I'm still having trouble with the election results.  President-Elect Obama?  Three of the nicest words I've ever seen together.  Legislating that we can't be quite so mean to farm animals?  Good.  I voted for that one but didn't think it would pass--didn't think enough people cared.  High-speed rail?  I voted against that one, but because of financial concerns, not because I didn't think it was a good idea.  Veterans' Loans?  This veteran voted against that one, too, but again, out of financial concerns (plus, there're already VA loans and the Cal-Vet Loan Program).  Parental Notification?  That one would endanger girls, so this mother of three daughters voted against it, but I did think that it might pass, that not enough people would understand how truly unrealistic the worldview of its authors was.  That it failed was a wonderful surprise for me. 

But I don't understand the passage of Proposition Eight.  I really don't.  Separate STILL Isn't Equal.  The same tired arguments were used against interracial marriage.  It's against God's wishes; He was the one who had separated the races.   Gay marriage was imposed on the populace by activist judges.  What do you call "Loving vs the State of Virginia," if not imposed by judges?  If we went strictly by the will of the people, my former marriage might still have been illegal.  Are there really people out there who believe that if their children hear about homosexuality, those children will 'catch' homosexuality?  Do they truly believe that two men married to each other or two women married to each other will somehow make their one man-one woman marriage less valid?  

On election day, I saw a commercial that I hadn't seen before.  This was the Anti-Prop Eight commercial that showed two 'Mormons' arriving at the door of a lesbian couple, taking their wedding rings and searching the house for their wedding license.  I wish that commercial had shown well beforehand.  I wish there had been commercials showing quotes and scenes from the arguments against interracial marriage and commercials showing scenes from the fight against integration in the schools.  Why weren't there commercials like that?  Maybe the folks running the fight against Prop Eight were afraid of angering the black community.  The heck with that argument.  The majority of that community wasn't going to vote against Prop Eight anyway.  I heard a couple of sermons in different black churches against Prop Eight; hard to fight the ministers.  I know habitual criminals, drug users, folks having children out of wedlock, folks for whom their neighbor is just someone to fleece, and family members of all of the above, all self-righteously putting themselves on 'the side of God' by voting for Prop Eight.

It just boggles my mind.  It seems so clear to me--if you're against gay marriage, don't marry a gay person.  How hard is that?  But why impose those beliefs on someone else?  It is so hard for me to deal with those who believe God is on their side.  Back when I was in the workforce, I happily jumped into an anti-gay discussion one day, so of course got asked directly if I were gay.  My response was, "would it matter if I were?"  I do get mistaken for gay quite a bit.  After all, I divorced years ago, wear my hair fairly short, don't wear make-up, and protest against discrimination.  I must be gay.  How could I not have noticed?  Thank goodness there are all those voters out there to keep me firmly straight.

My "No on Prop Eight" signs are on the chair in my bedroom.  I'm saving them.  My kitchen window has two signs in it: "Vote NO in November," and "Marriage: Between Two People Who Love and Commit to Each Other."  I'm taking down the first one, but leaving up the second.  The fight isn't over.  Love Will Win Out.  

A

Rest In Peace, Michael Crichton; thanks for everything, especially the dinosaurs.