KarMel Scholarship 2009

 

 

Description of Submission: “an essay about how I personally feel about Prop 8 and why it is unjustified and how it affects everyone.” - Erica

 

Biography:  Erica graduated from Prospect High School in June.  She will be attending Univeristy of California, San Diego this fall studying Biology.  She plans to graduate college and then go on to getting a Masters in Microbiology.

 

Why Karen and Melody Liked It:  We liked the passion and the arguments against Prop 8 that Erica presented.  Hopefully it will make everyone think how easy it can be to lose rights!

 

Define love. Define marriage.

In the Election of 2008, California voted in favor of Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage with a narrow margin of two percent. Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas voters also joined suit, abolishing certain rights to marriage and adoption. Though the ballot counts are final, the battle for civil liberties has just begun. Youth organizations forming against the passage of Proposition 8, including Join The Impact, EQCA and Overturn Prop. 8, are organizing rallies state and nationwide protesting inequality. But why is this happening? Why is gay marriage such an important issue? The truth is that it harms the civil liberties of every citizen in the state, leading us away from democratic principles and on to a path of tyranny of the majority.

All throughout history, America has been breaking traditions and recreating them to live up to the promise of the land of the free, parity for all. In less than 300 years, the United States has transformed from a slave holding collection of colonies ruled by Britain into a model country where everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Banning gay marriage in lieu of preserving traditional marriage is no excuse. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed to abolish slavery. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment was passed to stop the denial of voting rights on "account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment passed to grant women's suffrage. All throughout history, we've been breaking tradition to live up to our promise of true equality. All of the efforts we took to live up to our name are wasted by the passage of Proposition 8. In passing this abhorrent affront to democracy, we have proven ourselves hypocrites of our own words, values, and morals.

Many believe that gay marriage is an abomination to the union of holy matrimony as described by the bible. But, I ask: Was Eve not depicted as evil when she coerced Adam into eating the apple? Yet women has overcome their blockade and gained the right to vote. Voting rights and marriage are on the same ground; they are the basic civil liberties that all citizens deserve. For years, America has been identified as a haven for religious freedom. Your god may be different from mine. I may choose to not believe in a god at all. Marriage today, much evolved from traditional arranged marriage, is about love. Love is something that covers the gamut. Love is free, love is priceless. Love is shared by hetero and homosexuals alike, and love should not be taken away from anyone. And undoubtedly, love is a passion infinitely stronger than any restrictive law or rule used to suppress it. Look at the amount of divorces we have. Look at the couples who were intoxicated and wedded at a Las Vegas chapel. They don't even know the true meaning and values of love, yet they had the right and opportunity to marry. If our true intentions, as stated by Proposition 8, are truly to preserve marriage, why then are we turning it into such a joke? Legally, heterosexuals can get married for money, for fame, for citizenship - for anything. Homosexuals cannot. And domestic partnership cannot be considered marriage, marriage is marriage. Perhaps we're not all created equal after all.

Many parents are afraid of their children learning about gay marriage because they believe that their children will be lead down a path of immorality. But homosexuality has been around quite some time and it has assimilated into society today. Children are going to have to learn and accept homosexuals eventually because they are a part of our world, and nothing's wrong with learning. Kids are not required to learn to accept marriage of any kind in school and for those that believed in Proposition 8 commercial where first graders were forced to go to a gay weeding, it is a complete lie.  The children and their family were invited to the teacher’s wedding and it was a time to celebrate love and happiness.  But of course the many conservatives turned it into a fictional horror story.  Even Obama and Biden, president and vice president, condemned Proposition 8 as undemocratic even though they, too, believed in the traditional marriage between man and woman.   But, unfortunately, many Californians were too ignorant to check the actual facts before believing in everything the television says.  People may define marriage differently, but equality and liberty should mean the same thing to everyone.

With the passing of Proposition 8, the decision of California judges will be overturned. Though it is reasonable to say that majority rules, majority can also turn into tyranny. Back in the 1950s, when schools were segregated, it was the judges in the Brown v. The Board of Education that declared segregated but equal facilities were unconstitutional. The judge's decision is what started the mass civil rights movement that resulted in our desegregated school system today; the majority was satisfied and in favor of racism. And not surprisingly, America is made up of over 80% white people. And if one day that majority decided to take away rights of minorities including Asians, African Americans, and Latinos, they certainly can. By the passing of Proposition 8, we have weakened the federal and state government to let the majority take control. The majority has already ignored the rulings of the judges, the majority is already going to amend the Constitution, and thus the majority will certainly have all the power. But of course the majority is not always right; in fact there were many times that the majority was wrong. In a previous state election, the majority of Louisiana elected the white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan wizard David Duke as their state representative.  In the beginning of the Iraq war, an overwhelming majority supported Bush’s attack on terrorism and the Iraqi War.  But in both cases, we can look back now and realize our mistakes and our wrongdoings.  Though majority may have the say in many occasions, majority should not be able to take away civil rights.  But, unfortunately, even in liberal California, the majority has succeeded in doing so.

Regardless of how you feel about marriage and relationships, there is no excuse t, take away civil rights. Prop. 8, though focused on gay marriage, affects everyone. It undermines judicial power and allows the majority to silence the minority. To take away rights is a step back for every injustice we have conquered in over 200 years. Just because you have all the rights, it doesn't mean everyone else does, and it certainly doesn't mean you will have those rights forever. There is still much prejudice in our country, in our state, in our community. We must fight for gay rights, for our rights, and for our children's rights. The battle for equality must go on.

 

 

 

Do you like this?  Then feel free to send an email message to Erica at: miss1diot@hotmail.com

 

 

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