"PROPASITION EIGHT"
In Regards to "Proposition Eight"
Posted on 11/16/2008 | In: "PROPASITION EIGHT" (5:30, 4 plays)
In regards to proposition eight This is a letter to the editor I wrote to the Portsmouth Harold several years ago, that can be applied today to "Proposition Eight" I am an American citizen! I will repeat myself! I am an American citizen! I am a family man. I work hard at my job. I go to church, and most importantly, I do service in my community. </p><p> I believe in making the world a better place to live. I respect my neighbors. I care about taking care of our natural world for our children's future. I recycle my trash and take the bus as often as I can to save on fuel. I use low wattage, fluorescent bulbs to conserve electricity. As an uncle of 22 children in my family, my nieces and nephews know that I am available for support if they need me. </p><p> So I say to you, why am I not treated as an American? The answer is there is no good explanation, and there never will be. The debate is over; never again will I have this conversation with anyone. My rights will never be questioned again. There is never a good enough reason to deny anyone equality. No one citizen has the right to vote on another American citizen's equality. There is no excuse to allow that to happen. You cannot vote on whether someone is less equal then you. No argument about it, you just can't. </p><p> You may vote not to recognize my equality; you may pass laws that prevent me equal access to freedoms of choice, but in the end, you will lose. You will lose because all people are created equal. When you deny equality to another human being and when you treat them less than you, you, too, are suffering for that inhumane treatment of others. When one group of citizens is denied equality and you say that is OK, then you are allowing the possibility of your own freedoms to be taken away and watered down. </p><p> No matter how hard you try and what you do to take away my humanity, I am still as human as you and always will be. </p><p> You have made a law that I cannot serve and fight for my country as I am. I would like to report I'm finding other ways to serve my country until I am granted that right. </p><p> I am denied the right to donate my blood. I donate my time to help others until I am granted that right. </p><p> You deny me the right to marry and the rights to protect my family. My church officiated and celebrated my wedding day as sacred until I am granted those rights and protections. </p><p> You have taken away my right to the "full faith and credit laws"; my marriage, my children's adoption papers, my insurance papers, all of my family's legal documentation can be challenged by another state. I will obtain as many legal papers as I can to protect my family until I am granted the full faith and credit rights. </p><p> There are many more equal rights I do not have. I want you to know I and other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender American citizens are not going away. We will not be silenced or snuffed out. We will have equal standing with all other American citizens. </p><p> It is not a question on whether or not we will obtain equality; it is a question of when we will be granted equality. In a truly free country, all people have the same rights. We, as citizens of this country, must stand up and demand equality for everyone; for in the United States of America, we must be a nation of free people, who share the same freedoms because we are the land of the free. </p><p> Being on trial for whether we deserve equal rights is ending. The focus in trials now is on the oppressors, the ones who are denying equal access to the law for all Americans. This will continue until justice is served, the day all oppression is wiped clean from the U.S. courts and Legislature. </p><p> Yes, never forget that I am an American, too. And one day soon I must be as equal as you. </p><p> Jasper Salach <br> Dover </p>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)
