Equality for All

It's hard to believe, but there are a few things in life that I'm passionate about that are not edible.  One of them is cheesecake movie popcorn (hot damn this is hard!) LGBT rights.  Like most Americans, I grew up thinking I didn't know any gay people...and so I thought nothing of making the occasional gay joke or calling people 'gay' or even worse (I shudder to think of it now)- 'fag'. The issue of gay rights never even crossed my radar until college, when my one of my very best friends in high school came out to me.  It was a heart wrenching process to witness- the embarrassment, the fear of rejection, the sheer exhaustion of having to keep such a large, vital part of you life a secret.

From that moment on, I became much more aware of LGBT issues and have always supported their right to equality.  However, I've since come to realize that my passive support is about the same as no support.  And thanks to the influence of a very caring friend (you rock, Mel B!), I decided to join her in lending my vocal and monetary support to the Human Rights Campaign.

I know that many people have very strong ideas LGBT that are very difficult for me to even listen to.  I also know that as much as I will politely listen to their point of view (since there's never any benefit to getting huffy now is there?), I will never change my mind on this issue. So I don't expect that my wee little page on my wee little blog is going to make any huge impact. Nonetheless, as a human being who enjoys tremendous personal freedoms and rights every single day of my life- I feel ethically bound to stand proudly by my LGBT sisters and brothers and try.  [Insert mental picture of me happily waving a rainbow flag here.]   :-)

So here's what I passionately believe to be true-

Being LGBT is not a choice.  If you believe this, surely you (or I) would be able to find a single LGBT who would admit to 'choosing to be gay', right?  But you won't.  And nor will I.  Because it just doesn't work that way. LGBT individuals have no more control over their sexuality than they do their gender, race, hair or eye color.  And so choosing to tease, mock, gossip or name call someone on the basis of their sexuality (who by the way, were more than likely created by 'straight people') would seem to me- incredibly cruel.

I truly believe that by denying LGBT equal rights under the law, we are permitting legal discrimination and gross misjustice.  Just as our countrymen once forced Africans into slavery, denied women the right to vote, forced honorable, loyal Japanese Americans into internment camps during WWII, did not permit interracial marriage...I have no doubt that denying equal rights to LGBTs will go down in history as one of our country's greatest tragedies and mistakes.

I do not believe LGBT rights are a religious issue or a moral issue, but a human rights issue.  And so because we are all equal under the law (or supposed to be), I do not believe we have any business telling any other loyal, proud, law-abiding, tax paying, American LGBT couples that their marriages are illegal, inferior or less sacred than heterosexual marriages.  Particularly when (cough! cough) half of so called 'sacred' heterosexual marriages fail anyway.  Christians and Catholics fail at marriage.  Asians and Jewish people fail at marriage. I fully expect that lesbians and gays will also fail at marriage, but let's at least give them the chance to do so.

Thankfully, I am not alone in my thinking.  History is sloooowly but surely in the making. 

• The Obama Administration announced that it will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage, and legislation has been introduced to the Senate and House to repeal DOMA.
• Again, the Obama Administration has lead the way in issuing a directive requiring hospitals to provide equal visitation rights to LGBT families. 
• **Update**Delaware, Illinois and Hawaii (& Washington D.C.) have all recently passed civil unions legislation to join SIX other states (yay New York!) in permitting gay marriage.  And if all goes well, Rhode Island will soon join them.
• A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll shows a majority of Americans now support marriage equality.  :-)  Five other recent studies confirm the same thought.

But the opposition is still formidable.  In many states, there are laws that ban LGBT couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents.  Anti-LGBT legislators are attempting to roll back marriage equality in Iowa and New Hampshire.  More importantly, gay partners still do not have the right to their deceased partner's Social Security benefits or inheritance tax benefits.

I think one of the saddest statistics that lends great support to the idea that being LGBT is not a choice is the fact that LGBT youth are nearly four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.  If being gay were a 'choice'...one cannot help but ask the question why so many teens would choose death over just 'choosing to be straight' instead?  What possible, conceivable reason would someone choose to voluntarily subject themselves to constant, ever present hatred, ignorant jokes, cruel slurs, constant judgment and discrimination?

I humbly ask that you join me in standing proudly beside our fellow human beings, the LGBT community- and demanding that they be treated no differently than anyone else.

Much love and appreciation,
Rich, Jolene & Rizzle