From Etoile Frank on Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/etoile.frank/posts/579496355408780
With the Supreme Court currently hearing arguments on two major marriage equality cases, we all keep hearing the media and their talking heads going on about the worry that the the court could do "too much, too soon" to advance gay rights. There's apparently fear that giving too broad and sweeping of a judgement in favor of gay rights will cause a culture war that will put the furor over Roe v Wade to shame. I have news: that war has been going on for those of us with skin in the game for a very, very long time.
I, and people like me, have been second class citizens in this country since it's creation. We're members of a minority group that has historically been persecuted, prosecuted, murdered, mutilated, and tortured since civilization began.
There was a time, not so long ago, when the punishment for being gay in this very country was death. Then we got a reprive, homosexuality moved from mortal sin to mental illness in the early part of last century. And up until around 1973, gay men and women were treated for said disease with castration, lobotomies, pudic nerve surgery, and electroshock therapy.
It took until 1983 for the first state in the union to decriminalize homosexuality. And until 2003 for all states to finally make it so gay men and women couldn't be arrested in their own homes for the crime of sharing a bed and their lives. And that only happened because of a Supreme Court decision.
In 1993, brave gay men and women fighting for the freedom of their fellow countrymen were finally acknowledged...by being told they could serve, if they never let it be known that they were part of a lesser class of people. It took until 2011 for them to finally be able to die for their country without hiding their sexual orientation.
And so we get to the point of marriage equality. The question of whether or not gay men and women everywhere deserve the right to equal protection under the law. To things like hospital visitation rights, not being subject to thousands of dollars in estate taxes on property they share with their partner should they die (which their straight, married counterparts never have to worry about), to having their employer provide their family with health insurance, and about a thousand other rights and responsibilities that come with marriage.
And to add insult to injury, we gay folks work hard and pay our share of taxes for representation in the government that has, until relatively recently, used us as pawns in a political game. Our right to marry used a scare tactic to drum up arch conservative throwback voters. We serve our country in a time of war, and still get trotted out as the circus freak show to bring out the worst and most divisive in the general population come election time.
And people whose own lives will not be changed by the decision over marriage have the audacity to ask if it's too soon.
That question is beyond insulting, it's ignorant. Ignorant of the struggle gay men and women have had through history. Ignorant of the inexcusable treatment we've received for thousands of years. Yes, we've come a long way in this country, but that's no excuse to rest on our laurels and say that second class citizenship is "good enough" because some people may not be ready to let go of their prejudice and preconceived notions. The real question isn't if it is too soon... It's what took us so long to get to this point? Gay people being treated like people is long overdue.
