Thursday, November 06, 2008

Prop 8 Petition

An open letter to the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, requesting that he "re-open" Proposition 8, is being circulated. If you are a resident of California and are interested in signing it, the link here. The petition was authored by Stephanie Geffeller, upon whom a Google search, returns pretty much no information. I have no idea what signing this petition will accomplish, but for those of us who were left with the bitter taste of discrimination in our mouths by the passage of Proposition 8, it gives us a place to voice our opinion.

Some will say that we all got the chance to voice our opinion on November 4 in the voting booth. I agree. If you were against Proposition 8 and didn't take the time to vote, this is me shaking my head in disappointment at you. Here is why I signed the petition though. While I agree that the voters have spoken, and now it is time to let democracy take its course, a vote that takes civil liberties away from a group of people really sticks in my craw. (Hell, I'm even willing to give the Mormons back their right to plural marriage if it'll make them leave the gay community alone. I wonder if they'd still want it if women were allowed to marry more than one man? But I digress.) I also take issue with changing the constitution of our state based on something that roughly half of Californians don't agree with. Finally, it is deeply disappointing to people all over the country that during a time when we took a huge step forward as a country by electing an African American to our highest office, we took three smaller steps back when Arizona, Florida, and California voters banned gay marriage.

12 comments:

Ashley C. said...

My cousin stephanie created that quiz. You can look her up on myspace.

Ashley C. said...

sorry- i meant petition.

Anonymous said...

As usual, beautifully and eloquently argued. Well done!

I For One..... said...

Thanks for the clarification Ashley. I saw a Facebook link for Stephanie Geffeller but her profile is not public. Your cousin is, I think, about to get her 15 minutes of fame as her petition may go or have already gone viral. Nicely done Stephanie!!

Meredith said...

Your mom is such a great fan of yours!

Anonymous said...

The petition is already closed? I sent it to tons of people... Ashley can you tell us what is going on?

I For One..... said...

At the bottom of the petition is an email link. I sent a request for more information to that email. If I hear anything, I will post it here.

Meredith said...

My friend wanted to mention that you missed (in your three small steps back comment) that Arkansas I think voted to ban gay couples from adopting children. Just to put some fuel on the fire.....

I For One..... said...

Yeah, but if you're gay and you decide to live in Arkansas, isn't that kind of like being a pig and deciding to take up residence in the town of Oscar Meyer? I don't have high expectations for civil rights in a place like Arkansas, but California??? Come on.

I For One..... said...

And if you live in Arkansas and are offended by that, I'm sorry. I get bent out of shape when people tar all of California with the Yes on 8 brush. If you live there and voted against a ban on gay couples being allowed to adopt, I absolve you of any Oscar Meyer type associations.

Mikki said...

There is a new petition out there to support the legal effort to amend our tax laws such that the Mormon Church, and other transgressing churches, would lose tax-exempt status if they continue lobbying for state propositions. We intend to share this list with the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and other official legal organizations that will be pressing forward with this effort. Anyone can sign this petition.

http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/

I For One..... said...

Mikki, thanks for your comment and for the link. I have a few things to say about this in an upcoming post.