Melissa Etheridge On Prop 8: You Can Forget My Taxes, California

The Daily Beast:

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California--and she won't be paying the state a dime.

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won't have to pay their taxes either.

Read the whole story: The Daily Beast

Comments

[Richcelt]

(part two)

What (apparently little) acceptance there is for gays in American society is mainly because of you and Ellen and George and others like you. We see you on TV, hear you on the radio, and have come to accept you for what you are as people. You are the spokespersons for this movement, whether you want the job or not. You have to be to the gay community what Martin Luther King was to the black civil rights movement, or Cesar Chavez was to the Latino movement. You can't sit on the sidelines and let others try to do what you are in the unique position to do. Because if all you do IS sit on the sidelines and wait for others to do the job for you, then you need to ask yourself this question:

How long are you willing to wait for equality?

[Richcelt]

I wonder if Melissa will read this. Well, just in case she does...

Melissa, as a heterosexual male who voted no on Prop 8, I totally support you and your efforts. I do have one criticism for you and, especially, all of your fellow famous gay friends (Ellen and George Takei and so on). None of you seemed vocal enough. Where was this BEFORE the votes were cast? Ellen made a video statement for her show's website, but how many people actually saw it versus how many COULD have seen it if it had run on TV? George made a few speeches, but not in a widely seen public forum. Where were your concerts? Where were Brad Pitt and the other heterosexual celebrities who donated money to defeat the law, but did nothing else to otherwise support you. Where were the demonstrations that are only NOW marching down the streets of Los Angeles. Why wait until AFTER the law gets passed to express your outrage?

(end part one)

[ReelBusy]

DUDE YOU MUST HAVE MISSED THE MANY RALLIES AND MARCHES THAT TOOK PLACE IN CA PRE-VOTE.

[Richcelt]

I didn't miss them. What I missed were the celebrities! Were they there too? Did they run TV ads?

For the past two days now, major streets in LA have been shut down because of anti-8 protesters. This is the first I've heard of such things, at least in LA. The county as a whole voted FOR the ban, which is inconceivable to me. Northern California got it right. They understood. But So Cal missed it.

So many of these celebs LIVE in So Cal, and So Cal missed it. I really think they should have been more visible and more vocal.

[gluvox12]

Ellen talked about it on the Tonight Show!
One institution I would call out however is this very website, Huffington Post. Nary a mention during the campaign and STILL not a single article on the front page. Al Franken gets his own Big News page, but Prop 8? Makes me wonder.

[JaioXung]

It is fortunate for the racial equality movement that the bible never said being black is a sin. That is the one thing that will make this battle even tougher that the one against racial bigotry; People think they have a source of absolute truth to back them up. I hope that reasoned minds will prevail and people will realize that we are not a Christian fundamentalist nation. We are a democracy. One paid for with the blood of countless men dedicated to the creation of a nation governed by it's people, not by it's church.

Quick! To the Supreme Court!

[DMcMillan]

One more thing i would like to add is this: Your tax money supports the people that voted for Prop 8 and their children. Does that make your head smoke? Does it make anyone feel even more like a second class citizen? It's b s.

[OttoMann]

I like the strategy -- all the celebrity and other wealthy gay CA residents should band together, hold a press conference, and announce that the CA Legislature has a certain time limit, and if they don't allow gay marriage, then EVERYONE will change their official state residence to a state that does allow it.

[BannedFromCommenting]

What if tomorrow every gay person moved out of CA, or just stopped paying taxes.. if they truly are 20% of the population, that is a devastating effect.. even if it was 5% drop...

I think its total BS about same taxes, but NOT same rights.. it was a point I had not even thought about, and could not agree with more...

[AHydel]

The laws the law. I don't agree with Prop 8 either, but we can't pick and chose which laws we follow. There are plenty of legal opportunities open to overturning Prop 8, but to stop paying taxes would delegitimize this movement. They should have organized better leading up to the election, maybe tried to suppress the black vote a little by telling them the polls were closed in their area.

[DMcMillan]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." I agree but the government has been picking and choosing what laws they want to follow.

[JohnBisceglia]

I say (poitely) BS. We do NOT have to follow an immoral, unjust law that hurts our FAMILY.

FAMILY! I thought this was a cherished concept for most Americans.

Delegitimize the movement? This ain't a beauty contest. I do NOT CARE what ANYONE thinks anymore - I am DONE with that - I KNOW I DESERVE EQUALITY.

NOT a debate.

NOT something to vote on.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who believes we deserve these rights, said this morning on THE SITUATION ROOM that we essentially lost because "the people have spoken" (BS - they should have NEVER been asked in the first place), and that the YES on PROP 8 folks ran a better campaign. WHAT?!?!? The best fund-raiser wins?!?!?

[DMcMillan]

I have been saying this for years to every gay person I know. I haven't paid taxes since 1995. f em.
No Taxation without Representation. How can we band together on this and start a movement?

[IzzyCA]

You live in CA and you haven't paid taxes since 1995? How do you elude the CA Franchise Tax Board? They are worse than the IRS!

[JohnBisceglia]

"How can we band together on this and start a movement?"

EASY - join Charles Merrill, John Bisceglia (myself), and Melissa Etheridge. Help me spread the word. Check out my blog - "Gay Tax Protest" (google it); share other's horror stories. I have not paid the IRS since 2005.

Hearing about these "1,100+ rights" is too cerebral; we need folks to hear of the devastation that happens when we do NOT have these SAME rights.

