The Salvation Army is once again asking for donations. Every year at this time, the bell ringers are found outside of stores everywhere. People drop money in their kettles as they enter or exit the stores. What some might not know is that the Salvation Army in the Western part of the country, back in 2001, was offering health benefits to domestic partners of their employees for a short two weeks. The offer was made to include any adults in the household of the employee including gay and straight partners. The national leaders of the organization canceled it.
What this reversal did was make the Salvation Army anti-gay back in 2001. Although gay persons do place money in the kettles, they are giving to an organization that discriminates. Many people do not know anything about this part of the Salvation Army, the way they were.
Since the Salvation Army does do so much good for people in need, it is a shame that they chose to discriminate against same sex couples, back in 2001. If they truly want people to think they help everyone, they should never have reversed the decision to offer health benefits to domestic partners including gay partners.
The Savation Army does now help anyone in need no matter what their sexual orientation is. As for benefits for their employee’s, it is not known if they did indeed change the policy again to allow domestic partners to be included.
The death of a night stocker at a Wal-Mart and another shooting at a Toy’s ‘R Us as well as the attack in Mumbai should be what people concern themselves with and leave the rest of people alone. There are so many other things to concern yourself with in the world that worrying about same sex couples marrying should be the farthest thing from your mind.
The world is not going to fall apart if gays marry, but if people keep killing each other and planning terrorist attacks on others, the world is going to cease to exist. People that need a cause in order to exist should start putting their money where it is needed. Stopping criminal activity and helping families that are losing loved ones due to terrorist attacks. Just think, all that money that was spent on fighting gay marriages could have been used to stop violence and help these people that are innocent and do not deserve to be attacked in other countries.
It could have been spent to help poverty stricken families have a happy Thanksgiving and a happy Christmas. Maybe then people would not feel the need to shop at a toy store with guns and shoot people because they got a toy on sale that they needed and could only afford for their child.
People need to start thinking. You are never going to stop gay people from walking the streets or living together. Let them marry and start putting your money where it is needed. Start putting your efforts toward people that need help. Gays do not need your help, they are going to love, live and be happy without your help. Help the issues and people that need it.
A judge in Florida ruled that banning gay adoptions was illegal and defied the constitution so why wouldn’t banning gay marriages be illegal and defying the constitution? I one is illegal than the other is as well. Many states are overruling bans on adoption and marriages, so this should be a clue to people that it is indeed illegal to take away the equal rights of the gay community.
One can only think about what comes next for California. What comes next for all the states that have rewritten the marriage law? How can you rewrite a law to discriminate and take away the equal rights of people? If people pay taxes, work in this country and abide by the laws, then they are citizens that deserve to be treated with equality as the constitution states.
No one has the right to rewrite the constitution. It was written by our fore fathers and is the constitution of this country. If you give equal rights to people that seek refuge in this country and allow them to become citizens so they have equal rights, then why is it that the people that were born here cannot have the same equal rights because they have a different relationship. Hmongs have different customs and practice them, but have equality, but gay persons that are born citizens and love the same sex are denied equality.
People that enter this country and become citizens have more rights than gay people. Do you see a problem with that?
What is a gay person? If you do not know what a gay person is, this might be the reason why you are agreeing to take away their equal rights. So, what is a gay person?
A gay person is:
A man or woman
A US citizen
White, black, yellow, brown or the same color as you
Pay taxes
Eat the same foods that you eat
Dislike the same foods as you do
Love to watch movies and TV
Dislike watching movies and TV
Pronounce their words the same way you do
Live in their own homes
Live in apartments
Drive cars
Ride bicycles
Love animals
Dislike animals
Wear clothes
Pray as you do
Do not pray same as you
Live green
Do not live green
Go to church
Do not go to church
Like to have fun
Do not like to have fun
The list is endless. If you think about what you like and what you do not like, there is always going to be a gay person that feels the same way. No matter what you are like there is a gay person just like you. They are no different from you.
They feel:
Love
Hate
Sadness
Happiness
Gratefulness
Encouragement
Loneliness
Frustration
Gay persons are the same as you. Who they love should and does not change the fact that they are just like you.
There is a need in this country and the world. It is a need to stop passing judgment on others that do not meet your specific criteria. Not everyone should be the same and live the same. Passing judgment on another does not make one any better than another. People that pass judgment are usually ones that have something to hide or an agenda that they need to carry out.
