An Open Letter to the NY Senate
Jun. 23rd, 2011 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanWalking home this evening, I saw a couple walking toward me, their arms around each other, heads tilted together, laughing. They were comfortable and affectionate, clearly in love, and enjoying each others' company. And it made me angry.
No, it made me furious.
Because wherever their relationship went, by the current laws of this state, they were considered inferior, not worthy of respect or protection. Because they - affectionate, respectful, in love - were of the same gender.
Because there are people who believe that such relationships are immoral, wrong, an affront against god and nature.
The same arguments, I add, that were made in Virgina vs Loving, the year I was born - forty-three years ago, when The trial judge in the case, Leon M. Bazile... proclaimed that “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
Nice, huh?
And yet this -- "God says it's wrong" - is the same mentality that today claims the legal protections of marriage only belong to the union of a man and a woman. Religion - no matter what the religious beliefs of the people involved. Religion being used as the reason to and support of discrimination.
(if you are going to claim that "marriage is for procreation" then you need to disallow the marriages of all hetero couples without children, too. Logic - and law - demands it.)
And for the past two days, you - the NY State legislature - have dragged your heels, refusing to even bring Marriage Equality to a vote, despite urgings from citizens. Whatever back room negotiations you're working on, whatever bargains are being brokered, you are refusing to come out and say "this is where we stand. Either we DO believe all people are equal, or we don't."
Show your hand, Senators. Where do you stand?
This isn't about gay rights. This is about human - straight and gay and trans, all colors, all creeds, and all beliefs - rights, and equal protection under the law.
[and it's a shame, because especially compared to some states (NJ, MI), you guys are doing Good Work. But this... this is embarrassing]
No, it made me furious.
Because wherever their relationship went, by the current laws of this state, they were considered inferior, not worthy of respect or protection. Because they - affectionate, respectful, in love - were of the same gender.
Because there are people who believe that such relationships are immoral, wrong, an affront against god and nature.
The same arguments, I add, that were made in Virgina vs Loving, the year I was born - forty-three years ago, when The trial judge in the case, Leon M. Bazile... proclaimed that “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
Nice, huh?
And yet this -- "God says it's wrong" - is the same mentality that today claims the legal protections of marriage only belong to the union of a man and a woman. Religion - no matter what the religious beliefs of the people involved. Religion being used as the reason to and support of discrimination.
(if you are going to claim that "marriage is for procreation" then you need to disallow the marriages of all hetero couples without children, too. Logic - and law - demands it.)
And for the past two days, you - the NY State legislature - have dragged your heels, refusing to even bring Marriage Equality to a vote, despite urgings from citizens. Whatever back room negotiations you're working on, whatever bargains are being brokered, you are refusing to come out and say "this is where we stand. Either we DO believe all people are equal, or we don't."
Show your hand, Senators. Where do you stand?
This isn't about gay rights. This is about human - straight and gay and trans, all colors, all creeds, and all beliefs - rights, and equal protection under the law.
[and it's a shame, because especially compared to some states (NJ, MI), you guys are doing Good Work. But this... this is embarrassing]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-06-24 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-24 05:15 pm (UTC)