Explain.
I sit outraged once again wondering what is it about me having my equality that scares the people of this country so much. Do I threaten you somehow? Does me having the same rights as you somehow diminish YOUR rights? Seriously, someone explain this to me.
Explain why when I die my partner will not be entitled to my social security benefits.
Explain why we had to threaten a lawsuit to get partner health insurance coverage when the company she worked for already had a non-discrimination policy in place.
Explain why it was perfectly legal to be denied my first apartment (after they took my non refundable application fee) because they “did not rent one bedroom apartments to people of the same gender”.
Explain why I have to pay higher taxes than heterosexuals because my partner and I can not file as “married filing jointly” even though we’ve shared a home and all expenses for the last 11 years.
Explain why I needed to pay a lawyer to draw up a legal document to insure that I can visit my partner in the hospital should something happen to her.
Explain why my partner will get taxed outrageously (as though she were a stranger) on my estate if I should die even though we have wills in place.
Explain why I’ll need to pay capital gains when I sell my home because the exemption for married people is twice what it is for those of us who can not marry.
Explain why my life is any of your business in the first place.
This IS my life and livelihood and it is crippled by discrimination in very real very tangible ways every day…again, explain this to me.
Yesterday the voters of Maine rejected gay marriage in no small part because of religious institutions saying that we are a threat to marriage. Let me make this perfectly clear, I don’t care that I can not get married in a church. Marriage though, is a legal institution with rights and responsibilities protected by the laws of this country the fact that it is also a religious institution I acknowlege, but I’m not asking for religious recognition. I’ll take my chances with my maker on my own terms.
Remember though that one of the core principles this country was founded on is the separation of church and state. Any church can deny to marry anyone they please the government can not interfere, but apparently the churches can interfere with the laws by spending millions on political actions and somehow this is OK? Again explain this to me.
It gauls me that my equality is subject to popular vote in the first place, if women or African Americans needed to wait for popular opinion to win equality, I’m not certain either would have them even today…this vote in Maine is only the latest travesty of codified discrimination, I can only pray that it’s the last.
