Haters Gonna Hate

I don’t want to get very political, but I have something to say regarding the recent controversy over attempting to extend the so-called ‘Defence of Marriage Act’.

Basically this is an act of war. It’s a war declared on citizens who depend on these people for government and protection, for rights afforded to arbitrarily-chosen other citizens, but not them. It is an act of discrimination. It is an act of evil.

Does that sound too extreme? Maybe it does. But have you ever lived somewhere you were regarded as less than human? If not, try it sometime and see how you like it.

Spoiler: you won’t.

To all of you politicians trying to defend it, trying to extend and promote it:

You are no representative of the people. You are distracting from the real issues and solving no problems. In this time of economic crisis, you are doing nothing to remedy the problems and, instead, are focussing your efforts on denying American citizens rights.

That’s what this is all about: denying Americans rights and freedoms that are afforded to other Americans. It is an inalienable right that all are created equal under the law. That isn’t something you can just cherry-pick out of the history of this country. Admittedly, the United States has had plenty of time to be unfair to social groups. It’s called bigotry, and it’s ugly no matter who is the target.

It also doesn’t belong in politics. Especially when politics are being mixed with religion, which seems to happen far too often these days. Church and State are legally separated in the US.

To you politicians attempting to keep things unequal, to waste our time and money with furthering inequality for citizens who pay your exorbitant salary, I have this to say: you will be defeated. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not the next election, but you will lose your jobs. It won’t be a costumed hero who punches you out, even though you’re an over-the-top villain who is difficult to take seriously. It will be the ballot. The voice of the American people who, last I checked, were all entitled to representation and basic rights…not just the rich, or the light of skin, or the heterosexual.

You will be remembered in history as relics, frauds, and charlatans, obsolete and outdated, tools of hate and tools of bigotry and intolerance. People will look back, in history classes, and wonder how it could be possible for some people to hate other people so much, and for something so ridiculous. And they will laugh at you. Some of them will hate you. And that is how you will live in history, if anyone even remembers your name.

You are not martyrs, or heroes, or champions of any people. You are just sad individuals who prosper from the suffering of others. And you do so out of fear. And you should be afraid, because time marches on and waits for no man. Time marches on, societies and cultures evolve and mature, and people move past their differences because they have to, in order to prosper.

Non-heterosexuals have had extensive rights in many societies long before the United States, and they will continue to have them long after. It’s not even a matter of stepping into the twenty-first century. It’s a matter of stepping into the real world and seeing the real people around you, not some sort of twisted caricature of humanity that merely echoes your own intolerance. Ancient Egypt had prominent status for gay couples. Even the Norse, widely thought to be the epitome of masculinity, also did the same. The Celts were, likewise, what would be thought today to be ‘progressive’ in their lifestyles. Because you know what?

A person’s sexuality doesn’t have any bearing on whether they can contribute to society. If they could see this thousands of years ago, why is that so difficult to see to people now? We have the internet, for god’s sake. You can learn anything you want to with five seconds of typing and a click.

To the citizens who are so sadly deluded as to think that this act is worth defending: you are ignorant. You are misguided. It will not impact your life even slightly if you don’t personally know anyone who is not heterosexual. And if you do, it’s not your life to begin with. It’s not your choice to make, who someone else marries. And if it bothers you that much to see your acquaintances being able to be joined in a union, if you are convinced that it will affect your life and your relationship that much, then I think it’s time you look at this life and this relationship and understand that something is wrong.

Time to be an adult and face the fact that if there is a problem with your relationship, it isn’t because of someone else’s relationship. However much you might like this to be true, it isn’t; if there is a problem in a relationship between two people, the problem lies with them, not with two people who aren’t in a relationship with them.

At least fifty per cent of all marriages end in divorce. And this is heterosexual marriage I’m talking about, heterosexual unions recognised under the law. There are ‘reality’ shows and contests to marry people. Las Vegas has drive-through chapels where people can get married, with no fuss and no reverence whatsoever.

Taking a step towards equality by getting rid of an act that should never have been passed in the first place is not going to harm marriage.

I would say that the statistics fairly clearly show that the largest harm to marriage has been done. The sanctity of this union has long been absent. There is no need to defend it.

There are people I know who have been together for decades, heterosexual couples. It can work. But you know…the overwhelming majority clearly cannot handle marriage. Why are they still allowed it?

To them, it is something they take for granted. To non-heterosexuals, it is almost a luxury. It is something some people would give everything they have, to be able to do. And people have cheapened it, made it worthless, so that it has become a cheap trinket to auction off on a game show.

Why are we wasting time with this act? Why are we wasting money defending this act? Why is attention being taken from examining the economic problems of the country, and the world, and perhaps putting some of the corporate ‘masters’ in their places, taking away their monopolies and their other evil little toys, and actually fixing things for the people who are suffering, while politicians sit in their mansions, well-paid and supplemented by the people who hire them out like hookers.

There are more problems in the world than we could ever hope to solve. However, trying to deny citizens the rights they deserve and promoting laws that deny people rights they would otherwise have is not helping anyone. It isn’t solving any problems. It isn’t protecting anything. It isn’t helping marriage, it isn’t helping the economy, and most of all, it isn’t doing jack squat for America.

So I guess I just want to say…fuck DOMA. And fuck the idiots who think it’s a good thing. Fuck the people who made it happen, and fuck the ones who want it to keep going.

And if you think that’s too harsh language, you haven’t lived as less than human. What I’ve said was mild and gentle. And it was moreso than this joke of legislative idiocy deserves.