If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Redefining marriage as a civil right strips it of its defining feature as a reproductive union. This problem is seldom explicitly acknowledged. Yet, it is expressed indirectly in the semantics of the gay marriage debate.
My childish, playtime fantasy was freighted with a strange power. This was more than playing Batman and punching invisible enemies in the stomach. I wanted in a deeper, more slavishly yearning way to be Sinbad the Sailor.
We queers are still operating below citizenship status and have a long way to go before we secure our status as protected minority. What we do now have, though, that we never did before, is the official right and privilege to be mad. C'mon, you know you're angry.
It is true that we've come a long way as a society in rejecting the mindless prejudices that have long relegated gays to the closet, legally and socially. But it's a joke to argue, as Limbaugh does, that the Tim Tebows of the world are unfairly persecuted in comparison with the Jason Collins of the world.
When the time comes that we finally get the marriage equality we've been fighting for, will the fight be over? How does a movement survive the realization of its goals? In other words, is there life after marriage equality? The answer is yes. But the question is no laughing matter.
I have a peculiar memory which must date to when I was 10 or 11 years old. I am sitting daydreaming one afternoon, and it occurs to me that I will never get married. Simultaneously with this realization comes the recognition that I have always understood that marriage was unlikely for me, and that today is merely the first time I have said so, to myself, "aloud."
When he came out of the closet this week, becoming the first openly gay player the NBA, center Jason Collins said he had "baked for 33 years" in the heat of his secret. Millions of gay Americans have sweated in that same heat. But many of us can go Collins one better.
GOP leaders, it's time to step aside. You've demonstrated that you will continue to reflect the views of the old and reject the concerns of the young. Unless you start taking notice that things are changing, you will kill the only chance young conservatives have at inheriting a formidable party.
When it comes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's involvement in the public sphere of social policy, I have to ask: Why is it OK to disagree with the Church's stance and policies on immigration but not on the issue of marriage equality?
I've used the "F" word in the past. It's not something I'm proud to admit. And I wasn't comfortable seeing two guys kiss in public. Funny, seeing two women never affected me the same way. The internal conflict grew stronger as I actually got to meet and know gay and lesbian people.
Some of you may be wondering why the LGBT community is making such a big deal over marriage equality. Simply put, it's for peace of mind. There are over 1,138 federal rights that married straight couples take for granted. If you are in a same-sex relationship, it's not the same
Last week legislators voted in favor of equality, which means the hard work is finished and only a few procedural steps are left before marriages can start. Barring any 11th-hour surprises, weddings are scheduled to start in Delaware on July 1, and in Rhode Island on Aug. 1.
The marijuana policy reform movement has never donated real money to candidates in a systematic effort to change federal law and laws in the 50 states. We are starting today, and by 2017, we are confident we will see the results.
As more heroes like Jason Collins come out and keep moving the wheels of progress and equality in motion, it's only a matter of time before being a homosexual isn't frowned upon by some people in society.
The choice before our bishops now is whether to continue a divisive battle that will only diminish their own authority, or to follow where the laity has led.
The earliest Christian communities considered heterosexual marriage to be fraught with problems and was thus to be avoided. Christian leaders argued that married people were too distracted by their familial obligations to be wholly devoted to God.
