When the Christians Aren't, the battle for equality is far from over.

    Before you read any further in this piece you need to understand something.  I have friends.  GOOD friends who are shining examples of the best Christians on earth.  Not because they are perfect, not because they sit around quoting bible scripture all day, not because they spend hours a day volunteering to help the poor and downtrodden, and not because they focus on showing non Christians the way.  Because they have found a way to live their lives worshiping god in a way that enhances their lives.  Some of them don't agree with my lifestyle, but they resolve that fact by believing that god will judge me and no one else should.

     Many gay couples have recently gotten married, legally,  This may seem like a huge win for equal and gay rights.  Keep a couple things in mind, less than 50 years ago it was illegal for members of different ethnic backgrounds to marry, current events show us that there are still many powerful racist people in America who have found a way to voice their racism either personally or subversively.  While polls show 60% of Americans approve of gay marriage.  No state has passed an equal marriage law when put to a vote.  Obama originally stated when running for office the first time that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman.  I question his genuine beliefs.  No matter what the supreme court says now.  They are appointed positions and when the case comes up again things can always be reversed.  Some courts have actually already upheld the ban.  Rowe vs Wade is a prime example of why the fight for equal rights must never end.  States, Senators, and Good Christians are continually looking for a way to take abortion, and women's rights away from them.

     Sally Kern, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Al Sharpton, Mike Huckabee, Mary Fallon, Sarah Palin, all have found a pulpit to pound when it comes to gay rights.  I was very slow to come to the side of gay rights.  I felt as a movement, and social body we were not mature enough to deserve them.  In many aspects I still feel that way.  Fact is legally there is enough legal documentation out there to file to protect gay couples rights.  Many young gay people take for granted the vast volumes of shit the rest of us have gone through, and frankly they aren't tough enough to handle it anyway.  I can remember standing in front of a gay bar in Lexington Kentucky in the early ninety's and somebody driving by and firing gun shots into the building.  At the time nobody even called the police because they didn't want to deal with the conflict of calling the police to a gay bar.  So a little bullying during high school, which we all have had to deal with, and some bullying on face book page doesn't really seem such a big deal to me.  Have some balls boys, you have them don't you.

     While there are plenty of Christians who don't oppose gay marriage rights, it does give the far right wing republicans and everyday bigots a pulpit to hide behind.  It gives them the courage to voice their opinions standing behind the veil of religion when they don't have the courage to stand up and declare they are racist and bigots on their own accord.  Hell I am an opinionated son of a bitch and I don't care what you think about it, at least I admit it.  I plan to marry my partner this spring, not because the state of Arizona allows it legally. Not because the supreme court says that I have the right to. Because I believe in the commitment that I want to make to him.   I want him to know the blind love that I have seen my father exhibit toward my mother for the last 50 plus years.    I don't believe that we will have equal rights for gays until we can sit across the table at a romantic dinner and hold hands openly, or stand beside a river, or on a mountain, or a fountain and be moved and kiss openly in public without looks of disdain or disgust.  I believe the fight is not anywhere near over and we need a stable, united voice to respectfully keep on fighting the good fight.  The couples who have been fighting the battle in the courts, who have taken all the social and racial slurs, who have had to stand on the steps of the courts and walk past the protesters carrying viscous banners have earned and deserve for us to keep on fighting the good fight.