C'est Moi, Catie

Real People!

I came across a great article today on the Huffington Post that gives a real name and a face to marriage inequality. The author, Jim David, a gay man with a life-long commitment to his partner, discusses the reasons his partnership should warrant marriage status, and the lack of a case against marriage equality. Some excerpts:

“For 22 years, my partner and I have lived together, eaten together, slept together, vacationed together… Oh, yeah – we’ve never even thought about splitting up. That makes us different from both of my divorced sisters and numerous divorced cousins. And yet, we’re the ones considered a ‘threat to the family.’”

“Marriage is only a sacred institution if you decide it is. I can get married tomorrow to some cracked out skank I met at a Vegas strip club at 3 AM, and an Elvis impersonator could officiate. That’s only sacred if you’re Britney Spears.”

“Yes, the voters have rejected marriage equality in almost every instance it has been put to a ballot. But I would bet a year’s salary that they would have probably rejected civil rights, the rights of women, and interracial marriage as well. That’s what fear does, and the right wing is genius at exploiting fear. That’s why the courts are supposed to protect the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority, I thought.”

“Look, if my partner and I ultimately can’t have federal recognition of our marriage, we’ll live. But, as a law-abiding taxpayer, I’d like to have equal rights and privileges for taking care of the loveable son of a bitch for years and keeping both of us off the streets. I thought that’s what “marriage” was supposed to reward…. I cannot for the life of me figure out how the “pro-family” people don’t realize, or just don’t care about, all the damage they actually do to families with gay people in them. It is lethal, and has done infinitely more damage than any gay equality would.”

By now, anyone reading this blog has seen these arguments, mainly spewed from the keyboard of a girl who isn’t really affected by it. But David and his partner are real people, and if he can make a case for his own marriage, how can anyone deny him that possibility? His article isn’t filled with legal jargon or with semantics-twisting, as we often use to make our case.

David looks at his life and knows he isn’t any different than anyone else who wants to get married. He also isn’t your cookie-cutter family-man fighter (he and his partner don’t want kids) – they just want the chance to get what all heterosexual couples are allowed to get: they want their very own marriage.

As always, I urge you to read the inspirational article and continue spreading its message. And if you’re following the federal court debate surrounding Prop 8, live feeds are available through American Equal Rights and Dan Levine.