On Prop 8

I had a conversation with Daddy a few nights ago that, in retrospect, makes me want to cry.

Now, before I go on this, this has absolutely nothing to do with him - I could have had this conversation with anyone. I have no idea, honestly, what his position on Prop 8 was, and, since we live in TX, his position on it as a voter is irrelevant, and, even if he is against it, he isn't the activism sort. He's undergone some serious political changes that seem to point more to the "confused" column, where he was a fairly staunch Republican (or, at least, I perceived it to be so) when I was growing up. I don't know his political positions, but they're probably closer to mine than they used to be, and, whatever else, he's not bigoted against the LGBT community - or anyone else that I can think of, for that matter.

So, again, understand that his position in this was to provide words that I think a lot of people have thought about this.

We were talking about George Takei's video response to some homophobic comments made by a basketball player, because they had been amusing to us. Then I thought about it, and said, wait - Prop 8 means that they might annul his recent marriage to his partner of twenty-one years. People are fighting for that now.

And Daddy paused and said, "No, they wouldn't annul Ellen's marriage."

Here's the thing - I think a lot of people feel that way. I think that they see these celebrities who are out of the closet, and they see this public face of gays and lesbians, and think that it won't happen to them, much less all of the gays and lesbians who are not famous. Of course they wouldn't do that!

Well, they did, they are, and they are going to keep trying for more and more. This isn't something to be silent on. There are tens of thousands of gays and lesbians right now whose marriages are hanging in the balance, and there are many thousands more who have been denied legal rights because of this measure, not to mention all of the people who live in states where this was already on the state constitutions or was voted in the same night.

This isn't an abstract; this effects real people, whether you see their faces on People magazine or not. Please, use your voice to speak out against bans, or, if you are for them, take a moment and consider the human beings whose lives you have impacted or can impact with these decisions.