Eight is Enough!

I want to start out by saying that this is not an indictment against those who are in support of gay-marriage. I have my own personal feelings about it, but due to the sensitive nature of the issue, I choose not to address those feelings at this time. Instead I'd like to talk about the reaction to California's passage of Proposition 8.

I'll be perfectly honest, going into Tuesday's election, I was mentally prepared that if Barack Obama lost the election, there may be some civil unrest in the streets. Protest for sure, slight rioting potentially. Thankfully, that scenario was unrealized. However when I turned on the television to watch the 10 o'clock news, reports rolled in from West Hollywood about protests relating to the, then, possible passage of Prop. 8. Instinctually, I knew that this couldn't be good. I mean, every city has their gay section of town: Chicago has Boystown, San Francisco has, well, San Francisco, and Los Angeles has West Hollywood. So there was no shortage of people in this section of town to draw out for the protest.

Let me give you a little background information on Proposition 8. California voted in 2000 to pass Proposition 22, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. In the summer of 2008, the California courts declared that Proposition unconstitutional, clearing the way for 18,000 same sex couples to get married. Another Proposition was put on the November ballot, Proposition 8, which made an ammendment to the California constitution making it to where only marriages between one man and one woman would be recognized by the state.

The protest of election night didn't bother me at all. I mean, I understood. Here were people who poured their hearts and efforts into defeating a Proposition that they felt was a threat to their way of life. The protest was relatively peaceful, only 7 people arrested, so again it didn't bother me at all. The next morning as I awoke to read news about Obama's landslide victory, I stumbled across an article updating Proposition 8. At that point, it was still too close to call. However, with the NO on Prop. 8 side losing, Gay Rights groups were already preparing to challenge in the courts. I can't remember the exact quote, but the person they interviewed said something to this effect: "The people didn't have the legal right to pass the ban without the approval of the California legislature". My exact words were "What the Hell"? I mean, that makes absolutely no sense at all. How come the people don't have the legal right? A proposition was put forth on the ballot. The people came out in droves and voted to pass Prop 8. Which aspect of this process was illegal in this man's mind? The fact that it didn't have the backing of the California legislature was completely irrelevant. As a matter of fact, that proves that Politics is completely out of wack. The people who we vote and our representatives are supposed to do our will, not have their own personal agendas. So in this case, the people spoke for themselves instead of using a middle man/woman.

Since then, there have been many more protests across California. At some of these rallies, there have been signs and chants. One sign that I saw read "Blacks, Hispanics, if someone violates your civil rights, we don't want to hear it". This sign too made me say "What the Hell"? I understand that Gays are upset that 7 out of 10 blacks voted in favor of Prop. 8., and along with Hispanics, were instrumental in the passage of Prop. 8. But this sign exposed another problem that I have with the Gay Rights agenda. Too often, I've heard individuals compare the plight of Gays to that of Blacks. This in my opinion is Bullshit! The theory of are people born gay or make a choice has not been settled. (No matter what some people would have you to believe). I was absolutely born black. There was no choice made on my part. The science has definitely been settled on that on. Also, other than Michael Jackson, I can't think of too many people who were black, and are now something else. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who once lived a homosexual lifestyle, and now no longer do. So to make a correlation between the two is absolutely insulting to me and my ancestors.

I also heard a gentleman say that before, blacks and whites were banned from marrying. While I admit that this is the closest thing to a reasoned arguement that I have heard, I again have to respectfully disagree with them. Indeed, interracial marriage was illegal at one time. However, when those laws were overturned, the actual definition of marriage remained the same. A black man could marry a white woman, and a white man could marry a black woman. The essential components of what would constitute a marriage remained the same. So just as their earlier arguement didn't hold water, neither does this one.


The last thing that bothers me is how many of these protests are aimed at churches. The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) were intricately involved in the passage of Prop. 8. The members of the church gave money and time to the cause. They even coordinated with members in Black churches to pass Prop. 8. For that, they have been targeted by Gay Rights groups. To this issue, I say, "What would you expect for churches to do"? I mean, churches follow their respective bibles. I'm no biblical scholar, but the bible is the final word on particular issues for some people. Why would you expect the church to stand for something that they don't believe in? And you can't take that personally. I mean, I lean more Libertarian in my political beliefs. I'm not exactly the staunchest supporter of drug laws we have on the books. If Marijuana legalization was on the ballot, I would probably vote in favor of that proposition. Would I expect the church to come out in favor of it, of course not. I'm realistic. The church is going to follow what it says within it bible, and I don't believe Jesus is in favor of me grabbing a sack of Northern Lights to smoke on the weekends. Yes, if smoking weed is my thing, that's what I'm gonna do. But I would never expect that the church should necessarily sanction my behavior.

In an act that was truly despicable, an extreme Gay Rights group called Bash Back protested a church in Lansing, Michigan. They picketed outside the church chanting slogans such as "Jesus was a Homo". A few of their members blended in with regular churchgoers. During the services, those Bash Back members pulled a fire alarm, and stormed the church stage confronting members of the church and its leadership. Some members put up a banner that read "ITS OK TO BE GAY! BASH BACK!". I hope that, no matter what side of the argument you fall on, this kind of action offends. First off, Jesus was no homo. That's just ridiculous. (And blasphemous might add). Second, when you go into a person's house of worship, you treat it with the utmost respect. Whatever you feel should stay outside those church doors. If you disagree with them, don't bring that into the church. To me, this kind of protest is the most extreme.

