Next rant ... WTF???

This blog is built with music in mind. I will, as all good ADD folks will do, veer from time to time to say WTF about stuff that really bugs me. Sorry, back on track very soon.

Prop 8, the California constitutional amendment to define marriage specifically as a union between a man and a woman, was upheld today. Eighteen thousand gay marriages that were performed up until the passage of Prop 8 (my typing hand wants to make the 8 an * I'm that steamed .... leave the shift key alone, Justine ....) will continue to be valid in spite of this.

Talk about being fucked without a kiss.

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV. I'm also not gay nor am I looking to marry any time soon, but I think this is pretty fucked up.

I'm also a San Francisco native ... for what it's worth ...

Gay people have been around and formed partnerships for a long time. Gay people will continue to be around and form partnerships and keep coming out and being productive members of society ... and a lot of them just might have partnerships that really rival those of their straight, bi, swinging, polyamorous, or otherwise alternative brethren. Why are all those other unions considered OK and legal? They start with a man and woman. Who can marry. And also fall under the title of "in support of families" because of that. I won't say that those unions are any more or less legit than any other, but the irony is strong. What would In Defense of Families say if they really knew what they were supporting?

Straight people also marry without certain lifestyle choices, so to speak, and divorce the moment something goes wrong. Or marry for convenience to keep someone in the country. Or just plain marry because they think it's the thing to do. The whole idea of marriage is something I personally think everyone should take very, very seriously; the alternate lifestyle couples have something that works for them just as much as the more conventional. Marriage is an emotional bond that is actually also a business partnership and should be taken extremely seriously. Says a divorced woman.

The institution of marriage started off as something involving land rights and livestock. And a really short life span. It evolved over time to mean something much bigger, and in an ideal world it means that - there is a couple in the UK celebrating their 81st wedding anniversary ... yes, they are old, and they still kiss each other good night every night, even if they had a squabble that day. Who could ask for more?

Marriage involves certain rights and obligations that will never be covered by domestic partnerships. Or, should we say, domestic partnerships can still be challenged in a way that a marriage never will be.

What are the obligations of marriage? They largely involve property and taxes --- mutual debt, different tax bracket, spousal support, child support and visitation rights (yes, sometimes gay unions gone awry have cheated all involved of visitation and parental rights at the end of the day) ... and, lest we forget, death benefits. Imagine not being entitled to your partner's social security when they die -- who will pay to bury the body?

And who is behind all this denying same-sex marriage? Largely, it's republicans --- the same folks that are charging ahead with the idea of less government and more individual responsibility. Does examining gender at the time of marriage apply? The democrats, including our president, are not that much more helpful; are they afraid to speak out for fear of losing voters, or do they just not care? The people are speaking, however, and they are mad as hell.

Love is love, and families are families. It can't be helped. Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriages. Vermont and Maine will follow this September. They haven't fallen off the continent or sunk to Atlantis or braved a field of locusts, at least not yet. Nor have Belgium, Spain, Canada, Norway or Sweden.

People don't choose to be marginalized. Nor do people choose who they love. It just happens.

And when it does, these people, let them be Adam and Eve, Adam and Steve, or Anna and Stephanie, deserve full rights and protection.