I posted this on my blog a little while ago, but I thought it would make a fitting diary for this site as well. I just created my blog a few days ago and have very few readers, so I thought I'd see what the response is where it may actually get read by a few people who hate sleep as much as i do.
I'm often amused by the questions that people who know me ask. Usually it's a response to my position on a particular topic that we happen to be talking about when they can't understand how I could possibly take the position I take. Usually the spoken question is something along the lines of "Are you gay?". I sometimes have a hard time not laughing out loud when people ask me this. I tend to think they just haven't ever been exposed to a single, white male who is both a feminist and a gay-rights proponent.
For the record, I am not gay. I am a straight, single, 30 year old male and chances are nothing will ever change that. I've been to gay clubs, been hit on by gay men, but have never even considered the idea of having a relationship, let alone sex, with another man. I once had a guy grab my dick, but it freaked me out so much that the only response I could think of was to pull away and say, "dude, I'm in the military". I laugh now, but apparently he got the hint I wasn't interested and left me alone. Of all the stupid things I've done in my life, that's up there with the best of them. No, you're not getting details of that encounter. At least not here...
But the truth is, I am a big proponent of many feminist and gay issues. In fact, I can't think of any feminist or gay issue that I'm opposed to. We're all human beings, and I can't bring myself to condemn a person for being who they are. I could never suggest to a woman that she deserves less money just because she's female, or that I have a right to tell her what to do with her body. By the same token I could never tell a man that he is less than me because I think he's fallen in love with someone I think he shouldn't be in love with. It's not up to me to decide, and it sure as hell isn't up to someone in an office in Washington D.C. to decide.
It's all about respect. I do everything within my power to respect someone until I have a reason not to. When I meet you, I don't look down on you, and I don't look up to you. You are a person, just the same as I am. No better, no worse. Now you may prove me wrong and I'll change my opinion, but that takes a little time for me to make that decision.
In almost all cases when I don't like a person it's because that person has said something to me that I feel is bigoted, discriminating, racist, or otherwise hateful. I despise discrimination in all of its forms. People who would gives rights to one group of people while withholding them from another group are disgusting in my eyes. I see no reason why women should not have the same pay, privileges and luxuries as men. I see no reason why gay couples should not have the same rights as straight couples.
But what it all boils down to is one very simple thing. I do not let religious ideals cloud my judgment of the people I meet in every day life. I'm not a religious person and I have no problem saying that. There is no invisible man in the sky telling me that love between two people is wrong just because they happen to be the same sex. There is no god telling me that life begins at conception, and I don't believe in the concept of a "soul" that survives after our death.
What we've got to work with is the here and now. I don't have the time to worry about what some guy who lived 2000 years ago thinks about me. All I can do is make the best of what is in front of me, and that's how I approach each day. The rules set before me aren't always good rules, and I'm not going to choose to follow rules that I think are wrong, especially when they take power away from one individual and give it to another.
That means a woman's right to an equal wage and the right to control her own body is exactly the same as a man's right to choose what happens to his body and his right to an equal wage. Remember, it's not just women earning less money, but racial minorities are earning less money as well. It's not just women who have to fight for the right to choose what is best for their bodies and lives, but a lot of gay men are fighting for the same right to do what they want with their own bodies.
It's all about the words "with liberty and justice for all" and that's where the discussion ends. Those words mean so much to me. Each person, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever, is to be judged as an equally acceptable human being. End of story, no ifs, ands, or buts to be declared. There are no exceptions in those words. Liberty and Justice for All. To me, there's nothing left to say.