Adam and Steve: Bigotry in America

I feel like talking about a current event today. The economy sucks, the ocean is flammable, brown people are being discriminated against, there's a new political party with all the wrong motives, 55 million Americans still aren't able to get decent health care, local government elections have become a joke, and over 10% of the [employable] population is out of work.

Am I the only one that misses Bill Clinton?

Anyway.

California. My home state, with purple mountains and vast deserts. Where movies are made and dreams come true. Where an Austrian steroid-filled man can be governor, and where little black boys can grow up to be white. Where gay people could get married, then they couldn't, then they could again. Ah, California, I miss you sometimes.

Prop 8 being over-turned is good news for America. Well, most of America. Well, maybe only some of America. Turns out a lot of people are pissed off about this and I'm having a really hard time understanding why. There are millions of things I'd like to scream at these people proving that their arguments are invalid.

Here are a few of them:

1. People are people, and you shouldn't discriminate against them for any reason, especially sexual preferences. You know, Hitler discriminated against a group of people, too. That didn't pan out too well for anyone involved.

2. "Allowing" gay marriage will not lead to people marrying animals or inanimate objects. This is just a ridiculous leap in assumption and Fox News is having a blast with it. Neither my dog or my stapler will ever say they want to have sex with me (although my dog sometimes gazes longingly into my husband's eyes).

3. The Bible says a lot of things, it's a big book that's been translated hundreds of times. There are a lot of words. Words that say a man shouldn't "lay with another man." The Bible says a marriage is not valid if the woman is not a virgin and she should be stoned to death for having sex before marriage. The Bible also allows slavery, including selling your own daughter as a sex slave (Exodus 21:1-11), child abuse (Judges 11:29-40 and Isaiah 13:16), and bashing babies against rocks (Hosea 13:16 & Psalms 137:9). We, as Americans, don't take the Bible too literally these days... there's a lot of fucked up shit in there! **Here's where I need an extra HUGE soapbox** Even if The Bible says homosexuality is wrong and you must adhere to that belief, we still live in a country where there is supposed to be SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

4. As much as I don't like it, marriage is not sacred in this country, so that excuse is out. The divorce rate is higher than the success rate, many people re-marry several times, hardly anyone is a virgin when they get married and "til death do us part" should be replaced with "until I'm sick of you." It's the truth and there's no denying that marriage a pretty way of getting a tax break and an excuse to buy diamonds.... which brings me to my next point.

5. Married couples and "domestic partners" should have the same rights as far as raising children together. Women have children outside of marriage all the time, and it is easy for a new husband to get legal rights to the child that is not his. Gay couples can't do this. I have a few friends in this situation, where one "mom" has raised a child from birth as though it was her own, but she can't have any rights to that child. She can not pick that child up from school. She can not take that child to the doctor. If that child were to end up in the emergency room for whatever reason, only her birth mother could attend to her.

6. People do not choose to be gay, just like straight people don't choose to be straight. I'm sure everyone out there has, at least at one point, questioned their sexuality. Some people test it. Others don't have to. I like dudes, but so do some dudes. Studies have also shown that some species, when faced with food shortages due to overpopulation, will start to mate with the same sex; therefore not producing more of a food threat. How's that for being "natural?"

I could go on and on about this. I have such a hard time believing that some people are still so ignorant when it comes to homosexuality, but then again, there are people out there that still think white is the superior race, global warming isn't happening, or that it was a good idea to ever have George W. Bush leading our country.

In any group of people, there's always an idiot or two. I just wish some of them would shut the hell up about certain things. You can have your tea party whenever and wherever you want, but please stop judging people.

The fact that I even felt the need to type this out is just silly. The fact that I felt the need to explain some things on the subject is silly. The entire blog post should have just said "Shut the fuck up, you bigots."

*Stepping off my soapbox now*

Thanks for reading this. If you're an ultra conservative against gay marriage, please comment or email me a rebuttal if you can. I'd (honestly) love to hear another point of view. My friends don't think like that and I can't even wrap my head around it. So, please share with me if you can.

In My RIGHT Mind*

Jacksonville, my current home town, is one of the most segregated cities I've been to. There are several neighborhoods and they are all made up of people of the same race and financial class. For example, the beaches are made up of mostly middle class white people, Avondale is made up of mostly upper class white people, Springfield is mostly poor black people (and a few hipsters), and Riverside is mostly 20-somethings that work in the restaurant industry (and a few hipsters). I live in Murray Hill which is, essentially, old white people waiting to die (and a few hipsters) surrounded by bad neighborhoods. My neighborhood is quite nice, but the surrounding streets are filled with ghetto.

Winn-Dixie is the closest grocery store to my house, and although I much prefer Publix, I end up at Winn-Dixie when I need something quick. I hate that place and the people that shop there. Every time I go in there I leave with raised blood pressure while questioning my political beliefs and "the system."

I go there to buy a few necessary things:
Diapers (because my baby goes through a lot of them)
Jelly (because all I can afford to eat for lunch is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches)
Store brand chips (because I can't afford Lays or Ruffles)
and Milk (so I can whip up some amazing Hamburger Helper for dinner)

We eat Hamburger Helper twice a week as a "fancy" dinner. We have not had steaks, chicken or fresh vegetables in quite some time. We don't have money because we spent $650/month for health care while I was pregnant and I'm on an unpaid maternity leave. Plus, the added expense of diapers, formula and tons of doctor's visits.

I was one of the 55 million uninsured Americans when I found out I was pregnant. I immediately applied for Medicaid but was denied because I "make too much money." I was also denied short term disability so my time off work would be completely unpaid.

So, I'm in Winn-Dixie buying scraps of food in order to not starve every day and I see a girl a little younger than me. She's in her early 20s and pregnant. She's pushing a cart with two other children in it, one about 4 years old and the other was about 3. The 3 year old was looking through her mom's Coach bag for her Channel lipstick. I watched her as she made her selection of steak cuts from the meat section. I was jealous, as I have not purchased any luxuries in quite some time.

I made my way through the store and to the check out line, where she was in front of me with her kids and her fine meat products. I watch her place steaks, formula, salad, potatoes, cookies, cereal and a cake onto the food treadmill and eventually pull out her EBT card to pay for it all. She was using food stamps. Government money. Taxpayer's money to buy these things, these delicious delicious things.

Here she is, probably unemployed as it is the middle of a week day, buying food I can't afford with money that's coming out of my paychecks as long as I'm actually getting them. Pregnant with her third child, using Medicaid to pay for her doctor's visits. Medicaid that comes out of my paychecks as long as I'm actually getting them.

The system, as it stands basically breaks down like this:
Work hard to just make enough to get by on your own - no help for you in case of an unexpected pregnancy or any other life-changing situation that may hinder your ability to buy decent things.
Have a couple of kids and sit on your ass all day - have everything for free!!

I've even seen commercials recently that explain that if you're already receiving free health care and food stamps, you can probably get a cell phone for free, too! My God! Why do any of us actually work in the first place? Oh yeah, to buy ghetto child-factories steaks.

This instance was not a first. Every time I'm in that store I see the same thing, and every time it causes me to rant about how these people are getting handouts when I, and actually contributor to society, can't afford more than peanut butter.


*WARNING: If read incorrectly, this blog may lead reader to believe the writer is a republican. Failure to notice the writer is actually quite liberal may result in inappropriate comments, unruly political debates, internet bullying, sarcasm, internal injury or even death. Please use precaution when reading this blog post as the writer will not be held responsible for improper interpretation.