Looking Back - Looking Forward

This coming week will see arguments before the Supreme Court regarding two laws defining marriage in the United States. On Tuesday arguments will be heard regarding the legality of Proposition 8 in the state of California and on Wednesday arguments will be held about the future of the Defense of Marriage Act. Both of these laws have been a foundation of GLBT harassment and persecution, as well as often cited as a basis for the restriction of legal rights that would be afforded to any heterosexual couple. But the momentum is growing, the groundswell is there, and it is possible that once more a group of people will be granted the civil rights that they so richly deserve.

I am not a young person, I have lived through and participated in many serious changes of laws in my life including Roe v Wade and the Civil Rights Act. I protested war - actually several times and several wars. I rallied for black rights and watched the rally in Washington DC when Martin Luther King spoke to the hearts of the people. I watched as the nation was plunged into shock with the assassinations of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Dr King. I watched as President Johnson signed the various Civil Rights Acts and sent out the National Guard to make sure that black students would be able to attend school safely. I watched as children were endangered and people were persecuted for their race. And I watched as justice eventually prevailed backed by the Law.

The March on Washington was a real turning point in
the battle for civil rights.

Once more we stand at a crossroads. We have the opportunity to right a great wrong - the persecution of a group of people who are the targets of hate because of their sexuality. Sexual desire and arousal is hardwired, you don't choose to be attracted to males or to females, you just are. As much as I might admire the beauty of a female body, I don't feel any sexual attraction to females. They are friends, but not lovers. Other females, however, feel differently and find other females sexually exciting. They look at male bodies as beautiful, but feel no sexual attraction to that gender. Then there are those people who are bi - who find both sexes arousing, and finally those who are transgender - in essence (and horribly simplified, so I apologize for any implied insult), those who are actually born in the wrong body. Are any of these people more or less deserving of respect and the opportunity to love than anyone in your own family? Are they less deserving than your own parents, your brothers and sisters, your nieces, nephews or cousins? Of course not.

We are all human beings walking the road that we has been put before us. Most of us want to leave the world a better place than it was when we entered it. Well...we're still fighting wars, we're still fighting prejudice and we're still fighting random crimes such as rape and murder and the desperation of despair and drug addiction. But we have also been increasing our acclamation of the worth and value of fellow human beings throughout my lifetime. It's time for the next step. Gay Rights are Civil Rights - say it loud, say it proud and let your local, state and national legislators know that you support Gay Rights.