Nov 05 2008
Once Upon A Time
Once upon a time, there were two young men who fell in love. Each of them loved each other with everything that they had and everything that they were. They each decided that if they were going to tell their parents, they would do it together.
So hand in hand, they went to their parents to explain their love. Both families did not accept it. “It is absolutely unacceptable,” their parents said, “and no son of mine shall be a fag.”
They cried and dreamed and wondered. How could the people who birthed them, the people who raised them, fail to understand? But they did what they had to; they hid from the ones they once called their parental guardians.
Their friends grew distant. They tried to pretend like they weren’t bothered but they were. Very few stayed true. The two boys wondered why their friends couldn’t understand.
With time, word let out. A friend told a friend, who told his sister who told her friends, and with time, everyone in their high school knew. It wasn’t long before the sneers began. Before the “queer” remarks came. Hardly a day passed by where they were not belittled. Teachers found out, and suddenly their grades dropped. And on very special days, a few of their peers would kick the shit out of the two as they walked to their car holding hands. What a wonderful life.
As they lay bleeding on the ground, they would think, how can nobody understand? They say it is a choice, but why would we choose this?
But together they grew, together they overcame, and together they loved. They understood that life moves on, slowly but surely. The beatings become less frequent. The queer insults were limited to only a few a day, and the day they turned 18, they moved out of their houses.
They moved in together. Things were hard, but at least they had each other. At least they had a lasting and unconditional love.
They become lifelong partners. They couldn’t get married, but by this point they were used to the oppression brought upon them by the closed-minded. It had happened their entire lives. So they moved on, they tried to ignore it, and they always had hope.
Till one day, a few judges decide that the law against gay marriage is unconstitutional. The first day they could, the two were married. They rejoiced in the change. They had the same marriage rights as straights, and were finally recognized as a married couple. They may have lost a lot in life, but at least they had one another, at least their country was progressing. At least the world was opening up and trying to help their constant struggles against society. “The world is finally becoming a kinder, and more understanding place” they would say.
But people can never allow them to have happiness for long. 6 months later, a proposition is passed banning gay marriage in the state of California. They read the results with tears in their eyes. They look at one another and ask, “Why can’t the voters understand?” The court system decides that their marriage shall be lowered back down to a civil union. The two shed tears of pain and sorrow. They no longer have the same married rights as straight couples, and for the first time in history an amendment is passed which takes away freedoms for a group of people. But most importantly, the idea of their love is publicly humiliated. They are told by other people that their love is not equal to the love of straights. Their love is not worthy to hold the title of “marriage.” They have their rights ripped away and everyone just stands by like nothing has happened. People go so far as to rejoice in their tears, to rejoice in their pain. They ask themselves, “why doesn’t anyone understand?”
But don’t fairy-tales end with “and they lived happily ever after?”
That is for California and the rest of the world to decide. This story is unfinished. This ending is waiting to be written. Help me create the happy ending these two deserve; it will not happen without our constant support.
We’ve already proven that an African-American with a funny name can reach the highest office in America; now let’s show the world that love means more than hate, words have more power than bullets, and freedom is stronger than a voting slip.
Yes we can.
So because the law was passed allowing gays to get married, people immediately stopped making fun of them? Everybody had a new outlook on life? I think that people who would make remarks about gay people would be even more encouraged if they were allowed to get married. People are going to hate weather it’s legal or not.
Not that the story isn’t sad and touching though
I think that the entire point of this blog is kind of shown by that comment. People don’t understand.
I’m not trying to say that violence towards gays would have stopped if 8 didn’t pass. That that isn’t the structure or case I’m making
Most people who voted no tend to believe being gay is a choice, but the point of all of this was to try to help people understand… No one would choose that. The story is trying to show you the struggles they go through for their love, for how they feel, and how difficult of a voyage it is. The blog is just trying to get people to understand. Why should we make their lives even more difficult than it already is? Why do we have to persist to restrain their happiness?
The blog isn’t saying any of this will stop just because of prop 8, it’s just trying to help people to understand.