Once A Family, Always A Family
We as family experienced an amazing day of change today. The US Supreme Court found the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and invalidated the Prop. 8 Appeal in California. With DOMA being struck down, our family now has the same rights as all the neighbor families who live around us. Last night Clem and I went to bed, like any other night in fear that our benefits and rights were always in jeopardy should something happen to one of us. Granted we have gone the extra mile of having every legal document in the world to insure we have all our “t’s” crossed and “i’s” dotted. At the federal level, many of those legal documents would not be recognized and would possible destroy our family unit. That’s now changed to a direction for a positive outcome. What’s even more heartening about this big change, is all of our bi-national LGBT couples we know, do not have to live in fear of the government and deportation. They can now pursue a safe journey to citizenship, a luxury heterosexual couples have enjoyed for many generations.
With the Prop. 8, the change only affects the State of California. After we married in October 2008, the state of California narrowly passed Prop. 8 to stop same-sex marriage. The proposition created a class system in the state based on civil marriage rights. Heterosexuals became first class citizen securing their freedom to marry. From June to November 2008, 2600+ same sex couples were married. After Prop. 8 passed on November 4, 2008, those 2600+ couples became 2nd class citizens within the state. They were recognized legally as married couples and enjoyed all the legal rights prescribed by the state. For single gay and lesbian citizens or same-sex couple who did not get married during the June to November time frame. They went from being a 2nd class citizen to a 3rd class citizen. The crazy part is if the one of those 2600+ couples should divorce, they loose the right to remarry because they divorced. Talk about a fucked up proposition, right!
With the Supreme Court’s decision, Prop 8. is now null and void. Of coarse we were elated about this news and over joyed to see so much love spewed on facebook and and other social networks. The happiness once again is followed by the ugly dark cloud of hate, that plagues this nation. People who hate my sexual preference and hate my family, my children, my friends and supporters, still have their targets set on us as individuals and as a family. There is already some concern that people like John Eastmen of NOM who proposed Prop 8., who was just on NPR today, is saying yes they are going to fight the ruling on the basis that the DOMA decision. So fear still lives on strong in our world. We just can’t catch a break.
What’s scary is in reading comments on conservative sites the amount of naivety there is in the general population. It’s one thing to hate me for your religious beliefs but to hate the government because your vote doesn’t count is just ridiculous. The fact that Americans are forgetting that this country’s government was built on the principle of check’s and balances is just a sign that people a blinded by religion saying the majority shall rule this country and the meek shall suffer. Gone is the United States, instead we left to fight for our individual freedoms because there is a majority and they shall not be questioned. People wake up! Nothing has changed to hurt your families, religion or well being.