Mr. Stoker apparently never envisioned a society in which we all prided ourselves on doing just that--saying whatever we please. And last time I checked the balance in my bank account, a member of the aristocracy I am not...
"Jonathan says it is a defect of the aristocracy that they say what they please..."
Among others who are saying exactly what they please (as is their right to a degree) is the religious right as many of the New England states are debating full marriage equality in their states' legislative sessions, including New Hampshire and Vermont (which was the first state in the union to come up with the separate yet inherently unequal "civil union"...)
My inbox has been biblically flooded (figuratively and literally!) with emails from all the right-wing nuts, hoping that my voice can be included in those standing up for "traditional" marriage and "family values" in a world "increasingly gone awry"--as if...
I know we've tread this ground before, dear reader. I know you're saying to yourself, "Well, don't have to read this!" as you obviously consider yourself well-versed in the ways and means in which I am not afforded the same 1,138 benefits any straight couple with a $20 will receive at any state, church, or tackle shop in the nation!--all due to the penis/vagina ratio in your nearest Motel 6...
Ah, the sacredness of marriage. (I know--I threw up a little in my throat there too!) While we all know what a farce this "traditional marriage" crap the right spews on a daily basis from their pulpit, street corner, or cardboard near you (as the tradition of marriage is actually one of female slavery, taxation, and inheritance issues), I am reminded once again of that wonderful passage from one of my most cherished titles, The Bostonians, by Henry James. The novel is a brilliant satire of the women's rights movement back in the day, but this impassioned speech by one of the characters brings the passion bubbling forth in me every time, so much so that I do believe this is perhaps the third time it has been posted here. Nonetheless, until full equality is recognized at the expense of the dreamed-of theocracy on the right, I bring you once again one of my most cherished life quotes:
No idea indeed...
"But you really do strike me as stupid even about your own welfare! Some of you say that we have already all the influence we can possibly require, and talk as if we ought to be grateful that we are allowed even to breathe. Pray, who shall judge what we require if not we ourselves? We require simply freedom; we require the lid to be taken off the box in which we have been kept for centuries. You say it’s a very comfortable, cozy, convenient box, with nice glass sides, so that we can see out, and that all that’s wanted is to give another quiet turn to the key. That is very easily answered. Good gentlemen, you have never been in the box, and you haven’t the least idea how it feels!"
I think it important that, while we are all busy screaming for our positions and invoking our right to speak and worship as we do (or don't) please, we must keep in mind--you may have the right to believe and say what you wish, but that should in no way trump my right to enjoy the same freedoms and rights. It is not a request of a "special right" to marry the one I love any more than it is a "special request" on your part to marry the one you love...
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