Passing judgment on people that do not live as you do or as you want is not a something that should be condoned or practiced. People should be allowed to live the way they want and how they want. Everyone should have equal rights and are entitled to live as they want and have equality that was meant by the constitution.
The constitution says, equal rights for everyone not just those that live the way others want them to.
Even if you are not supporting of gay people, you cannot help but be inspired by Milk’s determination. You will find yourself by being inspired by his life story and how he fought to make something of his life. Even if you do not feel comfortable with gay’s, you have to see this movie as it is not just about a gay man’s rise to public office, it is about the his life and eventually his death.
Senn Penn gave his greatest performance in “Milk.” Penn plays a gay man named Harvey Milk who became the first gay person to be elected into public office in California. Milk lived in New York with his partner Scott played by James Franco, when he celebrated his 4oth birthday and announced that he hadn’t done anything with his life. The two packed up and headed for San Francisco, where he did eventually change his life and became a political activist, which in turn led to his appointment to public office.
Six couples have filed suit in Iowa with the Iowa Supreme Court to have their families recognized in Iowa. If the court agrees that they should be recognized, this could open the door to same sex marriages in Iowa. However, the fight ahead is one that is seen in California and other states. People are voicing their opinions that a family is not two persons of the same sex.
The Iowa Family Policy Center, which is anti-gay, said that the couples seeking same sex family rights are anti family. The case will start on December 9 and continue until a decision is made by the higher court.
The movie about the rise and fall of Harvey Milk is in theaters near you. The movie is about the life of Californian Milk and his election into government and his untimely death by the hands of a fired co-worker, who was also against gays. The movie is now going to tell his story for everyone to see and hear. The movie is rated R, but it is a movie that everyone over the age of 13 years of age should see. It tells a story about the hate that lead to the death of Milk and another co-worker. It is a wonderful story about a man that took California by storm and opened doors for many other gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people.
People oppose same sex marriages because they say it will affect their marriage. They say that it will affect the sanctity of marriage.
What does sanctity mean?
Sanctity means saintliness or holiness, the fact of being inviolable or sacred and anything held scared.
If you think about what sanctity means, there is nothing in the meaning that will be changed if same sex couples marry. They will be marrying because they hold their partner scared and want to share a life together.
What does marriage mean?
The state of being married, a relationship between spouses and any close or intimate union.
If you think about the meaning of marriage, it will not be affected when same sex couples marry. It will be a relationship of two spouses that have a close union.
So what is the sanctity of marriage?
Two spouses marrying and holding each other scared. It will be a relationship that will be held together with two spouses in love.
The sanctity of marriage includes same sex couples. People that are using the sanctity of marriage for an argument against same sex marriages are out of line. The sanctity of marriage does not mean a particular couple, it means a couple that holds each other scared and wants to hold their love with a close union.
What if the world we live in was perfect? If the world were perfect, everyone would be happy. Everyone would be living their life the way that they see fit. Love would blossom and hatred would be unheard of. If we lived in a perfect world, all children would have homes, poverty would be non-existent. Love and kindness would be all we know. If we lived in a perfect world, churches would preach love and not an agenda. If we lived in this perfect world, we could solve any problem without hurting anyone.
The Perfect World
The perfect world we live in does not discriminate. Gay persons are married and have families. Their children are well adjusted and we all get along without war, fighting and crime. Heterosexuals and the gays are not separated. There is no gay community and straight community, we are one community and one world. We share friends and family. We share the good times and deal with the few bad times that we have. There is no race difference, we all are one race. We are all human and live together as one. We stand together and never separate from our world of peace and love.
In this perfect world, everyone would have the same rights as others. In this world, no one would be allowed to preach the bible. The bible would be what you read on your own. You would go to church to hear about the goodness in the world and talk about how to improve something rather than how to disallow it. In the perfect world, everyone smiles and talks about their accomplishments and how to help others. In this world, we have no foreclosures or bankruptcies, everyone would band together so that everyone enjoys the same comforts and stability.
In a perfect world, there only would be death by health issues or accidents and everyone would mourn. In this perfect world, there would be no government. The people would be the government of the world. Everyone would work together to solve an issue fast and without conflict.
This is my perfect world. What is your perfect world?
