Words of a friend ring out true.
As I watch the election results trickle in, the failure of the gay marriage ban is becoming questionable. Many wait with baited breath to find out whether or not the right to marry the person they choose will be taken away from them. I on the other hand don’t worry about it at all, but for reasons that most haven’t considered.
People tend to want to label me to fit me neatly into their comfortably narrow-minded view of the universe. But you see, I’m not a pervert. I’m not a faggot. I’m not a homosexual. I’m simply a man. And inside this man’s chest beats a human heart with the capacity, freedom, and right to love fully whomever I choose. That right was not given me by four Justices of the California Supreme Court. It was not awarded me by the Mayor of San Francisco. It was not bestowed upon me by the voters of the State of California , nor was it validated by the culture in which I live. My right to love was given me by God himself, and no man can take that away. My right to my life, my liberty, and to pursue my happiness is an inalienable right, one that was gifted to me by virtue of being created in God’s image, and which I was given at birth along with my first breath of sweet air. No other human has the right to take that away from me, either inside or outside a voting booth. I won’t let them, since it was never mine to surrender in the first place. I refuse to slink off back to the closet just so some petty busybody can feel superior and pat himself on the back for staving off Armageddon for one more year, erroneously thinking that God’s timetables were somehow dependent upon this small actions.
I cannot control what others believe, nor what other people do or say. I can only control my destiny. Because of that, I cannot remain silent. I will not. My rights are not more important than anyone else’s. But they aren’t less important either. Neither are my feelings less valid, nor my love less true. It is for this reason that I will not go down without a fight. I will not cower silently into the night, joining once again the hateful ranks of the less thans. I will be heard. I will be seen. And I will not tolerate anything less than full recognition of my right to be a human, and my inalienable right to love just like everyone else. I am as much a child of God as anyone else. Accepting anything less is a betrayal to my true self – an admission that I am a mistake – an acceptance of God’s fallibility. And that I cannot do. I hope you feel the same.
I see a new day coming where we will return to a PRIDE march that isn't commercialized by corporations that solely see us as a dispensable income market nor by the adult porn industry that sees us as some niche within the industry nor by the media which depicts us as mere stereotypes. Although our cause has seen some headway in the mainstream. There is still much more that needs to be done. Our community continually needs to ban together in love once again to speak out with one clear voice about the truth of our existence.
