Now it's going to be our turn

And so Washington State is going to be the next "Prop 8" battleground, it looks like.  And we didn't even get to get married first!

On Tuesday night, our State Senate approved legislation that would give us, gay couples, all the exact same rights and responsibilites that the State -- not the feds, just the State -- can confer on us.  We don't get to call it "marriage" but we get everything else.

In fact, that's what it's been called: The Everything-But-Marriage Bill. 

Now it goes to the House, where it's expected to pass, and the Governor, who is a staunch supporter of gay rights, has said she'll sign it into law. 

So life should be good, right?

Except, of course, it's not. 

Now all the right-wing enthusiasts are out there, flooding not only our senators and representatives and other government officials with propaganda to stop this "blasphemy", they're even attacking us on YouTube.  Which is actually pretty progressive of them, truthfully.

And no, I'm not embedding one of their videos.  I'm not even going to look it up.

Mind you, so far in every other State, the words "marriage" and "husband" and "wife" have been the sticking points, and even moderate conservatives have said they want us to have the same rights, just not using the traditional words. 

And yet, when push comes to shove, it turns out they don't really mean it.  They don't want us to have equal rights.  Their theory is that from here it's just one small step to calling ourselves "married", and then the madness will begin.

Um, like it apparently did in Massachusetts in 2004.  Remember all those riots and churches burning and dogs and cats killing each other in the street. . .no, wait.  That didn't happen.  None of it did.  Nothing happened.  No one's marriages suddenly fell apart, churches that didn't approve of same sex marriage weren't suddenly forced to hold them, nada. 

Didn't happen in Connecticut either.  Or in California during that brief window of opportunity that Lillian and I used to get married. 

Or in Canada, Spain, Norway, any of the places that have had same sex marriage for some time now.  Nothing. 

But they're now saying that we need to take our civil rights to the people for a vote, just like they did in California.  And they're probably going to tell the same lies to sway the public that they did there: that gay marriage will nullify and demean straight marriages, that marriage is only for procreation, that churches will be forced to hold gay marriages despite their beliefs, that school children will be subjected to having to study the "gay lifestyle".

Boy, I wish I knew what that was, the "gay lifestyle".  'Cause ours is going to work, and paying the mortgage, and cutting the grass, and cleaning up after the pets, and wishing the dishes and laundry would just do itself.   Dangerous lifestyle, that.  Subversive.  Evil. 

If I didn't feel like rotten owl poop (yes, my throat is getting scratchier and worse, and my temper's getting shorter, and my sinuses are beginning to feel like cess pools), I'd go to Olympia tomorrow for Equality Day, and I'd lobby with my legislators, put my face in their minds as a real person, not an abstract concept.

But I don't think that infecting them with a throat and cough virus would work in my best interests, somehow.  Provided I felt up to driving down there in the first place, which I don't. 

And considering my current temper, it's probably just as well.  I wouldn't be mean to the legislators, but I might say what I really think to some of the right wing reactionaries, and that would not make a good impression, nor would it win anyone over to our way of thinking.  So it's best for everyone if I pass on that.

But if an initiative gets brought to the ballot and it looks like our DP rights will be taken away, you can bet your ass I'll be out there lobbying like a madwoman!  So you can't say you weren't warned!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELISSA!!  I hope you had a great time!

Comments

[Lil]

The religious folk need to realize it's not the "gay lifestyle" that is "will nullify and demean straight marriages" it's the fact that you have Drive thru marriages chapels or the celebrities who treat marriage like just another "disposable item" like Brintney's famous 36 hour marriage? Those are the ones demean marriage! But I guess they need someone to blame! Here in NM our bill died! I'm sad!

[Melissa]

Thanks for the shout out! It was a very nice day, cake at work, spa pampering in the evening, and sunshine, too!

BTW wishing the dishes? Is that something I don't know about, some newfangled way to get them clean? ;)