Monday, August 25, 2008

My Letter to the Editor on Prop 8

Mad Professah wrote and sent the following letter to the editors of my local newspapers:
Although it seems early to be thinking of the November election in August, since this is a year in which we elect a president, we are forced to do so.

However, in addition to voting for Barack Obama for president, in California there are several important ballot propositions to cast an informed vote on.

Proposition 8 would amend the California Constitution to prevent a single class of people from accessing a fundamental freedom, the freedom to marry. Think about that. There are people out there who think that by a simple majority vote, the people of California should single out a group of people to deny them equal treatment under the law.

As a Black person in America who is aware (and proud of) the history of people who look like me I urge everyone to vote NO on this cynical (and disturbingly familiar) attempt to eliminate basic fairness.

Oh, by the way, I haven't told you what Proposition 8 is about. It's about prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from getting married. Regardless of how you feel about that issue, it's simply wrong and un-Californian to change the highest law in our land to treat people differently.

In the same election in which Californians will embrace the future by electing President Barack Obama and voting for change in our nation's government, let us not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Vote No on Prop 8.

What do you think? Now, go write your own!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marriage was defined long ago by God, then upheld for thousands of years by most civilizations. What has changed?

California citizens decided this issue many years ago. Too bad we have to do it again. Vote yes on proposition 8.

Ron Buckmire said...

You lost me at "Marriage was defined long ago by God."

What part of "civil marriage" do you not understand? I don't care if YOU believe that marriage was created by God or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Why do you think that your belief over wht marriage should be should trump what my belief marriage should be, in a civil, pluralistic, democratic society?

It is anti-thetical to those beliefs to use the tyranny of the majority vote to actuvely deny the fundamental freedom to marry to agroup of citizens. Period.

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