Civil Rights Heads For A Vote, Again...

IUS Civis!

 

With the recent push towards equality defeated at the ballot box in North Carolina, the rights of a minority group are once again heading to the ballot boxes. Up next, Maryland, Maine & Washington.

As the extremists, churches, religious groups & organizations fighting to "defend" traditional marriage have begun ramping up efforts to raise the funds to get out their message of; "The institution of marriage & family is under attack!" We, the LGBT community will once again pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off & begin the process of changing hearts & minds through education.

Typical messages of bigotry, intolerance & lies include:

* Lie: Gay marriage will destroy the foundation of what marriage is.

* Truth: Marriage equality will strengthen families by guaranteeing the recognition of said families as a married couple & therefore entitled to the legal rights/responsibilities/protections, tax breaks, medical decisions, etc. Who could argue having these rights/responsibilities would bring harm? Having legal protections & financial security is something all families want.

* Lie - Gay households are not a good environment to raise children & can make them gay.

* Truth - It has been proven that gay households have just as much love as their heterosexual counterparts. Something I sometimes believe to be more so as our community has long had to endure the struggles & burdens of proving to the rest their desire and ability to raise children.

As divorce rates across the country haven't fallen among the heterosexual community, the sun continues to rise each day in the states of Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, D.C. & Iowa.

So, as the Maggie Gallaghers, Bryan Fishchers, Charles Worleys, Paul Camerons & other anti-LGBT voices of the world ramp up their efforts to spew their messages of lies, intolerance, bigotry & hate in Maryland, Maine & Washington, we the LGBT community will continue the message of equality through tolerance, love & most of all, education.

Love makes a family!

Standing up (OK, sitting down) for our rights!