Today we attended a 50th birthday party for a dear friend. She and her husband have opposing political views and in light of the upcoming election, this topic came up in conversation. Should we or shouldn't we vote for the people...civil rights vs. money. Well....the answer is so simple for me. It's people first every.single.time. Now the fact that I'm a lesbian who is in a committed relationship has something to do with my views. There is no getting around that. However, as I listen to people discuss the candidates it comes down to two very simple things - money and civil rights.
If you choose to vote for Romney, you are choosing a candidate who has openly said he will not support gay rights. In fact he has said he will fight for a Constitutional Amendment that will limit rights for gay people in our country. Obama and the Democratic party have taken a stand for equal rights for all. They have said they will support gay rights, marriage equality etc. Hmmmm.....do I like this simply because I am a lesbian? I guess so. But I really think it is so much more than that.
I truly believe that if we don't have equality for ALL people, we won't improve. We must stand for, fight for and support civil rights for all people to advance as a nation. Have we learned nothing from our past mistakes? The way we have treated African Americans, Japanese Americans, Native Americans....did we learn nothing from this? If we are truly to grow and thrive as human beings, we must learn from our mistakes and move forward. To deny civil rights to any group of Americans is to repeat the mistakes of the past. To deny civil rights to any minority group, gays included, is say that money is far more important than people.
It saddens me to live in such a great country that is so rich, so privileged, so free and yet so close minded, so blind. We must take a stand for all people. We all must have the rights we deserve.
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