I Did Not Stand in the Rain (I Should Have)

I did not stand in the rain ten days ago, in protest of the anti-human, anti-happiness California Prop 8 crowd's vote. I should have. I will next time. And the time after that. That's because the purveyors of hate really are "rearing their heads." It's not Putin whose in our "airspace," but rather the newly Palinized hatemongers, who've gotten a shot in the arm from the GOP VP nominee and from their precipitous slide into demagoguery and hate-mongering.

I am proud of my brother in California who posted a "No to Prop 8" on his law. Who'd have thought that that was an act of courage in the supposedly progressive state of California? But it was.

We must stand united against the purveyors of hate taking away rights in Calif (my once, long ago --sigh--home state). In combination, all the singular acts of courage become more (Step by step" as the song goes--I just heard John McCutcheon sing it last week).

We must stand against the nihilists in their suspending of rights and in their threatening Americans, including our newly elected leader. We cannot abide their threatening those who are not like them. The story on the blogs about WBC's sick protest at Barack Obama's grandmother's memorial service shows the lengths and miles the anti-gay extremists will go. So, even as we continue to feel joy on many levels since November 4th, we cannot forget our fellow citizens, who are still reeling from their loss that very same day in California. For too many, it's still a gray day (in need of a rainbow).

I urge everyone to join a rights protest wherever they live. There will be many in coming weeks and months. If thunderstorms seem intimidating, find a sunnier day to protest. Just do it. Whenever you do it, it will help. We've been too quiet while hiding behind concepts like "civil unions." Indeed, Democrats, all Democrats, really need to come out in the sunlight about this. Many of us Dems have thought this way. At one time, not that many years ago, I did. And, I actually thought there would be progress while I sat on the sidelines, that progress would somehow happen. Nov 4th and since, I couldn't believe it would come to this. I should have known better. After all, in Virginia we've seen many attempt to "protect" marriage, as if bigots ever could.

There's no more pretending we can hide from this.
We know what the right thing is: To stop legislating happiness. As Keith Olbermann said, GLBT citizens have a right to be happy just as we do. Prop 8 and the entire anti-movement is about overtly undoing a right to happiness for a significant sector our population. But worse, it's about scape-goating. No matter how many heterosexual marriages fail, it is not the fault of America's gay population. It's time Americans stop pretending otherwise. In their mean spirited punitiveness, they aren't protecting anything. And, undeniably, for too many, it's about hate. Those hiding behind "scripture," should read what the Bible really says in context.
That person needing his or her freedoms is closer than many people think.

Most of us know citizens who happen to be born gay. This is so whether we know they are gay or not. Our fellow citizens need us. As long as some in America are not free, none of us is. So if caring about our fellow humans, who are suffering over the wave of rights elimination, isn't enough motivation for standing up to the anti-rights folks, think about this: The next right taken away may be ours.