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New York, 5:12 PM
Sat Nov 7
42 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/04/09
It should be now, of course. No one should have to wait for equality. It's disgusting and unfair that civil rights issues like this take as long as they do, have as many setbacks as they do, and require so much work and frustration and disillusion.
There's no way to change every mind, but it's heartbreaking to see something that should never, ever, be up to popular vote...be legitimized in some way and go counter to the basic tenants of our system. Which is that the rights of the minority should NEVER be subject to the whims of the majority. That is a fundamental issue in our system. The fact that many people seem to believe they have the right to decide what version of equality other people get to have saddens me. Something is broken in anyone who believes that.
I wish I could tell my LGBT friends that this will change soon. That this fight will not have to go on for years, or decades, and we'll see this in our lifetimes. I hope that we will. I think we move for change in the world faster than we used to. I can only hope we do. And continue to fight for it.
Bigotry will, I think, always exist. But we can't ever let it dictate our lives and access to equality. So we'll always have to fight. And though it's frustrating and discouraging...it's worth it.
Don't give up.
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Regarding the whole Catholic situation, I think it's possible to overcome that. Look at Spain, one of the first countries to approve gay marriage. You have many religious people there, many non-religious too, and they seem to respect each other.
Also many young people there who identify themsleves as Catholics but who don't agree with many conservative issues. A few call them hypocrites, I call them just people who move with the times and who have decided to be dissidents from within.
I still feel sad though, but I have a bit of hope.
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I guess I was trying to find a silver lining somewhere. It's a long battle anyway, similar to women's rights. We've come a long way, but there are still many things that need to change. #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
Thanks so much MerryLilly #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
"There’s good news and bad news here. The good news is that even in one of the most liberal States in the Union, Maine, the people have once again rejected the ridiculous and oxymoronic notion of ‘same sex marriage.’ The momentum has again shifted – hopefully for good this time – in favor of protecting legitimate marriage. A counterfeit is a counterfeit. An orange is an orange no matter how much you want it to be a turnip. This isn’t about ‘marriage.’ It’s about hurting and broken people desperately seeking affirmation of an objectively deviant lifestyle. One that, even in their heart of hearts, they know to be a dead end. As for the militant ‘No on 1’ homosexual activists? I’m reminded of spoiled children dressing up and playing house, refusing to come in when mom calls for dinner. Here’s the bad news. The margin of victory could have been greater. Many behind the ‘Yes on 1’ campaign, rather than simply telling the truth, chose the Neville Chamberlain approach. They merely circled the wagons around the word ‘marriage,’ even suggesting that ‘domestic partnerships’ (‘gay marriages’ by another name) are acceptable. This makes no sense. If that’s a viable compromise, then why not simply allow 'gay' duos the word ‘marriage’? It’s an incongruity that demands an explanation. This is an historic battle for the minds and souls of our children – for our very culture. The mealy-mouthed approach must end. This is not just about ‘marriage.’ It has everything to do with forced affirmation of homosexuality – under penalty of law." —Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action director Matt Barber, on Maine's outcome
I'm speechless.
11/04/09
Stunned. #gaymarriagemaine
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11/06/09
I'm all for everyone having their opinions but this is flat out hatred. Let's just go ahead and call a spade a spade, shall we?! #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
I have nothing eloquent to say. I am just sad. #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
This is Maggie Gallagher, the President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the group that actively campaigns against gay marriage and the LGBT community in general. She is a hateful, hateful woman.
There's a four-letter word she deserves to be called. I'll leave it all to you to decide what that word is.
Going into the election, I think most of us in the LGBT community knew Maine was going to be a difficult, and close, battle. And while the results here in Washington State are looking favorable for our "everything but marriage" law, it's still heartbreaking. And frustrating that out-of-state groups and donors are effectively dictating state laws and policy, intentionally misleading voters. And for what? To preserve their already admittedly broken and ruined marriages? Their infidelities and lies?
Fuck that.
I'm tired of these groups running behind the pearly white robes of Jesus to justify their hatred. Tired of the lies, and the claims that they're doing this because they care about children and families and preserving the 'natural order.' If you cared so much, then the tens-of-thousands of dollars spent on hateful advertising to stop gay marriage could be better used to helping family and children that are homeless, or starving, or in need of medical care. Not fattening their own wallets so they can afford expensive cars and homes and clothing for their non-stop media appearances.
So tired of this shit, and tired of having to fight for what should just be. I don't blame the citizens of Maine, there was always going to be those who voted in favor of Question 1, but those behind the campaigns? The NOMs and religious organizations? You. You I blame. And you will go down. Because you're a dying breed.
(OK, that was more ranty than I anticipated.) #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
But after about three seconds, I started talking to everyone I knew about the importance of approving R-71. Unfortunately, I can't talk to all of eastern Washington, but it's nice to see that (hopefully) the western half will carry the vote through to keep the domestic partnership law on the books.
I want to know how my dentist and his husband or my aunt and her partner are personally affecting Stickney, Gallagher, and every person in Maine and Washington who voted against him. Nobody's willing to answer that one (you cowardly, close-minded, hateful fucks). #gaymarriagemaine
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Sometimes people need, as a group, to be taken by the scruffs of their necks and SHAKEN. And I'm serious about that.
Was the national Constitutional amendment giving suffrage to women put to a popular vote? #gaymarriagemaine
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Yesterday's vote is sad. But I remember sitting in the women's center at my college in Vermont 13 years ago listening to somebody talk about the campaign for gay marriage and compare where we were then to where we are now. While we have lost many battles, we are slowly winning the fight. #gaymarriagemaine
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Frances Russell #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
I really wish I could say something meaningful and intelligent now, but I'm at a complete loss. So far, the only argument I've heard against marriage equality is based on religion. Silly me, but I thought in the US, the government/masses weren't allowed to force their religious views on others. Guess I was wrong. #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
History is on our side.
Yes, it might not happen today. Social change won't come overnight. It won't come quickly. But it will come. Just look at the leaps and bounds the GLBTQAII (I call them the Alphabet Soup Brigade, since I cannot remember all the letters) community has made. From Harvey Milk and Stonewall up to Queer as Folk and The L Word, gay people are now part of mainstream society.
There is still danger for many members of the Alphabet Soup Brigade, but you know, in not so many years, things will be different. 40 years from now, people will look at what has been happening and be baffled. How could people think such strange, outdated things?
This is one setback. There will be more. But there will also be progress. The more positive representations of gay (and other minorities) in the media, the more people are willing to interact openly with one another, the more we talk about these issues, the more accepted everyone will be. That "nice couple down the street" will just happen to be gay. Meeting someone's parents for the first time and seeing that they are the same sex won't be such a shock. These things will come. We just have to keep pushing for them, keep trying, and keep opening the door for dialogue, even when someone slams it in our faces. #gaymarriagemaine
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I want my fellow citizens to deign to allow me to do it now, while I can still sprint and skip with happiness. #gaymarriagemaine
11/04/09
But that's not even the point, is it? The point is people, who typically are of the same group that wants government to stay out of their lives and calls Obama a socialist for bailing out the banks and wanting universal healthcare, do an about-face when it comes to gays because it's "icky" or "sinful" to them. YOU MAKE NO SENSE, ASSHOLES! Telling people who they can and cannot marry is government intervention, you fucking "conservative" hypocrites. #gaymarriagemaine
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Congratulations on your marriage, I know not all congregations feel that way, and you shouldn't be ashamed of marrying in a church. We all have to work harder to make equality happen. #gaymarriagemaine
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