One of my facebook friends posted this like today from the Seattle Strangler with the comment "Jaw-Dropping":
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/why-do-you-hate-me/Content?oid=2156227
Apparently, there is going to be a referendum on Washington's ballot in November seeking to overturn the legislation giving same-sex couples (those that have been domestically partners, NOT married) the same rights as married people. The reporter at the Strangler decided to call up some of the donators and signers of the petition to find out why. Why does this matter so much to people?
I wish I could say that their ignorance was shocking, but I cannot. I can say it is disgusting. It is amazing how ill-informed people are, and how people allow their prejudices to get in the way of common sense. One person's response to why the contributed and signed this petition? "My main reason is that I don't want our state to, well, to put it bluntly, I don't want our state to legalize sodomy." Another person says, "It is not a civil-rights issue; it is a health issue." He goes on to say that homosexuals are, " incubators of a lot of the bacteria.. It is common for homosexuals to have hundreds of different sexual experiences with people—they do fisting, they do water sports, and on and on. There are bacteria that are called 'gay-related syndrome' or something, but it is not healthy. And by using lots of antibiotics against them, the antibiotics are no longer usable because they don't work."
That last section especially gives me a headache because it reminds me of some of the student answers I receive on essay exams. I can tell that they've been in class, but the information I've given them has somehow gotten hopelessly scrambled in their brain and spewed out in a nonsensical pattern.
Mostly, I think it's sad that there are people who are so determined to discriminate against homosexuals that they don't even want to allow domestic partnerships. It seems very sad to me that people don't want to allow other people who are committed to one another simple familial rights, like hospital visitations, joint health insurance, and inheritance rules in the case of the death of one partner. What does it really matter? I hope everyone who said that discrimination was dead in America when Obama was elected president reads this article.
