My uncle Joe has always been a hellva guy while I was growing up, always looking out for the large population of cousins within my family; plus he’s funny and always makes anyone feel welcome (and a hellva singer too). Like all of my uncles and aunts, I love Joe unconditionally and regret that my own obligations and responsibilities (not to mention severe financial problems) has limited me from visiting my family across the states.
Joe is fighting for a cause in California that affects his very heart. With his permission, he writes to the family about that cause that I wanted to help him promote. Here’s his story.
Yes, I’m using our Yahoo forum to tell you about a political cause that I’m involved in and an issue I’m very worried about. Some of you may not agree with this, but hear me out. While I haven’t been able to get married since the Republican-majority state Supreme Court ruled to allow same-sex marriages (I guess I need to identify someone to marry first!), I would very much like to be able to, one day, stand up in front of my family and friends and be married under the rules of the state of California. To me, this is a simple matter of civil rights.
Unfortunately, an initiative called Proposition 8 will be on our ballots on election day. If passed, it will add a new amendment to the California state constitution that will have the following text: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
We are being bombarded by expensive, offensively inaccurate television and radio spots that use fear to get people to vote “yes” on Prop 8. The ads claim that churches will lose their tax exempt status if Prop 8 is defeated, which is absolutely not true. And same-sex civil marriages in no way infringe upon a church-sanctioned marriage.
Massive amounts of out-of-state money, primarily from Utah, are pouring into California to help pay for these ads. Equality California (see below) is a great organization that is leading the attack against these forces so that gay and lesbian residents of California can maintain the right to enjoy a civil marriage. Same-sex marriages, as has been proven for years in Massachusetts, encourage couples to buy property and otherwise invest in their communities–certainly a positive thing to happen in these troubled economic times.
Please help Equality California if you can. They need everything we can give them. And despite my grumpy old man demeanor, I really would like to get married someday.
Much love,
Joe
p.s. Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested in supporting this cause.
Prop. 8 supporters fight fierce TV ad battle
No on Proposition 8
Personally speaking, I see no reason why anyone has to argue against anything that prohibits the happiness of anyone; exactly what reason should wish otherwise, to me, is incomprehensible and selfish. And it pisses me off. It’s sad that we live in a time that requires legislation to limit another person’s happiness. Maybe one day we can live in a time that everyone gets over themselves to just let other people to live their lives happily and however they want.
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