miasma

I managed to make my way to the Repeal Prop. 8 rally today. It was mainly characterized by inexplicably cheerful people with really witty signs and/or wacky costumes and the people taking photos of them. I couldn't really hear the speeches or see the speakers, but it was heartening nonetheless. If I had to give it a name, I'd call it The Big Cheer Up.

I overheard someone talking about how he and his husband were just married in October, and for a split second I forgot about the vote and just thought, 'Aww that's so nice.' Then I remembered why we were all massing under a hot November sun at San Francisco's City Hall on a Saturday morning.

What can I say? I feel indignation, sadness, disappointment, but hope too. As frustrated as I get with this issue, I believe it's only a matter of time before it's not an issue anymore. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage will always be repugnant to some, just as religious fervor and intolerance will always be repugnant to me. However, I'm not trying to take away anyone's right to practice what they believe in. Frankly, I'd rather not be exposed to freaky religious people, but rather than try to outlaw their assemblies and practices, I just don't go to their churches or hang out with them. They may reference a "God" or "divine scripture" to support their claims and assertions, but those things do not make their standpoint any more valid than my own personal belief system, which does not include a god or a bible or dogma.

Religions have wreaked such havoc on humanity, and as I loathe them almost uniformly, I am also fascinated by them and not immune to seeing the peace and strength that can be had by individuals and communities united in hope, faith, and positivity. Good can and has come from religion, for some, and because it is a personal and cultural choice, I have no qualms with people who partake in it. In less formal words, it's not my cuppa tea, but as you like it folks, as you like it.

And that's why I don't understand their inability to do the same for me. I'm not trying to convert them, why are they trying to convert me? They're trying to enshrine religious tenets in civil laws. I'm not trying to make it a law that their religion perform same-sex marriages, but they want laws that make these civil contracts restricted based on religious interpretations. That is unfair, unjust, and I honestly believe, unsustainable.

More photos from the rally: San Francisco, City Hall, Nov. 15, 2008

A Thanksgiving Prayer
by William S. Burroughs

Thanks for the wild turkey and the passenger pigeons, destined to be
shit out through wholesome American guts.

Thanks for a continent to despoil and poison.

Thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger.

Thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin leaving the carcasses to rot.

Thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes.

Thanks for the American dream, To vulgarize and to falsify until the
bare lies shine through.

Thanks for the KKK.

For nigger-killin' lawmen, feelin' their notches.

For decent church-goin' women, with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces.

Thanks for "Kill a Queer for Christ" stickers.

Thanks for laboratory AIDS.

Thanks for Prohibition and the war against drugs.

Thanks for a country where nobody's allowed to mind the own business.

Thanks for a nation of finks.

Yes, thanks for all the memories-- all right let's see your arms!

You always were a headache and you always were a bore.

Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of
human dreams.

--

(And sincere thanks to Ryan for sending this EVERY year :)