Picking up from part 1 –
People say that the word “marriage” is a religious word, and it’s very important to keep it that way. Does that mean we should ban atheists from getting married?
A man and a woman who just met could get married in SoCal today – as long as they had $56 for a marriage license. They wouldn’t have to fill out a questionnaire about whether they believe in God, or recite Bible verses, or anything of that sort. They’d be asked to show their IDs, and hand over $56.
Yet, if two religious women (or two religious men) asked for the exact same thing, they couldn’t have it.
That’s why the argument of marriage being so sacred because it’s religious, doesn’t make sense to me. The fictional atheist strangers got hitched immediately. The fictional religious gay couples got turned away. (They may have been fictional characters in a very underdeveloped story, but it’s a real thing that could happen.)
Different people interpret the Bible differently. Some believe you can be gay and be a Christian. Some don’t… I am really spiraling down a dark hole reading things on the internet. I thought wading through papers and websites and things would help me formulate more thoughts or ideas. Mainly, it’s all just making me more frustrated, and a little more confused about what people are fighting over.
(And wading through way too many websites is frying my brain, making me trip over all my words and thoughts. Sorry I’m getting a bit discombobulated here.)
I came across this video as I was reading different points of views, and it really made me sad.
Of course it’s up to each individual if he or she wants to believe in heaven or hell. (I am so not here to debate religion. I am here to talk about what’s legal and illegal in the United States.)
Each individual obviously gets to have his or her own belief on how you’d get into heaven and avoid hell. Hell (and who ostensibly goes there) is not something that can be proven. So, it’s people’s prerogative to guess who’d go there. However, if they are going to believe in hell – and I’m guessing they think it’s a pretty awful place – is it right for them to get excited about fellow human beings going there? If they’re preaching love and compassion for others, should they be giddy that fellow human beings are going to burn for eternity?
Most importantly, should they be encouraging a young child to feel that much hate in his heart?
(Photo Credit: BroadwayImpact.com)
Which brings me to, I suppose, what my main point is. Marriage equality is the beginning.
It’s the beginning of making the LGBT community equal in every way. We’ve heard and seen the reports on bullying, and the heartbreaking stories of people taking their own lives.
It’s painful to know that so many people feel they have to live a life as someone they’re not. How incredibly hard would it be to constantly have to be somebody else?
As long as people are discriminated against based on their sexuality – I will fight for equality. To me, it’s not about getting married. It’s about members of the LGBT community being accepted in every place in society – in every city, in every business, in every job interview – everywhere.
We are all human beings. There’s no reason to treat another human being as less than another one – especially not for something as trivial as the gender of the partner they choose to stick with them through this life.
Life is hard enough without the pain and exhaustion of reconciling hateful views of other people with a part of who you are – a part of you that you live with day in and day out.
Because this topic makes me so emotional, I get worried that sometimes my words fail me. I wish I were more eloquent. I may not be able to have all the answers or phrase things perfectly, but I can run for you. I can sing and dance for you. I can work to raise as much money for Broadway Impact as possible.
With that money, people who have more influence than I do, and who have action plans, and who are more eloquent than I am, can go and change things. And I will be immensely proud to be any part of that at all – even if it’s a small part.
If you’d like to donate, it would mean a great deal to me. Click here to go to my fundraising page. If you want to help, but can’t donate at this time, feel free to spread the link around!
Thank you!