The real fear about marriage equality

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h/t to Yikes!

Wednesday Poetry Break: Patriot Edition

Back in September, I posted this poem. At that time, it was a message to the candidates. Today I post this poem as a message to my fellow Americans. You see I, and other bloggers (such as Sara at Suburban Lesbian Housewife) have been told by some readers and friends that we're not working for America's best interest when we insist on equal marriage rights. We're told that there are other, more pressing issues, and that this issue only affects a small percentage of Americans.

Well, I fight for peace and justice. I agitate to end the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. I advocate for environmental responsibility. I've been on the front lines of the education crisis in this country. They're all important issues. It's not a matter of ignoring one for another. They all call out for our attention.

So to those who question why we fight for marriage equality in this country, I say:

I, Too

I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed —
I, too, am America.

— Langston Hughes

Barack Obama: Sometimes he makes me feel all lightheaded. But not in a good way.

Before I get accused of hurting Democratic party unity, let me repeat that I will absolutely vote for Barack Obama in November. I mean, what else can I do?

But I still think he must be held accountable for his continued effort to please everyone on the issue of equal marriage for all. His die-hard supporters have always promoted him as a man of strong conviction, a man who will fight for what's right. So when I hear him in an interview like the one he did last night with Jake Tapper of ABC, I am disappointed. His verbal gymnastics as he tries to please everyone and offend no one, are just painful:

TAPPER: OK, last one, and that is same-sex marriage is now going on in California.

OBAMA: Right.

TAPPER: You oppose same-sex marriage.

OBAMA: Yes.

TAPPER: Do you think that the fact that this is now going on in California, does that cause you to re-think your pledge to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act?

OBAMA: No. I still think that these are decisions that need to be made at a state and local level. I'm a strong supporter of civil unions. And I think that, you know, we're involved in a national conversation about this issue.

You know, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, but I also think that same-sex partners should be able to visit each other in hospitals, they should be able to transfer property, they should be able to get the same federal rights and benefits that are conferred onto married couples.

And so, you know, as president, my job is to make sure that the federal government is not discriminating and that we maintain the federal government's historic role in not meddling with what states are doing when it comes to marriage law. That's what I'll do as president.

TAPPER: Does it bother you, what California's doing?

OBAMA: No.

Please! Someone get me the Dramamine, 'cause all this back and forth is making me seasick!

Happy Loving Day!

Forty-one years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia that it is unconstitutional to outlaw interracial marriages in the United States. As someone who was raised in Virginia, I can tell you that the Supreme Court decision didn't change a whole lot of attitudes in 1967. No, it has taken decades for society as a whole to accept what is right. But finally, it has.

Look around today. I know many interracial couples. I know one young married couple in their mid-twenties who acknowledge that they are still a little unusual, but don't feel the need to explain themselves to anyone. They are the product of a much more accepting society than the one I grew up in.

Oh, yeah, and then there's Barack Obama.

So read a little bit of history about Loving Day, and then join me in the dream that perhaps 41 years from now we'll have a presidential candidate who (gasp!) has two mommies.