In 2011, I supported the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Westboro Baptist Church is free to continue their asinine protests at funerals and other venues. The decision protected the First Amendment rights of Fred Phelps and his sick band of followers. I also support the First Amendment rights of Dan Cathy, the President of Chick-Fil-A. Cathy’s right to free speech was never the issue. The issue is not Cathy’s words, but his actions. Cathy took direct action by donating over $2 million to hate groups that oppose marriage equality. Cathy has helped finance groups like Exodus International and the Family Research Council, who work tirelessly to ensure I remain a second class citizen. The Family Research Council’s Senior Researcher for Policy Studies Peter Sprigg, in his official capacity as a fellow of the Family Research Council, has stated that gay behavior should be outlawed and that “criminal sanctions against homosexual behavior” should be enforced. I take this personally.

Our Constitution ensures debates in politics. Disagreements on taxes, health care, military spending, etc. However, I am not a political belief or cause. I am flesh and blood. I laugh, I cry, I dance and I die. I am a human being. I am a human being who happens to love another person of the same sex.

Never in history have amendments been added to the U.S. Constitution which would restrict the lives of a group of people. It has not occurred yet, but right wing religious groups have proclaimed that will change. While I have not studied any of the State Constitutions, I am certain that most of them had never delegated a minority group to second class citizenship. But, now we have seen that occur in almost 40 states.

Why aren’t the conservatives fighting FOR marriage equality? Aren’t they the ones who claim to want a smaller government? Apparently, a smaller government only applies to businesses and corporations. When it comes to the rights of individuals, like me, we are seeing the exact opposite.

I am shocked that this trend to restrict the lives of individuals is not a major concern for all Americans. Who will be next? George Orwell said it best in his novel, Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.
~ Brad