[steveward14]

What is marriage anyway, but a formal commitment to live with and support another human being. Comedians joke about "the old ball and chain", but in reality there is no physical manifestation of marriage. Marriage is a concept, an idea that society recognizes as a bond. The notion that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman has been long held, but that by itself doesn't make it right. It's just the way things have always been done - largely based on religious teachings. But today we're a melting pot of many religions and beliefs. Some people choose not to adopt a religion at all, and that's their right. So why do people resist change when it comes to the definition of marriage? Fear of the unknown. Fear that undoing what has always been done will lead to the collapse of other sacred conventions. What are those conventions? Who knows. The voters who passed Prop 8 probably couldn't tell you either. They are just warm and secure in the knowledge that things won't change. For now.

[rockyersocksoff]

"YES I AM..." still a second class citizen.

Saw ME in Cedar Rapids Iowa about 15 years ago, great show.

Sorry your state is still so F'd up, Mel.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

I don't mind gays marrying but I voted yes to prop 8 as a lifted finger to the liberal left. One good result is that those of that ilk are leaving California.

[valkyrie607]

Unfortunately, you only lifted your finger to gay people. Who come in all political stripes.

I suppose you don't mind that, either.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

Not really however, I'm sure you are probably boiling a little bit more about Obama supporters voting yes on 8.

[NativeTexan]

May I return to favor to you?

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[NativeTexan]

That didn't format well at all. But you get the idea.

‹^› ‹(•¿•)› ‹^›

[DMcMillan]

..I..

have a nice day.

[PDinCA]

We're not leaving. In case you didn't notice, California went 61% for Obama. It would be easier, and better for all of us, if you left California. Your comment is among the most petty, juvenile, vindictive, and wrong-headed things I've heard this whole election. We're moving past that crap. You might want to think about coming along.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

No, I'm just giving back for all that vitriol from the past 8 years. I respect Obama as the newly elected President, but I'm not forgetting all the 'crap' you and your ilk were spewing for the past 8 years. Expect alot more of it.

[redhead61]

Impalasupersport

What a pricky comment. I am a Happily married straight woman who lives in Southern Indiana amongst the swiftly changing to Democratic Rural populace. The republicans won in this county, but as I said, the area is changing dramatically over the past few years. Why? Because of people 'like you' who have forced their Religious Dogma into Politics where it has no place.
The republicans do not live up to their own political belief system. They have left the basics of LESS governmental interference into American lives to go chasing the ever more laws that go into telling people how to live their own personal lives in the 'name of'' protecting society from what they consider 'unchristian lifestyle'.

We live in a nation that has over 300 different religions. What right does ONE religion have to try to force their own personal agendas for ' adult lifestyle choices' on to the rest of the populace. The Evangelical Right Wing is LOSING because of their interference in American personal lives trying to push their agenda for extreme right wing religious preferences that enforce a dogma not all Americans want to or can live by.

If it continues, the religious right will see a backlash that is going to be just as painful as what they are inflicting upon others now. Losing members in their churches, losing revenue, and losing power.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

You got it all wrong. It's not about religion at all to me, it's about liberal ideology vs conservative ideology. I don't like liberals so I'm going to stick it to them any way that I can. This is just one way.

[ImpalaSuperSport]

One more thing. Like I said before I have absolutely no problems with Gays Marrying.

I voted the way I did because libs support it. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[GhostNyc]

FIGHT, FIGHT ----KEEP FIGHTING...

Look at the states banning gay marriage as a blessing of sorts. This basically is discrimination and should be taken the Supreme Court, Years ago many igorant and stubborn people fought against interracial marriage citing the most ridiculous of reason, I see direct parallels with gay marriage today.

Going on a state by state level is confusing to say the least, so your married in one state, but not in a another? What if your injured in a state that doesn't recognize gay marriage and are hospitalized, are your rights going to be different too? This needs to become an amendment to the constitution plain and simple. Separation of church and state, individual rights as guarenteed by the U.S constitution have to be enforced.

Keep in mind just over half a century ago Thurgood Marshall argued in Brown vs. Board of Ed that SEPARATE was NOT EQUAL. A similar route needs to be taken for gay marriage.

Don't give up, don't be discouraged...stay focused and use this step back as a spingboard to move forward.

[walk0nwalls]

Mine too.

I'm moving to Conneticut where people at least have brains

[mjb5406]

As was stated in one article I read, they let the straight majority define the destiny of the gay and lesbian minority. It is like they voted to reinstate segregation in California.

I'll say it again: Religion should stay out of politics! All the evangelicals are doing is using the political process as an excuse for THEIR failure to teach morality. Like the abortion issue, whether you decide to marry someone of your own or the opposite sex is a PERSONAL decision between you, your family, your friends and, if you want it, your clergy. It is NOT the place of government to intervene.

EVERY religious organization that even breathed support for Prop 8 should have its tax exempt status revoked. I hope everyone affected by this heinous decision withholds taxes to the state... obviously, the state of California onlky represents a portion of those people living there, not all.

[KarateKid]

Move to Massachusetts. And, I believe they don't have a state income tax, either. So you get the best of both worlds.

This is a classic case of lack of separation of church and state. Who do the Mormons think they are? Isn't this the church that practiced polygamy, and some sects still do?

Hypocrisy is alive and well, I see.

[JFM]

Taxachusetts?

Actually, eliminating the state income tax was on the November ballot, but it was defeated,