Things Finally Get Political...

As we near what could possibly be the most stressful and exhausting week of my life, I've decided to share an essay I wrote in response to a question on the George Washington University Supplement. Of course a college in D.C. asks me to "Write about a political belief you stand by. Defend it and elaborate on it". ....If you say so!

Normally, I steer clear of politics in my writing because, let's be honest, no other topic gets under peoples' skin as quickly as political opinion. I'll say right now that if you disagree with my opinion, or anything in my essay, you are more than forgiven for closing the window and moving on with your life. But please, for both of our sakes, don't vomit your caps-lock, exclamation-point-ridden opinion on my page.

I chose to write about one of the more humanitarian political issues--No, not health care, the war, or where we should build mosques. I believe in the respect and dignity that all humans deserve. I believe in gay rights.

I now pronounce you man and wife. I used to take joy in this statement, weep for a family member that had found their soul mate and could publicly profess their love. This was before I knew about the heinous movement to deny rights to gay and lesbian individuals, ignoring their love just because they were different. I am disgusted by the fact that discrimination of this caliber still exists in our society. We live in America, home of the brave and the homophobic.

One of my favorite movies of all time is a documentary by Reed Cowan entitled 8: The Mormon Proposition. I had always supported gay marriage, but seeing this powerful and disturbing documentary only strengthened my feelings on the issue. Delving deeply into the motives of anti-gay activists, the documentary explores the clash of California’s gay and lesbian community and the Mormon agenda, namely to ban same-sex marriage for good. The beginning of the film showcases thousands of overjoyed gay and lesbian people as they line up outside city hall to receive a marriage license. Only moments after the decision was broadcast to California residents, the Mormon “prophets” started devising a plan to overturn the decision. From that day forward, the Mormon Church donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the campaign for Proposition 8 and forever became infamous for their overwhelming disapproval of gay marriage. A considerable chunk of that cash came from cornered members of the church, forced by their superiors to either get their checkbooks out, or leave the church forever. How do people so hateful and discriminatory still exist?

The Mormon Church is not the only assembly responsible for the plight of the gay community. Everyday people judge the same sex couples walking down the street holding hands, and especially the same-sex couples that fight for the right to express their love publicly in the act of marriage, how dare they? The opposition profusely claims the marriage is a sacred institution and that same sex marriage skews God’s vision of the family. In my opinion, divorce skews the vision of all families, yet fifty percent of the population thinks that’s perfectly fine. And if same sex marriage is such a divine gift, why are groups like the Unitarians and Presbyterians coming out of the woodwork and accepting gay marriage? It seems to me that only certain groups of people in certain divine institutions have decided that same sex marriage is out of the question, but where does that leave those of us that want to see change?

I was overjoyed when I saw this headline in the paper: Proposition 8 Overturned: Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional. I was immensely proud of California’s government for coming back to justice with this decision. Finally, a judge saw the despicable flaws in this proposition and deemed it unconstitutional. How far have we really come from slavery, discriminating against Mexican Americans, and denying voting rights for women? I would like to believe in a country that can stop this vastly degrading discrimination before it reaches the White House.

In what world is this acceptable? In whose mind is this blatant hatred and disrespect just? Are we much better, the silent bystanders? An entire demographic of people live their lives in a society fueled by discrimination, disrespect, and a complete absence of morality.


I, for one, will not tolerate it.












If you want to learn more about Reed Cowan's documentary, 8: The Mormon Proposition, go to:

http://www.mormonproposition.com/