Kudos to Gavin Newsom (Mayor of San Francisco, CA), and to the California Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriages! I am a straight male (not that there's anything wrong with that!), in my 40's, and have a Lesbian mother who has been involved with the same woman for almost 30 years. My father came out of the closet about 11 years after my mother did. He married my mother because that's what he thought he was supposed to do in society, it didn't matter that he had been attracted to the same sex since he was 10 or 11. My father is no longer alive, however, I think one of the reasons he was hesitant to have a relationship after my mother and him got divorced was because he didn't want to deal with his real feelings, and face the hatred, and discrimination toward Gays and Lesbians in Society (not saying he was afraid to speak his mind--far from it--I think he just chose to fight a different battle), a battle within himself that eventually ended his life much too early.
It doesn't anger me anymore when I see somebody opposed to Gays, and Lesbians, because I have learned over many years that some things, and some people will never change (and that's what seems to be happening with Proposition 8). I don't mean to sound like that's o.k. with me, because it's not, it actually hurts me (the reason it hurts is when someone bashes or lashes Gays and (or) Lesbians, it's usually out of hatred (and not something specific toward the person it was directed to), and to me, that is DISCRIMINATION, and I take it personally, because I see it as an attack on people that are close to me (even if it wasn't directed toward them), however, I just choose to spend my time and energy on people that are not shallow minded. I'm not afraid to speak my mind, however, sometimes it seems like an endless battle, and I have been involved in it for about 30 years. I'm not saying everyone should just love everyone (that's just not going to happen), I just don't think someone should judge another's life...........and when that happens it seems as though we (society) are going backwards, and not moving forward.
This is a huge moment, a landmark decision, however, there are groups voicing their opposition to the California Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Most of these groups opposing this decision seem to be religious groups. I like what Gavin Newsom had to say in an article on CNN.com. He said, the issue "is about civil marriages, not about religious marriages......We're not telling religious institutions what to do. They can continue to do what they've done."<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/16/samesex.marriage/index.html"> http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/16/samesex.marriage/index.html</a>
An initiative defining marriage as "between a man and a woman" in the state constitution qualified on Monday (June 2^nd^, 2008) for the November ballot, setting up an expensive showdown that will draw national attention. <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/984132.html"> http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/984132.html</a>
Fast forward to October..... Kudos to Father Geoffrey Farrow in Fresno too!
<a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6435330"> http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6435330</a>

He's expecting to be suspended from the priesthood, after being an ordained priest for 23 years, and after reflecting for a few days, is hoping to write a book........ I hope the guy makes alot of money from it............The time may be right...............

Kudos to Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg too, for their financial support to help defeat Proposition 8................ and to Margaret Cho hosting Equalipalooza on October 15th, 2008.

http://www.equalipalooza.com/

There is a coalition against this initiative, <a href="http://www.equalityforall.com/"> http://www.equalityforall.com/</a>.

From my understanding, the California Supreme Court's decision will allow same-sex marriages from people from any state to come to California, and get married, which is huge for the California economy, and unlike Massachusetts ruling, which only allows same-sex marriages from neighboring states (however, that has changed recently).

As I update this, "More gay couples were married in California in the first three months that same-sex marriages were legal than were married in the first four years it was legal in Massachusetts".

<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gaymarriage7-2008oct07,0,7906965.story?track=rss"> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gaymarriage7-2008oct07,0,7906965.story?track=rss</a>

In addition, "Same-sex wedding bells could ring up more than $112 million in business revenue".

<a href="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081006/news/810060309&tc=yahoo"> http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081006/news/810060309&tc=yahoo</a>

Mike Otis

October 7th, 2008 12:45am PST

June 17, 2008

<a href="http://www.bringingbusinessbacktocalifornia.com/"> http://www.bringingbusinessbacktocalifornia.com/</a>