Thursday, December 14, 2006

My Letter to the Editor on the New Bedford Rally

After the New Bedford rally, I quickly wrote a Letter to the Editor in the South Coast Standard Times. It was finally published today.

Our legislators have voted for equal rights

On Saturday, I held a sign in front of the New Bedford Public Library. It was fitting to be in front of such an important symbol of free thought and knowledge, because across the street - in front of City Hall - were people with minds closed and facts wrong. They disingenuously chanted "let the people vote," a semantically repackaged way of saying gay people don't deserve the right to marry. Furthermore, the people have voted - over and over and over again. Year in and year out, when it comes to marriage equality, the only people who have been voted out of office have been those who don't believe in equal rights for all. Our state representatives and senators have also voted, repeatedly, to prevent any further attacks on marriage equality - though it's a vote a select few in this state don't like and therefore ignore.

The sign I held on Saturday read, "This Christmas: Peace and Love on Earth for Everyone." I truly mean everyone. I wish peace and love on Earth to all the readers of this paper who don't think gay people deserve the right to a civil marriage. However, I ask them to consider all the people they hurt in their efforts to grant special rights to heterosexuals. Everyone deserves the chance to say "I do" to someone they love, even if that person just so happens to be the same gender.

RYAN
Dartmouth

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ryan, a lovely letter, congratulations! I also have started talking about 'special heterosexual rights'. It is a good approach with some people I think because it makes them look at their own sense of entitlement.

Ryan said...

I can't remember where I heard it first, but when I heard it - it was sort of like an epiphany. They're always saying gay people want 'special rights,' meanwhile they try to protect a right that's been specially reserved for them in every state up until 2004. And now we have one state with no special rights when it comes to marriage equality.

Anonymous said...

And if anyone tried to take away their right to marry, they'd scream bloody murder about it. We'd find out that marriage really is a "right," pretty damn quick in that situation.

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