Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Just Drop the Exclamation Points, Please

Did I get the wrong ballot?

Maybe they didn't give me the special glasses that enable you to see the "hidden" parts of the ballot.

Somehow, I totally missed it. Apparently, yesterday, Tennessee banned homosexuality. At least that's the implication you have to draw when reading the hyperbole flying aroung the Tennessee blogsphere.

Like this. Here's a excerpt:


I mean, really, what harm are these people causing? What actual harm are gay people doing to you? Is the Gay Mafia causing you to go out and don some Gay Apparel?

Those precious ones over at TGW are making plans on leaving our hate-filled state . They apparently are expecting gay lynchings at any moment.

Take a deep breath. Let this old man cut through all the fog and tell you what really happened. Tennessee is NOT filled with clones of the Matthew Shephard killers. Those kind of people don't vote (heck they most likely aren't Christian either). What is IS filled with is little old men and ladies, who see stories on the news about gay marriage, complete with video of same-sex couples holding hands and kissing.

The little old people voted yes on Amendment One because they didn't want to see that video anymore.

For the record, I am in favor of a legal civil union that any two adults (including siblings - I mean ANY two people) can enter into. This ticks off my evangelical friends, but that's too bad. The unions I propose would have the exact same legal and financial benefits of marriage. It would NOT be called marriage though. As far as the government is concerned, it would be a totally platonic financial contract.

Why?

In the US, we still subscribe to the Romantic ideal of marriage. It's not just a business arrangement arranged by the families of the bride and groom, like in traditional and other societies. Oh, there's a financial/legal aspect to it. But it's also a societal validation of the Love of two people.

It's that second part that both sides of this debate have refused to talk about.

It's not about hospital visits.
It's not about inheritence rights.
It's not about equal housing, or fair employment, or joint checking.

I think most Tennesseans could agree to something that granted these things.

But giving a societal stamp of approval on the LOVE of a same-sex couple?

Old Gertie and Buford aren't quite ready for that yet.

Can we drop the hyperbole so we can have a civil conversation about this?

Or maybe they really did ban homosexuality, and I missed it.

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