Hate in 2008

Proposition 8 and the other anti-equal rights agendas that were passed last week are an attack on all of us. If our democracy is allowed to break down what couples have the right to formally committ to loving each other, this is not a true democracy. I chose the sign "I am a victim of H8" not because I am gay, in fact I identify mostly as heterosexual, but because prejudice, injustice and hate hurts everyone.

The marriage issue is not the only discrimination LGBT face. Many states have no protection against firing individuals based on their sexual orientation. What would happen if a straight person was fired for that reason and not based on their merit? There would be outrage and rightfully so! In August Louisana allowed their anti-discrimination law to protect LGBT community lapsed and was not renewed by the current governor of the state. "The reason for allowing the order to lapse is that I don’t think it is necessary to create additional special categories or special rights,” Jindal told The New Orleans Advocate newspaper. Not being fired for something unrelated to your work performance is now a special right?

However there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. First all people are fighting back. There have been many demonstrations in California and on Saturday many more people across the country will Join the Impact. Keith Olbermann shared a wonderful comment about the issue on a recent show and many others have expressed similar sentiment.

Also, when you look at the exit polls from California, people under 30 years of age were least likely to vote for the proposition. This shows so much promise for the future.

As an added bonus to all of this, Connecticut just started issuing legal marriage licenses to same-sex couples!