Saturday, November 8, 2008
November 4th was a great day for Americans. A whole day full of polls running, people watching the news during work, seeing if their candidate was winning this state or that state. November 4th was also a nervous day for some Americans. Why? The passing of Proposition 8 was pending. The fate of many people depended upon other people's views on this proposition. What did this proposition state? Prop 8 is supposed to ban all gay marriage.
I want to take this moment to remind people that America is supposed to be a free country. A long time ago, people looked up to this country, because they saw this place as a place where dreams came true. Immigrants came to America to do things they were unable to do in their own countries. But does this country really have equality? Somehow, I do not really think so. Since the very beginning, we have all been raised with particular prejudices.
On November 4th, Prop 8 got passed. I was not only angry with the decision; I was disappointed with the nation. No matter how I think about it, I can't understand why so many people cannot see marriage between a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. Supporting gay marriage does not make people shed their blood; it doesn't kill lives. The only thing it does is make everyone's minds stretch wider and believe in changes. Maybe I am thinking this way because I am only fourteen; but I think that some children are wiser than adults.
I admit that marriage has been between a man and a woman since the very beginning. But marriage does not only have to be the unity of a female and a male. Everyone should know that love has no boundaries. Love is like a monster-- it can attack people in all sorts of ways. There are already very few examples of pure and beautiful marriages in this world. Marriage is not man and woman. It is love. As long as there exists true love and trust between two people, marriage is true. I believe that other people cannot decide the fate of two people. Laws should not ban love where it exists.
It is truly a huge change for the entire world; but not necessarily a bad one. Why can't everyone give up some of their laws to make everyone in the world happy? Somewhere out there in the world right now, there are couples who can no longer think of a future together, happily married. For them, one law killed their "happily ever after" story. I can barely restrain myself from saying, "I hate the people in the country." Just because it has always been like this, it doesn't mean it always has to be.
Think about it this way. Back when there was racism against African Americans, white people would say, "It's always been like this!". Now, we are no different. "Marriage has always been between a man and a woman!" How are we, as a nation, different from the racist America? No, we are no longer racist. But now we are prejudiced against another minority; the people who define love and marriage a different way. When will America live up to its name, and become the land of the free, and home of the brave?
We are not the land of the free because we do not offer all our residents any freedom. Not even the basic freedom of choosing who to marry, who to love! We are not the land of the brave because the majority of us are cowards who are afraid to believe in change.
I am just fourteen. I have no rights to say that adults are wrong. But I am free to believe in what I think is right. From a child's point of view, I will say that I think it is cruel to punish people this way. There are too many "why?" questions that can't be answered. That is because when adults decide things, most of the time, they don't have a perfect reason. They only think that things have to be the same.
Marriage is a privilege, not a right, that is true. Privileges should be available for everyone, and not just a majority. The law should not be used to take away an equal privilege away from anyone. The law should not signify the union between two people. The law does not have the right to take away happiness from anyone.
On November 4th, in the state of California, the law wrecked the meaning of equality. People see the world from many different viewpoints. People see marriage from many different viewpoints. On November 4th, a law forced every single person to see it through the government's viewpoint.
Does justice and equality bear any meaning to Californians anymore? It is agonizing to know that some of our very elite government still have a need to check in the Webster's dictionary to see the deeper meaning of those two words.
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