Well it's official, Missouri has outlawed gay marriage. I can't say I'm surprised, this is the state that gave us John Ashcroft after all. If any state would know about stripping the rights of others, it'd be the state that gave us John Ashcroft.

When I read stories about states amending their constitutions to ban gay marriage, it makes me so proud to be an American. I look at my neighborhood and I get extremely patriotic. I think to myself, "I sure don't want any fags in my neighborhood. And if there are fags in my neighborhood, I sure as hell hope that they're not capable of getting married. Having sex and bumpin' uglies is one thing, but getting married??? That's just ludicrous to me!" And then I smile, and whistle a Burt Bacharach song as I stroll down the street.

I still haven't had one person give me one good reason as to why the GLBT community shouldn't be able to get married. The most common explanation is that gay marriage will somehow demean and lessen the institution of marriage. Nevermind the fact that this is the same marriage "institution" that gave us such marvels as the 60% divorce rate and shows like "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire."

One of the more common explanations now is that if we allow gays to get married, then anyone who wanted to marry their pets should also be allowed to do so. Oh, so we're comparing homosexuality to beastiality now? I almost hate to say this, but only someone with a little hate in their heart would make such a comparison. Maybe "hate" is too strong a word, so substitute "ignorant" if you'd like. But someone who says that homosexuality is like beastiality aligns themselves with anyone who's ever compared a black person to a monkey, or jews to cattle. It's a tactic that's used to make the subject feels less than human. And if you know you're history, you know that those who are seen as less than human are easier to discriminate against.

Make no mistake about it, those that seek to ban gay marriage are on the losing side of history. Someday people will look back on this issue in the same way that we look back at segregation. And I hope that the generation being born today will look back at this issue in disbelief? As if to say, "They banned what? Why? That doesn't make any sense."

Most of this stems from the belief that homosexuality is a choice and not something that someone's born being. But does it really matter? Whether or not someone chooses to live a lifestyle or is just born the way they are doesn't matter to me. They're human beings and deserve to be treated as such. I don't care if they're born gay or not. The fact of the matter is that they deserve to live their lives in any way shape or form that they see fit. And if that means that they want to get married, then all the more power to them.

And last but not least, I have to ask how this affects me. How does someone getting married affect me? The fact is that it doesn't. Gay marriage doesn't affect me one bit. What DOES affect me is that there is an element in the every state and every government that feels the need to deprive others of their rights. And that's a slippery slope folks. What does affect me is that the far right fundamentalist religious leaders are turning this into such a big issue. What does affect me is that there are local, state, and national governments that are actively seeking to strip people of their ability to pursue the American dream because of who they love.

And I have no problem saying that that's just really f*cked up.

matt out