every day--although, if you listen to Fred Phelps, that can be laid at the feet of gay people, too--corporations increasingly control the country, children are going without health insurance, and our lawmakers have decided that the best way to deal with the very real problems we're facing is by attacking homosexuals. Throw in a flag-burning amendment and we could have a real smokescreen.
Don't like it? Better call your senator, ASAP. That vote is coming to a lawmaker near you.