An Opinion

From a reader (and friend I just saw in all his splendiferous glory on Saturday):

What seems to be clear about Prop. 8 is that it's not about gay marriage, it's about religious persecution. Domestic Partnership was determined by the California Supreme Court to be unequal to Marriage and ruled that same sex couples could legally marry. This is a legal decision, not a religious one. That is how the safeguards of our democracy sometimes work to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority.

At the heart of this attack is a populous so blinded by their own religious bigotry, (an underlying belief that gay people are an "abomination" to their God), I honestly think that they aren't even aware of it. Why else would anyone vilify a group of people, especially who are of no harm to anyone? How fragile is your marriage that it would be undone by two people committing themselves lovingly to each other? This is a human rights issue and a civil rights issue. This is about a minority people, composed of all races and all colors and all nationalities, and born into all the major religions, that have to go out and find their tribe because they are not accepted by their own families or communities. Overwhelmingly, they are prejudiced against, imprisoned and put to death for being who they are. Hated for simply being. Whether you realize it or not, denying basic human rights to this minority, making them different, fuels a deep and perhaps subtle (religious) hatred that validates their persecution. Rise up and wake up. America promises us freedom from religion. Democracy relies on it.