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Edited on Tue Jun-17-08 06:35 PM by cynatnite
I've been married to my best friend for almost twenty years. For us, marriage means a hell of a lot. It wasn't a religious action in any way at all. We were married by a justice of the peace in an office building.
We married for purely emotional reasons. We loved each other and wanted to meld our lives together in every way possible. There is the legal aspect, but the emotional portion of it was compounded by the fact we would become a family, share a name and walk the same path together. For us, marriage was a commitment that said more about what we meant to one another than anything else we could do.
When I think about how some groups want to take that away from some couples in California I get very emotional about it. I think about it how it would feel for some stranger to decide that my marriage wasn't as important as theirs. For me, it would be very hard to deal with if suddenly my marriage didn't exist.
My relationship with my husband would still be there. That wouldn't go away, but it still would be very difficult that people I don't know could make these kinds of decisions about my relationship. Telling me and my husband we're not married based on a religion we're not part of would be an emotional hit for me.
I put myself in that place and every fiber of my being tells me that it is wrong to tell two people how they are allowed and not allowed to express their feelings for one another.
My husband and I are no better or no worse than any other couple who love each other, but yet, our marriage, our relationship is set higher than a gay couple based on our sex alone. It's not based on how long we've been married, our financial assets, our children or anything else. He is a man and I am a woman. In the eyes of the law, that alone makes our relationship mean more than a gay couple's.
That's why gay marriage isn't just about defining marriage. To me, it's about equal rights, ending the legalization of discrimination, and stopping the religious legislation. Most of all...it's an expression of love that can't be defined by anyone else.
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