boo, hiss

The one sad response I've had from my friends who've heard about my recent engagement came from my friend L__. (I respect her privacy.) She is one of the millions of people who had basic civil rights stripped away as a result of the heinous passage of Prop 8 here in California. Mixed amongst her happiness and her well wishes, I heard her mumble, "At least no one's passed a law against your being allowed to get married."

Amen to that, my dearest L__. Amen to that. May we live to fight another day. And when you find yourself exhausted, turn your head to the side & lean on me, for I will be there beside you.

As a -born, -bred, and -residing again Californian, I am so ashamed of what happened here during the last election. And even though I believe that the outcome was swayed by specious arguments and massive influxes of money from outside our borders ... I am still left with the fact that my State, my Home, my Birthplace decided to strip equal rights away from a minority group of citizens. So I choose to state it here, on My Own Private Soap Box: that I remain devoted to the dream of equal rights for all citizens of this once-and-future Great State.

(This is for all of my friends who've been committed to their loving partners longer than most of my gov't-sanctioned hetero- married peers can dream of: Mick & Roman, Carolynn & Linda, Liz & Morgan, Keoni & Tom, Ross' sister-in-law & her wife, Melissa & her girl ... and everyone else who's held a relationship together longer than a 55-hr. Las Vegas Starter Marriage. If you are lucky enough to find someone in this crazy world to stand by your side in love & madness, may the universe bless you to the end of your days.)

* okay, upon review, I think I was a little ... overly verbose here. But what can I say? I'm pissed.