18,000 in California Kicked to the Curb

I lit a fire earlier -- the cold rain made it perfect timing even at 4pm. The cats and dog immediately shoved me from the front row and started soaking up the heat. The kids were next.

I'm married today. A lesbian, in Massachusetts, no one has taken away my right.

In California, 18,000 couples have no idea what they are. Some have kids, some don't. A few months ago, they were dancing in the streets, celebrating finally the recognition of their right to what everyone else has: the ability to make a government sanctioned contract, under law, with years of legal precedent behind it. Some have dreamed of it since they were little, some never thought they would ever consider such a heinous crime of the patriarchy.

Yet there they were, with tears in their eyes, not understanding the power of the words, "I Do," and how those very words history, so deeply ingrained in the very fabric of their being would feel when they finally were able to say them.

My day was fairly ordinary. I met a friend, I folded laundry and in the morning I had a teacher parent conference for my middle son. I got gas for the car, saved a newspaper article requested by a friend and made all my kids practice their instruments.

In an instant, as has happened too many times to too many friends, a car crashes. A lump is found cancerous. An irreparable tear pulls apart two who thought they would be there until death do they part.

So far, for me? Not today.

I finally pulled the cats away from too close to the fireplace. The ziti is in the oven and about to come out. Everyone is done with their homework.

If my world ends this moment? I'm safe. My kids are safe. My wife is safe.

Not the 18,000 in CA.

Their rights have been kicked to the curb.

Comments

[HoliBug]

Marriage is supposed to be a religious ceremony. LeftRight had an excellent point
with an earlier statement:­'Constitut­ion is no place to put bigotry', but I submit
that the government is no place to put religion, and vice versa. Government errantly
got involved with marriage by subsidizing, distributing 'licenses' and affording all
manner of privileges at the start of the 20th century. To the government, it
has been nothing more than a contractual agreement between three parties...the
third party being the state . They took control of marriages,making it a secular
contract and thereby abrogating all 'civil' and 'common law' unions, by the 1920's.
Church interference should not be tolerated. Since odds are pretty good that the
government will not be backing out, the church needs to back its large proboscis
out of the political arena. Unfortunately, separation of church and state is a popular
illusion and we must fight this modern tyranny. Ideally, laws should not be put into
effect to restrict any one individual's rights over another; they are merely the custodian
of a document/license of marriage. The 'right' to do so should be granted to the
people as a whole, then they can choose the appropriate religious outlet to conduct
their ceremony. Perhaps it is the church who should consider renaming it, ...maybe
'holy union', or 'spiritual symbioses'. Just a thought.
Remember this: In the not too distant past, there were miscegenation laws in effect...
we can overcome!

[froggyola]

A minority's civil rights should not even be up for voting on. The fact that this was even on the ballot is unconstitutional. California better think twice about this. the state needs the money from all the gays that want to get married there and the jobs these weddings create. Prop 8 doesn't even make sense fiscally.

[LeftRight]

I heard the other day that they have decided that Prop 8, even if it's found perfectly legal, is not post dated, so at least the current 18,000 will not lose their rights, IN THE STATE, though there's nothing for them OUT of the state......

Either way, this was still a HORRIBLE decision for the people of California to make!!

[Emlyn]

I AGREE. I AM DISGUSTED.