11 days and counting until the gay marriage vote in Maine...

[mechante_fille]

Hey, all. This is obviously rather big in my life atm, and while I don't want to burn you out on news of the election, it is only for a week and a half more. Please take a moment to watch this video, or at least run it in a background tab. I know I'm preaching to the non-resident choir for the most part, but still.

Phillip Spooner: WWII vet, Republican, proud father of his late, gay son, supporter of gay marriage. Here is his testimony.

I didn't embed b/c lj friend's page cookies seem to screw that up, so you'll have to click to view. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Comments

[dmlpacker.livejournal.com]

He (and that speech) made me so happy. He seems like such a sweet, incredible man. I hope no one causes trouble for him.

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm so glad to help make you happy! Nah, he's still telling everyone who will listen.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

I really do hope all goes well in your state ^___^ It would be sad to see such an awesome thing get shot down.

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon. *snugs* You have no idea how hard I'm crossing my fingers.

[theotherdibbler.livejournal.com]

I watched it and then I watched some of the related videos. I've been hearing for ages how there are all sorts of civil rights tied into the legal status of a marriage, but actually hearing some of those couples and parents talking about what specifically they're currently being denied was an eye-opener. How do the people arguing that denying marriage equality is to 'protect the children' even think they have a leg to stand on? If a parent isn't even allowed to take their kid to the doctor when their partner is away, or qualify for the standard 'surviving partner' benefits when their partner passes away, and could even have their kids taken away 'coz they're not the legal parent - how is that 'protecting' the children? Hell, even if I was anti-gay marriage for some reason, I'd vote for equality specifically because it affords better protection for children and families.

Whoever posted the videos of the rally said that 4000 people attended and pro-equality supporters vastly outnumbered the others. Here's hoping that's actually indicative of the voting body.

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, there was a case this year of a couple who had a civil union in their state, and had their children on a Rosie's cruise when one woman got really sick. They rushed her to the nearest hospital, in Florida, and then barred the parter and the children from being in the room as the woman died b/c they weren't family. She even had her power of attorney faxed to the hospital, but the social worker told her they were an anti-gay town, and weren't going to let her in. The nerve!!

Maine hospitals are so much more awesome than that, but still.

Also... well, a lot of these people believe that taking the children away would be 'protecting' them, so...

We will get there, though. Hopefully this vote will bring us a step closer, but we'll get equality someday, with or without this victory.

[theotherdibbler.livejournal.com]

Re. the hospital thing - I saw something about that the other day actually. That's just horrendous. I actually didn't think people were legally allowed to pull shit like that these days. What are the anti-discrimination laws for?


a lot of these people believe that taking the children away would be 'protecting' them
Oh, right. And are we still taking children away from black parents for the same reason? Or single parents?

I don't get it. It's all the exact same issue over and over again, just the victims in the spotlight keep changing. Seriously, I feel like I need to join a march supporting women's right to vote or something. This is shit we learned about in high school history class, isn't society meant to be over all this rubbish by now?

I'm shying away from watching the opposition's videos, but at the same time I kind of want to talk to some of them, just so I can try to get my head around where they're coming from, because it makes no sense to me. I don't just mean that I object to their viewpoint, I am completely failing to understand their viewpoint, where it comes from, what the logic behind it is. I can generally see at least two sides to every issue, and even if I don't support someone's view on the matter, I can at least see it, and see why they hold that opinion. This time I can't.

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Not all states have sexual orientation as part of their anti-discrimination laws. Yet.

You know, the awesome part is that you can't see their view. It really shows how times are changing. We'll get to the point where this is just a page in a history book.

*snugs*