In my state Propsition 8 will try to amend the constitution to eliminate gay marriage. It will most likely pass.

I would normally use this as a launching pad into the utter stupidity of direct democracy. It is a shame that I can vote on propositions that can pass with a slim majority and have the force of a constitutional amendment.

But then others might say that, of course I’d have this view against Prop 8, I’m from the only part of the state that is opposed to the measure or some other assorted ad hominem.

In reality, I think that this shows how far I’ve come.

When I was young, I thought you could catch “teh gay” like cooties. I was a very scared boy.

Eight years ago, I shrugged my shoulders on the issue of gay marriage, thinking selfishly: that since I’m not gay this was not my battle. In fact the extra tax burden on those who are gay would mean less for me.

Four years ago, I saw the issue for what it was: a blatant attempt to win the presidential election by mobilizing social conservatives to vote. At the time, I wished we’d have stopped this issue in the tracks by separating civil unions from religious marriages.

Hmm, it appears the “defense of marriage” people share more in common with the Islamic terrorists than we thought

Now, I’ll hold up a favorite biblical passage of a certain presidential candidate:

“ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
—Matthew 25:40, King James Bible

I never much cared before. Now, even though I will vote on the losing side in this issue, I realize what we do to each other we do unto ourselves.

I remember I was on the losing side in 2004 and I started this blog in frustration. After that election my dad, who disagreed with me politically, said: “Have some faith that people can change. They just don’t have to change on your timetable.”

“The mean and tiny minds who’ve made it their mission to “defend marriage” have existed in every era and have always lost. They lost when black people were given the right to vote. They lost when women were finally enfranchised. They lost when the ban on interracial marriage was lifted. And in each of these instances they claimed with a righteous certainty to have God on their side, only to be roundly defeated by the abiding decency and good sense of the American people.”
—Armistead Maupin, The Advocate, July 2008

I do have faith. And, thankfully, I’m learning patience.