Yes on 8? I don't want to know ...

No on 8 seems like a no brainer to me. I've watched the propaganda on YouTube and TV for both sides and I can't, I can't, I just can't, find anything that worries me, scares me or feels morally wrong about allowing same sex marriage. Quite to the contrary everything in me, right down to my bone marrow, says that voting yes is the wrong choice. I'm heartily disappointed to find so many people close to me that feel that a yes vote is the right vote. I wish I didn't know how they were voting because I will never be able to look at them the same way again without wondering what other prejudices they're secretly harboring. In my opinion, Yes on 8 thinking is the same kind of thinking that has held down people before based solely on gender, religion, color, etc.

I find it interesting that the argument I hear most in support of Yes on 8 is "why not just be happy with domestic partnership, cuz it's the same thing". Really? My question then would be, if domestic partnership is already the same thing as marriage then WHY NOT let them get married???? And please, don't throw the bible into it because, like it or not, this country has a separation between church and state. To some people, the bible is a pleasant story and nothing more and their right to think that way is guaranteed by the first amendment. Marriage, as it exists today, is a contract between partners and the state they live in. Romanticizing it is WONDERFUL for the wedding ceremony but romance is not the basis of marriage. Nor is the bible the basis of marriage today. If either of those were truly the basis of marriage then a covenant between partners (and their God if they have one) would be enough. There wouldn't be a need to pay a fee for a wedding license, have witnesses, divorce court, or an arbitrator/judge in your business when the love is gone. Marriage could be as simple as two people pledging themselves to one another in a park somewhere. But THAT'S not recognized as "legal" marriage now is it? Ever wonder why?

Marriage is the way it is so that the state can control the backlash when the relationship goes south. They decide what happens to property. They figure out who gets custody of the kids and who pays for them. In short, getting married is an open invitation to the state to get involved in your relationship ... and yet there are STILL people brave enough to want to get married ... and some of 'em just happen to be gay.

They want to get "married" for the same reasons the rest of us do. Because it's the ultimate seal couples can put on a deal. It's a strong, public, statement about the level of commitment and deep love between two people ........ and because they're entitled to enjoy the same freedoms the rest of us do. Domestic partnership is a fine way to handle the business end of a relationship, but it doesn't express the love or commitment between two people. Let's face it, it's an arrangement pretty much devoid of emotion (or ceremony) and so it's just not enough for some people ... and why should it be?

I've never understood why people get so passionate and work so hard to prevent someone else from doing something simply because they themselves don't like it, don't agree with it, don't need it, or don't understand it. Gay marriage, abortion, shoot even sex changes and permanent eye liner are all things I will never, ever have a use for but I would NEVER eliminate someone else's right to choose those things. I wouldn't because freedom and equality are the foundation on which our country is built. "We the people" are supposed to be prepared to defend our freedoms TO THE DEATH just like so many of those who came before us. Not give them up because we're afraid of terrorists, or child molesters, or drunk drivers, or spit on them because they inconveniently don't suit our own personal belief system. If freedoms can be taken away from someone else, then they can also be taken away from me ... and you.

What is to be gained by denying marriage to a large group of people, based solely on their sexuality?

I don't believe in fostering prejudice but I do believe, strongly, in equal protection under the law, so I will be voting NO on 8 and supporting freedom.


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