Write To Marry Day

Today is Write To Marry Day, a day where bloggers are posting their pleas for the defeat of proposition 8 in California. I've been incredibly busy, and, sadly, have not had a chance to say (yet) as much as I would like to on this topic. Following is a post that I had begun some time ago, but had to put down due to time. So, in honor of the occasion, I've spiffed it up a bit and hopefully it will suffice; also appended are some fantastic "No On 8" youtube spots, which are clever and wonderful (and hello, gay speakeasies!), but also make some brilliant points.

If you are unable to vote "no" on 8, please, please, please donate here. The campaign needs to raise another $3 million in the days leading up to the election to compete with the influx of money going into the pro 8 camp. This is a matter of massive historic significance, so please, please, do whatever you can to help -- whether it's donating, voting, or educating. There is a tremendous amount that we take for granted with little or no thought to those who fought before us; this is our chance to make them proud.

Recently on Towleroad, I happened across an incredibly well thought out and impassioned argument regarding the important and historic nature of Proposition 8, how it's all about civil rights and not marriage, and exactly why it's imperative that it not pass. I touched on this issue somewhat myself in my post from 10/12, though my arguments focused on drawing a parallel between gay marriage and interracial marriage. What my argument lacked, and what Prince Gomolvilas tackled (and tackled well) is the human factor.

In short, this issue is about civil rights. It is about me. It is about you. It is about your children, your grandchildren, your nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and parents. It is not about religion. It is not about "tolerance". It's about changing the world for the better and taking one more step in ensuring that every citizen of this country shares the same set of rights. And it's not unreasonable. Below is a particularly poignant excerpt from the article.

There are people out there who want to change the law to designate an entire class of people as unequal to, as less than, every other class of people. If we lose this battle, I don't care that we're losing marriage; I care that you and I will, in the eyes of the law, be inferior to everyone else. And when our opponents see that our inferiority is validated by the government, it will allow them to continue on their path of dehumanizing us. That's what denying a class of people an equal right does. It dehumanizes them. And it is the dehumanization of a group that creates a culture in which people feel that it is okay to yell "fag" at me when I'm walking down the street; that it is okay for kids to be bullied and beaten at school; that it is okay for a jeering mob to incite a gay 17-year-old to commit suicide by jumping off a building. These things happen because gays are demonized. And gays are demonized when they're made out to be an inferior class of people. And they are made out to be an inferior class of people when they are not allowed the same rights as everyone else.