daily inspiration: standing up for marriage equality

Certainly, unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware of the controversy stirred up by Miss California's answer to Perez Hilton's question during the Miss USA pageant last weekend.


I am not a beauty pageant viewer (I used to watch for the trainwreck effect, but stopped even that), but I do understand that thousands of people are. Even though I am of the general opinion that beauty queens are shallow idiots, I do understand there's a segment of the population that looks to them as role models. In that respect, I don't believe they should behave as ignorant twats.

While the bulk of the controversy focuses on the overall point that Miss Cali publicly stated that she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, the way she answered the question was a big WTF for me. A couple of questions:

• What the flip is "opposite marriage"?
• In what alternate reality are Americans able to choose same-sex marriage?
  

With her "no offense to anyone" she clearly offended everyone. Even if I agreed with her I'd be pissed that someone chose to be the "opposite" of eloquent when making that point. If I was really right-wing I'd be freaking out that somehow there are equal rights and I was under a rock for that decision.

Of course, I completely disagree with her and watching follow up coverage, I can't even believe the arguments the anti-equal rights folks are making. One talk radio jackass said "well 97% of Americans are straight." HUH?!? The same guy also compared gay marriage to keeping boy scouts and girl scouts separate. I think the phrase WTF was invented for people like that.

Here's the inspiration part. Love him or hate him, I have to commend Hilton himself for sticking to his guns and raising awareness about equal rights via his powerful media presence. Yes, he posted some emotional responses initially, but can you blame him? Honestly, I feel like this would be if in the '60s an African-American judge asked a contestant if it would be okay for him to marry his white girlfriend and the contestant was like "um, nope, sorry dude, not what I believe." Anyway, despite the namecalling, Hilton is bringing the discussion to the dinner tables of many demographics. And beyond his celebrity gossip, he's been posting incredibly moving motivational quotes regarding equal rights on his site. How can anyone with half a brain read these and not realize that this is not about gay or straight, but about equality?

• "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."- Martin Luther King, Jr.

• "Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Concurrent to the bigotry of Miss CA, another right-wing group has created a scare-video called "Gathering the Storm" (I refuse to link to that crap). A lot of hilarious spoofs have popped up about it, but the one I posted below is much more poignant. Watching this, watching people who truly love one another, their children, their parents, etc., people who are just like you or me, but who happen to be compatible with someone with the same "special parts"--how the hell can you tell me that they should not have equal rights under the law of the land?



I have been single for six months now. I've had two failed long-term "opposite" relationships. If I were only as lucky as a happy gay couple to find someone that truly loved me and wanted to spend the rest of (in my case) his life with me!

Yes, there may be Bible passages that allude to "lying with a man" being wrong. But there are also passages that say I can't go to church while on my period.

At the end of the day, I know that my Jesus teaches a message of love and tolerance. And I'm okay with that, and I think He is too.