As one of the four thousand same-sex couples married in San Francisco in 2004 who had their marriage annulled and one of the more than eighteen thousand couples married in the summer of 2008 who must now stand as a beacon of hope for the rest of the community, I want to thank all the people - gay and straight - who were willing to support the effort to prevent proposition 8 from passing either by taking a stand publicly, by donating or by declaring their opposition privately in the voting booth.
I believe that fighting for other people's civil rights at home or in other parts of the world is a moral imperative even though it often takes us outside our comfort zones and I believe that same-sex marriage is a critical issue for ALL Americans who fight for fairness and freedom.
Liberty and Justice for all.
Separation of church and state.
"Separate but Equal" is NOT equal.
If we only apply these principles when it is easy or when the majority has finally come around or when it fits with the teachings of our own religion or when it directly affects us or our families then they mean nothing. We must fight for civil rights and we must fight hardest when and where a majority of Americans turn from them because of bigotry or fear.
I am deeply disappointed in all the religious institutions that claim to stand for justice and fairness but instructed their "flocks" that it was "God's Word" that they should support proposition 8 and impose their religious beliefs on another minority. The hypocrisy is simply shameful.
I know that in time more and more people will come to understand the emptiness and hate behind Prop 8 and this injustice will be righted.
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