No on Proposition 8

I have been with my partner since college, for 22 years. We recently adopted a son, who has just turned two. We are about to get married, in a week and a half. And the prospect of Proposition 8 passing disturbs me in a way no sociopolitical event ever has, or probably ever will.

Since becoming a parent, I think about protecting my beautiful son, every day. Protecting him not just physically, from harm or disease, but emotionally and psychologically as well. I'm so concerned with making this world a more tolerant, loving place - not so much for me anymore, but for him. I want him to go on to the playground, or sit in that kindergarten, and feel comfortable and loved. There are thousands upon thousands of children who are in this same precarious position. And the people that want to pass Proposition 8 are working their hardest to create a world in which these children will feel separate and inferior. Why would anyone want to do that to any child? And that's not even talking about the actual rights that he and his family will lose if this proposition passes.

This blog actually started out of pure frustration, watching a video on youtube by a woman named Sherrie Lockwood. The video is in favor of Proposition 8, and it's full of distortions and some flat-out lies. But that's not what disturbed me the most. When I tried to leave a comment in the comments section - a polite, reasonable, fact-checked comment - she refused to post it. I checked in the next day and there were all kinds of vile, hateful comments, all in favor of her position, that she readily posted, but mine still wasn't there. I tried again. And again. Still no luck. The only comments that she allowed were those that were in favor of her video and the passing of Proposition 8. And this helped me see how the "other side" operates. They don't want to even hear from us. They want to cover their ears and move forward. They don't want to look at the situation from more than one angle. They don't want a discussion. They just want to win.

Sherrie Lockwood, and all of the people like her, don't want to take the time to think of us as human. They don't want to see us as what many of us truly are - struggling families who only want the best for their children. They don't want to see the vast common ground that we share. They only want to see the differences - what separates us. This saddens me and must be the opposite of what God wants for us as a human family. Let's lift each other up. Let's support and love all of our children, not just some.

So there. That's my pent up frustration with not being able to leave comments on Sherrie Lockwood's youtube video page. I hope she reads this. I hope her friends and members of her congregation read this. And I hope nothing but the best for all of them, but especially for and her and her family.