When I travel to other corners of the U.S. and explore the city, I see race, background, sex and sexuality is not as much as an issue than it is in my hometown. Boston, New York, San Francisco and Toronto (Canada for that matter) are places I have visited and they all seem to have it down when it comes to acceptance and equality for gays. I am not gay but would like there to be equality throughout the world. A person of color will argue that they have been held down by the man for years and yell out for equal rights but as that person sees two men sitting together eating dinner, they have a derogatory comment to make about their sexuality.
Not everyone is like this but the misunderstanding is very common in the southern U.S. states and remote areas like the northwest. Acceptance is not only prevalent in cities I listed but also a growing amount of local governments are reaching out to those of different preferences and that extends to the population creating a domino effect of change for the better. Touching on another subject, the stereotype homosexual; very feminine, style conscious, and talking about gay sex is not the norm when you are interacting with those of that preference. Most gays are like you and I and only bring it up when a conversation on the subject arises. Some never bring it up in fear of ridicule and hate from coworkers and friends. In my workplace, the men swap jokes about race, gender and most prevalent, gays. The talk comes with the territory. My current (pre-college) job consists of individuals without college doing manual labor and probably will do that for most of their life. The education level is at the point where jokes of that kind are found funny and not stupid and childish.
I have quite a few homosexual friends (15%) and all friends are honest when they say, I am homosexual or, I accept homosexuals and their preferences. There is not one person I am friends with that is closed to that view and thinks gay marriage should be banned or turn it into a religious point. In short, I have friends that share the same ideals as I and chose them for this reason. It is very sad there is such a large number of people that are against gay rights and feel they should impose their Christian beliefs on persons of different preferences. You cannot forget that this country was land of the free, home of the brave and is composed of individuals from every religious and racial background. In the past decade, this has become a nation where church and state are one (behind the scenes) and that church is the one of Christ. I will not make this a religious statement but regardless of your beliefs, you must admit the current state of our nation is based on Christian ideals.
Only focusing on gay rights is close-minded itself but is a hot issue and I feel it should be addressed since I am constantly listening to criticism of certain sexual preferences. I addressed a fellow employee with a similar argument as I have stated and asked why he continues to mock and make fun of those that have a different sexual preference that he and his friends have. He only replied with, I dont think gays should not do what they want; I just think it is funny to joke about. After he chucked, he said, I am Christian and it is against god to let gays marry. It is a sin in my book and they can do what they want, but marriage is sacred and holy and restricted to those of the opposite sex. I had to change gears and asked why marriage was still holy? Only a small percentage of marriages last over 10 years and most kids see their parents in a joint custody agreement. I feel if two men or women love each other and are going to stay together as life partners, they should be allowed to wed and be recognized by law as a marriage. I bet the percentages of marriages over 10 years will be higher with homosexual marriages than heterosexual. I know many men and women that have lived together for almost 20 years as life partners although they cannot be married.
I know most individuals are not exposed to the other side of things and if you live in one of the cities I listed; you know gays are not as hot of an issue as I described. I feel it is good to let everyone know gay rights are far from over, especially in the south. Things have gotten a lot better in the last 10 years and most students graduating from high school after 2004 are a lot more open to others preferences and less likely to interfere politically or socially. Those born in the 70s 90s are the ones fighting hard to shut out gays and their rights as humans and I feel legally that should not be allowed. Regardless of your religion or sexual preference, you cannot impose laws on others based on those views or opinions. Life in jail for murder is one thing but denying homosexual marriage is another. I have been ridiculed at my current job for voting for John Kerry, owning a 4cylinder car and not a V8 gas guzzler, being a tree hugger and daily I have to defend my political, economic, social and religious beliefs only to find my coworkers are just as close minded as the previous day. As of this writing, I just put in my two weeks notice and will be migrating to a more open-minded atmosphere.