This ad just came out. Mark Morford claims this is a good thing, as religious intolerance is shaking in its boots more than ever before. Still, I'm sure I'm not the only one a little perturbed by this message.
How has homosexuality infringed upon my life? People assume I'm gay and act like ignorant jerks. But that's not my fault, and it's not the fault of homosexuality. It's the fault of uber-conservative intolerance.
I was having this conversation about gay marriage with a couple of friends of mine at Eat 'n' Park a few days ago, explaining to them the free thinking community's stance on denying gay marriage on the grounds of the separation of church and state and the fact that most of this intolerance seems to stem from religion anyway. Our waiter stopped us and explained that he'd been fighting the battle for a decade and he understands the church vs. state argument, but will continue to fight.
My alignment with the free-thinkers' stance (not all of them, just a chunk) was shattered in that moment. There I was being solipsistic again (a state of mind and being that I absolutely despise beyond anything else). I didn't take into account what the gay marriage movement meant for the gay community. It's not entirely about marriage. It's about equality and rights and social tolerance. I think I agree with the waiter: although church and state should remain separate, this is one of those times when the government needs to step in and fix things.
From here on out, I'm an ally. I'm getting a sense of just how important this movement truly is for homosexuals. I'm worried that when this all breezes over (finally!), atheists will be the next target for American intolerance. And I hope I'll have an ally then, too.
So, there you have it. Badly paid actors: $1400. Grass-roots campaigning: $250,000. Realizing that shoving your archaic, intolerant notions of relationships and equality is actually weakening your stance against a social movement that you can't really stop anyway: Priceless.
"Rainbow Coalition?" That's a storm that will dissipate faster than most people think. They'll blow a lot of hot air in the meantime, maybe even strike a few landmarks, but the winds are changing. The winds have been changing.
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