FIFTY SHADES OF GAY? (OR I HIT A WALL ON A TITLE)

I know people falling on both sides of the latest Washington, DC battle, which is the Supreme Court’s hearing arguments on California’s Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage. I don’t believe all people who disagree with same sex marriage hate the gay community. Though I’ve seen a few on TV declaring gay people have an express line to a horrific afterlife, be it in a burning cavern, a TSA line or listening to Gangnam Style forever on loop. I also don’t think being gay means you can force religions to change their thousands years old practices, beliefs and sometimes questionable mandates. Can someone say no pork, shellfish and tattoos? Me thinks the entire NBA is going straight to Hell on The Surf N Turf Tattoo Express. I believe in life there are no absolutes, there is no black and white, there are only shades of grey – please no 50 Shades of Grey book jokes (they’re not tired, just not humorous). First of all, in general I believe Prop 8 and DOMA should be knocked down. Why? Because this is a human rights issue —plain and simple-- and not an issue of one type of union desecrating or killing another type of union. Because if that were the case, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Kardashian, Jerry Springer guests and numerous abusive relationships have already put the act of marriage on a life support machine. Gay couples only want the same rights that heterosexual couples already possess via marriage. When I say marriage, I mean the union, the legal contract and NOT the religious sacrament as mentioned in various religious tomes. Heaven forbid, if a gay member of the military gets killed in battle, I know their significant other would like to be immediately alerted to that fact. Presently, due to DOMA and Section 3 of Prop 8 that would not happen. Can you imagine learning, in a roundabout, secondhand manner, that the person you deeply loved, and shared a life for years, has been killed? Yeah, I thought you’d feel that way. While we are all not Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other so-called religion but we can all claim VIP membership in the human race. When you belong to the country club you’re entitled to juice bar, sauna and tennis court privileges as everyone else. These couples are not asking to have the Christian, Jewish or Muslim faiths change their steelo for anybody. They are only asking for the rights they are entitled to as human beings. Many years ago, the thought of an African American person marrying a Caucasian person was considered perverse. As time has passed, the world has discovered that an interracial marriage is not a union created by Lucifer. Low and behold our president, of these Unite States, is the product of a union that would once be called deviant and illegal in many of this country’s southern states. I will admit as a child I had antiquated views on the gay community but with time and growth I’ve become quite the hypocrite (in a good way). This happened because my views are completely different in my understanding of the gay community, for which I now have friends. Many, may not be as I am to see the plight of the gay community through rainbow colored glasses. I now see that they want nothing more than to live a life with the people they want to love, raise a family and provide security and health benefits as most people do. Mother Teresa said once, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” And if I’ve heard anything from religion and rappers going on trial, “Only God Can Judge”. Now Follow Me! Follow Me To Freedom!