Tuesday, July 02, 2013

doma no mo

when you're on the right side of history, it's easy to shake your head at the folks who don't get it.

what's tough is to see things from the other side ~ the side that just saw its sad little aluminum can of churl crushed by the gentle caress of progress.

after much reading, the argument against marriage equality seems to be this: "i don't like it."

good news for anti-gay bigots: you still don't have to like it! dislike it all you like! simmer in that thin bland pasty porridge for the rest of your days, if that's what fills your soul with righteous insensate pique.

but know this: your feelings are irrelevant. i know...that sucks, right? especially after years of being in a privileged class used to getting its way, and feeling pretty smug about it. also, know that your feelings are unamerican.

many of you are law-and-order types who will cite any document with words on it if it suits your purpose. you were shocked, then, to learn that same-sex couples were denied hundreds of benefits, rights and protections provided on the basis of marital status under federal law. your respect for the law demanded a solution for your fellow americans being discriminated against so unfairly and egregiously. right? 

see, you're feeling better about this already, aren't you?

you knew all along, deep down, that "i don't like it" is no basis for a fair and just legal system. if it were, if america were made up of petty personal preferences and "the way things have always been," then you know, slaves. and i think we can agree we can't have a great country and slavery. or a great country and corporate personhood. or a great country full of faux congressional christians. such things just don't go together.

and you...well, you can't drive around with your "proud american" bumper sticker if you think it's defensible to legally discriminate against people just because you don't like them.

well, you can, but it's really nothing to be proud of.

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