I don't write this to "Bash" homosexuals. Honestly, I have members of my family who are gay. I Love them dearly. I even understand why those in the homosexual community want the right to marry. That's not my beef. My beef is that despite their desire for "rights", they still have to go about this in a responsible manner. Marching and protesting is cool. I just wish that some of the rhetoric that is used is less offensive the the members of my community. Just because people are not in favor of gay marriage doesn't mean that those very same individuals hate gays. You can support traditional marriage, and still want gays to be treated fairly. I just hope that we eventually can have an honest, and well reasoned debate on the issue. Everyone's point of view is valid on this issue.


-DrizaDre-

I hope that those who chose to read this were not offended. This was not written as an attack, but rather to address an issue from a mature and rational position.

Freedom of Choice

I want to take a little time out to talk about what is somewhat a touchy subject in America. I want to discuss the first amendment. Now I don't want to have a debate about whether or not we should have the freedom of speech or not, I believe that the vast majority of us agree that freedom of speech is a great thing. Instead, I want to address how the first amendment makes some people act like A**holes. Yeah I said it, A**holes! (Well I guess that I technically didn't say it, but you catch my drift).

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion" (the Establishment Clause) or that prohibit the free exercise of religion (the Free Exercise Clause), laws that infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceably assemble, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (From Wikipedia).

I was in the San Francisco Bay area last week, and I awoke to a story on the morning news that made me believe that I just had to still be asleep. I mean there's no possible way that this could ever happen. I will give you both the way that I heard the story, and then the actual story: The way I heard it, "Protesters have been cut off from both food and water. The protesters have been trying to prevent the University of California-Berkeley from tearing down trees in front of Memorial Stadium. A project that would enable the University to build an athletic center." My immediate reaction was, these people are crazy. Why the hell would they protest the city rebuilding the stadium? Well if I thought that was bad, the WHOLE story is so much worse.

Four jackasses climbed into a tree to protest the University tearing down forty-two trees surrounding Memorial stadium. And not only that, but the University allowed them to post up for 21 months! In those 21 months, construction was at a halt. The University spent an approximate twenty million dollars in legal fees, construction delays, and a hired police presence. And why? Because 4 idiots did not want trees torn down. I don't know about you, but I'm not wasting twenty million dollars to save some damn trees!

One thing that you need to understand about me is that I have very little tolerance for nonsense. And my solution may sound harsh, but it would have resolved this situation on day one. I would have made an announcement similar to this. "We are giving you twenty minutes to descend from that tree. If you don't, we are cutting it down"! Unless the protesters are the descendants of Tarzan, they would've had their asses on the ground in less than five minutes. See a part of the problem with this country is that we've gone soft like Twinkie filling. Back in the day, you couldn't act a fool like this, and not plan on suffering the repercussions of your actions. However in the 21st century America, there's plenty of opportunity to act a fool, and then claim some kind of victim status. In this situation, the only people who were victimized were the University, and the citizens of the state of California who paid the twenty million dollar tab.

In 2003, Rachel Corrie, a peace activist from Olympia, Washington, was protesting the destruction of Palestinian homes by the Isreali government. Isreali Army bulldozers were brought in to handle the demolition. Rachel's brilliant idea to stop the demolition was to stand in the direct path of the bulldozer. Well unlike in America, the bulldozer did its job. Unfortunately in the process, Rachel was hit by the bulldozer. She later died from her injuries. Now as unfortunate as it is that Rachel lost her life, to me this is just an example of how some Americans don't understand that you can't just protest in any fashion that you choose. There can be serious consequences to your actions.

Now there is a story that captivated the country back in 1994. An American teen was caught spray painting and throwing eggs at cars. The crime was committed by then 18 year old Michael Faye of St. Louis, Missouri. I'm sure you're probably thinking that little Michael was sentenced to community service where he had to wear an orange jump suit and pick up trash on the freeway. Well the missing piece of information is that little Michael committed his crime in Singapore. And what did he get sentenced to? (Come on, you remember the story). They beat his ass with a cane! (Now you remember it right)?

Little Michael was sentenced to six strokes with a ratan. The ratan is an 8 foot long stick of bamboo. It is described to be absolute torture to any individual subjected to any amount of lashes from it. Once sentenced, there was a public outcry in America that the punishment was entirely too harsh. President Bill Clinton even appealed to Singapore's government on little Michael's behalf. Singapore responded in kind and lowered the amount of strokes that Michael would receive from six to four, as a sign of respsect to Bill. (Way to stand up Singapore, I like the guts).

Well to conclude the story, let's just say that Singapore beat that ass! LMAO. Little Michael moved back to the United States, where he would go on to have other brushes with the law. I guess he needed to be somewhere were the punishments were less severe.

I say tell this story to further illustrate that we as a nation need to start standing up and saying that we aren't gonna take this crap. Too often, we are punished/victimized by individuals who are doing nothing more than acting a damn fool. Freedom of speech is not a license to do as you will. I respect the right to assemble in public, and yes, to even shout, hold signs, and any other creative ways that you can think of to get your point across. But when you start laying down in the street, climbing and sitting in trees, you've gone entirely too far. And if the consequence to you doing things such as that is to get run over by a bulldozer, or falling yo ass out of a tree, hey then so be it. As my father used to say, "assumption of risk." And to the Federal Government, Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but an ass whoopin ain't never hurt nobody. Maybe we need to follow Singapore's lead. Just ask little Michael.

-DrizaDre-