'Silence like a cancer, grows....'

You know….

I’ve kept my mouth shut way too long about certain things...

I want to talk about rights here – basic human rights.

What in the hell is all the fuss about? Seriously...

Look, I have some dear friends, friends I’d do ANYTHING for, friends I’d trust with my life, trust around my children and grandchildren. It just so happens that their sexual orientation is not the same as mine...and you know what – I don’t care – not only do I not care – it’s not any of *my* damned business what they do in the privacy of their homes or bedrooms – it’s not any of YOUR business either.

It is the dawn of the 21st century and I have to ask you, is this the kind of country you want to live in – where our very freedoms are being taken away from us on a daily basis? What is the matter with this picture? Plenty.

What the hell do we care if someone wants to be married – I mean it’s like Kinky Friedman’s comment: ‘Why not let them be miserable like the rest of us if they want to’ (it’s not a verbatim quote), but think about it – do we really have the right to tell two human beings they can’t love each other and by extension are not allowed to proclaim that love to the world by making a legal and binding commitment? I don’t think it’s for me to judge, or anyone else for that matter.

Let’s take the religious viewpoint here – there are some people out there who feel that homosexuality is an abomination...therefore it would seem that such people asking for the ability to be ‘married’ in the eyes of God is somehow a ‘sin’ – OK well let’s say that my friends don’t care about your version of God (just like I don’t) – let’s say for grins and giggles that they have another church where they can go and a minister who is non-judgmental and willing to go out on a limb for the sake of true love and marry them – what’s your problem there, Pilgrim??? And let’s go further and say they don’t even care about the religiosity of such a ceremony – let’s say that a civil ceremony suits them just fine – well most fundamentalist Christians don’t want the government poking their nose in their religious doings so again I have to ask if you are FOR the separation of church and state then what difference does it make if these particular ‘children of God’ want to do this elsewhere, sanctioned by a judge and not in YOUR sacristy?

As far as *my* so-called government – good ole Uncle Sam – I want to ask – do you people remember the separation of church and state???? Do you???? Whatsamatta don’t you want more couples to put the screws to as far a penalizing them for being married? What the hell does G.W. Bush care if a gay man wants to marry another gay man – a bit homophobic are we Geo? I mean think about it – think of all the votes you would have had George. What’s the friggin’ frequency here Kenneth? I just don’t get it – since when is it the government's business what goes on in the privacy of my own bedroom – tell you what, if this is how you are going to act – I say we - as tax-paying citizens - get a gander at what goes on between you and the first lady – or if you are like most American white-male-penis-driven apes how about we get to know about every single indiscretion you take (sorta like your predecessor Bill Clinton) – if you look down through history I think you will find that a good percentage of Presidents had affairs or at least flings – so tell me Mr. President – isn’t adultery a sin in the eyes of YOUR OWN PERSONAL JESUS? Is that LESS of a sin than being gay????

I just don’t get it – I don’t get what the problem is – I don’t get what all the fuss is about – we’ve got heteros who can’t seem to stay married for longer than 5 years and yet this country is going to lower the boom on people that truly and really WANT to be married??!?!?!?!?!?!???? Why??????

In talking to Mr. Hess we were discussing relationships and one of the things he said was if you want to make marriage so important you need to make it illegal to get divorced – gee let’s see how long a bill like that would last on the senate floor – you old-dried-up men who keep replacing the first wife with someone young enough to be your daughter...wouldn’t outlawing divorce make your lives a bit hellish? You bet it would – so why don’t you shut the hell up and let people who want to be together in the name of love, be together?

When my sister got married the second time, (she had to get her first marriage annulled in order to get married again in the Catholic Church) she made the mistake of having the priest write to me asking about her previous marriage in order to help the priest (or whomever was making that decision) determine whether or not she should be granted an annulment. I did of course call my sister and warn her that I was not the one who should be answering these questions. Questions my ass – it was the Spanish Inquisition – they asked such personal questions about my sister's *private* marriage, that I blushed (and it takes a bit to make me blush)- I mean stuff I'd have no business knowing (like their sexual practices)- and stuff that CERTAINLY WAS NOT the business of some Catholic priest. After letting them have it for their voyeuristic tendencies, I said that ‘in the end what difference does it make what happened in my sister’s previous marriage to an alcoholic, abusive idiot, isn’t the point now, Father, that she and her current betrothed are in love and willing not only to have another child but to raise that child in the Catholic Church? What more could you want for them or for your beloved church?’ (Of course it’s been a while but I was pretty strong in my message and they got their annulment and my brother-in-law is a gem and they have a wonderful marriage). And isn’t that the point? Don’t we WANT strong families in this country – what back in the 50s it was not a good thing for interracial marriage – so now that’s OK??? So then what’s the problem with gay marriage? Again I just don’t get it – I don’t understand why we won’t, can’t, refuse to acknowledge love in all it’s technicolour glory – what gives us the right to tell another human being they can’t love someone or mandate what type of someone they *should* love? We DON’T have that right, I certainly don’t and I don’t think that the President, the Congress, the Senate, or and Reverend from any church has that right either.

Love can’t be mandated, registered, or voted on – love is personal and sacred – love is what makes us better as humans, love is what makes life worth living.