There has been a lot of gay marriage propaganda floating around me and I know that this is something that people really get up in arms about. And I know that my stance on gay marriage takes some people by surprise being that I was raised Catholic and Catholics are not supposed to support gay rights. But I do. And mostly, I still consider myself Catholic even though probably every Catholic reading this is screaming at their computer screen that I am not Catholic. That's fine; I can live with that. What I can't live with is hate mongering -- this is behavior that I will not accept in myself.
You see, in my formative years, I had this really great Priest and I went to this really great church, and I was taught that God is love. God loves ALL his children, not just the ones that society as a whole approves of. And I know that people can start throwing up all kinds of Bible verses at me to defend the fact that homosexuality is immoral and all that good drama, but myself, I was raised and taught in the belief that you should love your neighbor, treat others as you want to be treated, and not judge. I cannot align that view with the outcast of every person who does not live the same way that I do, and so my solution is simple. I will not pass judgement, I will respect others, and I will treat others the way that I wish to be treated. This is the core of what I believe about God, and I will not betray this because some spiritual leader is hellbent on preaching hatred. My belief is that we will all have to answer to a greater power one day, and I believe that God is that power, and I will go before Him with a clear conscience, knowing that I have stayed true to what I believe is the core of His teaching. To me, this means accepting the homosexual community.
Do I understand being attracted to the same sex? Not really, because I have never been remotely attracted to women. I don't think women are sexy at all, so I have to say, I kinda get why guys might like guys. I sure do. Do I think that you can't help who you are attracted to? Yes, this would explain why I am unfailingly attracted to assholes. The more I like a guy, the more he tends to be an ass. I can choose not to be with an asshole, but I can't stop the attraction. In my case, being single makes sense, because who the hell wants to be with a jackass? But in the case of a really great gay person wanting to be with another really great gay person, being single no longer makes sense.
Do I think that gay is a natural state? You do find homosexuality in nature; if you have ever lived around a bunch of male animals, you will have seen this for yourself. If God was really against gay relationships, why do you find this in nature? Personally, I would think He would have left something He disapproved of so strongly out.
So to me equal marriage rights for the gay community makes sense. I understand that gay marriage is just flat out against some people's beliefs, but just because people can marry someone of the same sex, this does not mean that you have to participate. This does not take away from your rights at all. This harms NO ONE, so I don't see why it isn't allowed. This just gives a group of people the same rights as everybody else, and in a country that is supposed to stand for equality and justice for all, allowing everybody to have equal rights seems pretty damn important. And for those of you who might start saying, "Well, we don't give murderers and pedophiles equal rights" -- kiss my ass. This is not the same thing AT ALL. What two consenting adults do in a loving relationship is not even equal to a crime, much less crimes of this nature. Why did I feel the need to add that then? Because fools have actually tried to argue this point to me, and I call bullshit. When you resort to that argument, you have lost the argument altogether.
And as for kids, well, there are plenty of kids in abusive heterosexual homes. Your heterosexual status does not make you a better option for raising a child. Love, guidance, and connection, biological or otherwise, makes you parents, and all people have this capability. I feel that denying someone this is wrong, and there are a lot of kids out there who need someone to love them. If someone is willing to open up their home and truly love and care for a child who needs just that, who are we to deny that child? Do you really think you are doing that child any favors, by having that child stay in a foster care system or orphanage just because you don't approve of homosexuality? There are too many kids in this situation for us to be denying someone who truly wants them and will love and care for them. But you want to deny this? That seems like a bad call to me.
We all have our opinions on this, and I know that so many of you are going to have a problem with my opinion, but this is how I feel. You are welcome to your opinions, but you aren't going to change mine. Not allowing equal rights goes against what I believe this country stands for, my own ethical code, and what I believe God stands for. Plus, no one is hurt by this. If you don't like it, don't do it. Go have a heterosexual marriage-- no one is taking that away from you. So don't take someone else's rights away from them just because they are different. No one in this world is the same. Normal is a lie we tell ourselves in order to feel comfortable about ourselves, but in reality, we are all weirdos. Let's not deny our fellow weirdos the same rights that everybody else has.
