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verloren1983) wrote2011-06-28 01:44 am
verloren1983) wrote2011-06-28 01:44 am
Entry tags:
Because it warrants discussion...
As of June 24, 2011, New York State has officially passed same sex marriage. So effective at the end of next month, gay marriage will be legal in my home state. That's just... incredible to me. We took such a blow when California struck it down. I know a lot of us thought that if California of all places didn't legalize it, then we were all screwed. And yet... here we are. Sadly I had to work and didn't get to go down to Albany to see the whole thing happen, but eh. It's enough that it happened. As a gay person, this means so much to me that I can't even describe it. There are no words. Just love.
And for God Sakes, NY state government, you actually did the RIGHT THING for once- KEEP DOING THAT! Also, I think Andrew Cuomo has earned the gay vote for pretty much forever. He's been Governor just a little less than seven months and he's already getting shit done. It was his bill, and he's been pushing it HARD the whole time. I love straight people that get it. <3
On the other hand, straight people that don't get it suck. I kind of got into it with a couple of people on Facebook- while they agreed that legalizing it was the right thing, they were trying to say that celebrating it was stupid because it should've been done to begin with and that everyone SHOULD have a basic sense of right and wrong. To a point, yes, however, there are multiple issues with that... And there was an argument about how if we celebrate EVERYTHING, it all becomes pointless. Erm. What? This is not some minor thing. *flail* It took ages just to come up with a semi-coherent response. As it is, this is what I ended up with:
You forget that for a lot of people, "right" means treating GLBTA as less than human. We have to fight like hell to get the same rights that straight people get just because they were BORN- and even then, there will be a backlash for this, just you wait. Aside from that, I see the point, I really do- but this isn't celebrating EVERYTHING. We didn't celebrate when Cuomo sent the bill on its merry way. We didn't celebrate when it passed in the Assembly. The big deal was made when it actually passed for real. I know I certainly didn't think it would happen in my lifetime. It's not like this is a small thing. This is a huge deal. Maybe not for you guys, because it doesn't matter to you personally. But I'm telling you, this is a huge thing to just about every gay person in New York on a very personal level. This is NY finally saying, "Hey, I see you, you matter, and you deserve the same rights as everyone else."
And, embarrassingly, I'm the last person to comment. Ehehe. ^_^;;;
I don't know, "privilege" is definitely an overused word on the internet, but I feel like it's appropriate in this case. I could practically feel it rolling off their words. Must be nice to be born a white, straight, cis-gendered male so that you can knock down everyone else a peg or two when they actually want to celebrate something good happening to them for once. Must be nice to not have to know what it's like to be spat at, shunned, beaten up, hated for who you are. It doesn't affect you personally one way or another, so it can't possibly be important. It's not like we've been fighting to be heard for decades or anything. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it's completely infuriating to me. It's great that you support gay rights, but check your god damn privilege at the door before telling us that we shouldn't celebrate right now, kthnx. GRAH. >_<
Anyway. So not the point of this post. The point is:
Not that I'm anywhere close to getting married, but I could if I wanted. And those that are finally can. It'll also solve that particular technical difficulty for some of our trans brothers and sisters. I already know a couple that's getting hitched next summer. It's good to know that even when I leave the state, it's still someplace that I can come back to in order to get married legally if I wanted to. For the first time in my life, being a New Yorker is actually a good thing! ^_^
And for God Sakes, NY state government, you actually did the RIGHT THING for once- KEEP DOING THAT! Also, I think Andrew Cuomo has earned the gay vote for pretty much forever. He's been Governor just a little less than seven months and he's already getting shit done. It was his bill, and he's been pushing it HARD the whole time. I love straight people that get it. <3
On the other hand, straight people that don't get it suck. I kind of got into it with a couple of people on Facebook- while they agreed that legalizing it was the right thing, they were trying to say that celebrating it was stupid because it should've been done to begin with and that everyone SHOULD have a basic sense of right and wrong. To a point, yes, however, there are multiple issues with that... And there was an argument about how if we celebrate EVERYTHING, it all becomes pointless. Erm. What? This is not some minor thing. *flail* It took ages just to come up with a semi-coherent response. As it is, this is what I ended up with:
You forget that for a lot of people, "right" means treating GLBTA as less than human. We have to fight like hell to get the same rights that straight people get just because they were BORN- and even then, there will be a backlash for this, just you wait. Aside from that, I see the point, I really do- but this isn't celebrating EVERYTHING. We didn't celebrate when Cuomo sent the bill on its merry way. We didn't celebrate when it passed in the Assembly. The big deal was made when it actually passed for real. I know I certainly didn't think it would happen in my lifetime. It's not like this is a small thing. This is a huge deal. Maybe not for you guys, because it doesn't matter to you personally. But I'm telling you, this is a huge thing to just about every gay person in New York on a very personal level. This is NY finally saying, "Hey, I see you, you matter, and you deserve the same rights as everyone else."
And, embarrassingly, I'm the last person to comment. Ehehe. ^_^;;;
I don't know, "privilege" is definitely an overused word on the internet, but I feel like it's appropriate in this case. I could practically feel it rolling off their words. Must be nice to be born a white, straight, cis-gendered male so that you can knock down everyone else a peg or two when they actually want to celebrate something good happening to them for once. Must be nice to not have to know what it's like to be spat at, shunned, beaten up, hated for who you are. It doesn't affect you personally one way or another, so it can't possibly be important. It's not like we've been fighting to be heard for decades or anything. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it's completely infuriating to me. It's great that you support gay rights, but check your god damn privilege at the door before telling us that we shouldn't celebrate right now, kthnx. GRAH. >_<
Anyway. So not the point of this post. The point is:
Not that I'm anywhere close to getting married, but I could if I wanted. And those that are finally can. It'll also solve that particular technical difficulty for some of our trans brothers and sisters. I already know a couple that's getting hitched next summer. It's good to know that even when I leave the state, it's still someplace that I can come back to in order to get married legally if I wanted to. For the first time in my life, being a New Yorker is actually a good thing! ^_^