Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The United States v. Windsor

Warning:  Today I am giving my opinion on Prop 8 and gay marriage.  If you are for gay marriage, keep reading.  If you are against gay marriage, keep reading.  There is no hate here.  This is how I feel.  I honor your feelings and opinions even if they aren’t the same as mine.  I have friends and family who are on both sides of the fence on this issue, and I love and care for them all the same.  It’s not my business to think for them. 
Today has been gay.  And by gay I mean happy, and by happy I mean the gay community is about to throw a party that only they can.  The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); which stated that if you have matching body parts you can’t possibly be a real family.  Just hours after the decision was made, I was asked to “unlike” a friend’s Facebook page because anyone who tolerates others obviously isn’t a friend of theirs.   (AKA they believe that a marriage is only valid between a man and a woman, and don’t want to associate themselves who disagree.  Of all of the reasons to distance yourself from a redhead, I always assumed it would have been for personal safety.
Anyway, if you are unfamiliar with the case, here is the quick and dirty.  The very beautiful Edie Windsor challenged the Supreme Court when she was expected to pay taxes on the property she shared with her late wife Thea Spyer, to whom she had legally married.  After more than 40 years together, the United States asked for upwards of $363,000 in federal estate taxes.  Had the couple been seen as a legal pair, they would have been protected under the unlimited spousal deduction and wouldn’t have been required to pay federal estate taxes. 
Photo by Andy Ryan and Out.com
I believe that everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness, and this includes marrying whomever you choose.  I also believe that I don’t have the right to pass judgment on anyone else.  I mean I DO, but usually it’s restricted to the people of Wal-Mart, people who take food stamps out of their Gucci, and people who don’t have red hair.  But beyond that, I can’t tell anyone who to love.  
I was excited about the court’s ruling so I told my five year old daughter, Shylee.
Me:  Guess what!  Gay Americans had a great day in court today!
Shylee:  What does that mean?
Me:  Well, men can be married to men and women can be married to women.
Shylee:  Yeah and kids can be married to adults!
Me:  No... no that is still very illegal.  Let’s not talk about that.
 
In other news, if you type “homosexuality” into Google, the search bar turns fabulous!
 

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