You see, in my formative years, I had this really great Priest and I went to this really great church, and I was taught that God is love. God loves ALL his children, not just the ones that society as a whole approves of. And I know that people can start throwing up all kinds of Bible verses at me to defend the fact that homosexuality is immoral and all that good drama, but myself, I was raised and taught in the belief that you should love your neighbor, treat others as you want to be treated, and not judge. I cannot align that view with the outcast of every person who does not live the same way that I do, and so my solution is simple. I will not pass judgement, I will respect others, and I will treat others the way that I wish to be treated. This is the core of what I believe about God, and I will not betray this because some spiritual leader is hellbent on preaching hatred. My belief is that we will all have to answer to a greater power one day, and I believe that God is that power, and I will go before Him with a clear conscience, knowing that I have stayed true to what I believe is the core of His teaching. To me, this means accepting the homosexual community.
Do I understand being attracted to the same sex? Not really, because I have never been remotely attracted to women. I don't think women are sexy at all, so I have to say, I kinda get why guys might like guys. I sure do. Do I think that you can't help who you are attracted to? Yes, this would explain why I am unfailingly attracted to assholes. The more I like a guy, the more he tends to be an ass. I can choose not to be with an asshole, but I can't stop the attraction. In my case, being single makes sense, because who the hell wants to be with a jackass? But in the case of a really great gay person wanting to be with another really great gay person, being single no longer makes sense.
Do I think that gay is a natural state? You do find homosexuality in nature; if you have ever lived around a bunch of male animals, you will have seen this for yourself. If God was really against gay relationships, why do you find this in nature? Personally, I would think He would have left something He disapproved of so strongly out.
So to me equal marriage rights for the gay community makes sense. I understand that gay marriage is just flat out against some people's beliefs, but just because people can marry someone of the same sex, this does not mean that you have to participate. This does not take away from your rights at all. This harms NO ONE, so I don't see why it isn't allowed. This just gives a group of people the same rights as everybody else, and in a country that is supposed to stand for equality and justice for all, allowing everybody to have equal rights seems pretty damn important. And for those of you who might start saying, "Well, we don't give murderers and pedophiles equal rights" -- kiss my ass. This is not the same thing AT ALL. What two consenting adults do in a loving relationship is not even equal to a crime, much less crimes of this nature. Why did I feel the need to add that then? Because fools have actually tried to argue this point to me, and I call bullshit. When you resort to that argument, you have lost the argument altogether.
And as for kids, well, there are plenty of kids in abusive heterosexual homes. Your heterosexual status does not make you a better option for raising a child. Love, guidance, and connection, biological or otherwise, makes you parents, and all people have this capability. I feel that denying someone this is wrong, and there are a lot of kids out there who need someone to love them. If someone is willing to open up their home and truly love and care for a child who needs just that, who are we to deny that child? Do you really think you are doing that child any favors, by having that child stay in a foster care system or orphanage just because you don't approve of homosexuality? There are too many kids in this situation for us to be denying someone who truly wants them and will love and care for them. But you want to deny this? That seems like a bad call to me.
We all have our opinions on this, and I know that so many of you are going to have a problem with my opinion, but this is how I feel. You are welcome to your opinions, but you aren't going to change mine. Not allowing equal rights goes against what I believe this country stands for, my own ethical code, and what I believe God stands for. Plus, no one is hurt by this. If you don't like it, don't do it. Go have a heterosexual marriage-- no one is taking that away from you. So don't take someone else's rights away from them just because they are different. No one in this world is the same. Normal is a lie we tell ourselves in order to feel comfortable about ourselves, but in reality, we are all weirdos. Let's not deny our fellow weirdos the same rights that everybody else has.
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