Marriage equality

Did you ever hear or see something that you felt related to you in some way? You thought to yourself, it applies to be, just enough to strike a nerve but not enough to take action. That’s what I thought to myself couple years ago when marriage equality first came up. I thought, well I will most likely never get married anyways, so why fight for that. In recent years though, I have come to understand what affects others ultimately effect others whether you like it or not. I have also entertained the idea of “What if I wanted that as well.”

So, I have given money to Human Rights campaign over the years to help fund this movement. Then I thought, that’s not enough, but what could I do? How can I be most effective to further this idea of equality? So, I will do what I do best. I will use my words. After all, one voice is needed to cause an avalanche of change in a society, and since we have freedom of the press and such, I figured why not give it a shot.

A couple days ago I watched a video about a couple that had lived together for awhile. The one partner died and the family denied the still living partner the right to attend his now deceased partners funeral and wake. “How disturbing! How cruel, despicable and ugly is that to deny someone the right to attend their partner’s funeral!!” I was mad. NO! I was enraged that something like this could still happen in our society. I thought to myself, what would happen if I was in that situation. I understand you need to be family or married in order to have some say about what happens to your partner after that cease to live, but this is outrageous. How is it fair to people who pay taxes, are productive members of a society and are human to be denied rights?

Under the current law a partner cannot receive any benefits, cannot jointly file a tax return, see each other or have a right to information about the other partner if one partner was hospitalized etc. It’s difficult to protect yourselves when your own governments will not do it for you.  I ask all those still on the fence to think to yourselves for one moment, “What if it were me.”  OR “What if it were someone I loved.” It difficult for me to sit back and hear people say the words “Disgusting, disgraceful, awful, sinful” etc. when describing my life style.

It’s been almost five years that my partner and I have been together. We live together and split everything down the middle. We buy things for each other and have designated our life insurance policies to each other; we drive each other’s cars and make major purchases together. I have friends that have been together for well over ten years who basically have a marriage without the paper that states it. I know many people who are in committed partnerships and would be considered married under common law, but would not be recognized by the U.S. government as so. Yet, anyone who is heterosexual can marry. Most of the marriages end up in divorce anyways. How is it fair to let some of the population get married and share in all the legal rights that go along with marriage and not another part of the population?

Many Americans are changing their views on Marriage equality. For that I am grateful. I hope to see one day, and soon, that people accept me and my lifestyle. Instead of getting weird looks from people, a shaking of the head, or rolling of the eyes, I will be greeted with a smile. I hope that people will come to see that everyone has equal rights to everything. Entitlements for everyone.

I ask of you the reader to always keep an open mind. Weigh decisions as if it were you or someone you loved in the situation. People change and grow; they change their opinions and look at situations differently. Remember that your discussions affect others and that we are all interconnected. If you deny rights to certain people, what is to say that your rights might be denied someday? We are not asking for marriage equality just because. We all have our own specific reasons. You have to remember that we are citizens of this country as well. We are humans and deserve to be treated as such. Please do whatever you can to further the idea of marriage equality. Talk to others; donate time or money debate or just support the ones you love through this. Be open minded, be progressive, be a friend.