I feel moved, in this time of great change, to sincerely thank those of you who opposed Prop 8.
I must say, I was almost as surprised by my own despair yesterday, as I was by the outcome of Prop 8. I expected that electing Obama would out weight the potential pain of seeing the perpetuation of hatred. My feelings of confusion and isolation were all-encompassing and I thank many of you for reaching out to me with compassion and solidarity.
I know that those of you who have fallen in love know that you do not choose that person – that person is gifted to you to further your learning on this planet and to deepen your experience of that which is divine in this world. This being my very first, raw experience with such loud and obvious discrimination, I was literally shocked out of my skin. Not because I am an idealist and only believe we will move forward on every progressive platform the first time ‘round… but truly out-of-my-skin because 54% of women voted Yes, because 70 percent of African-Americans voted Yes on 8. I do not have to explain to you the hypocrisy of a state overwhelming proving that we want to move beyond discrimination by electing Obama - and then voting to discriminate against another minority group—the LGBT community.
In all of my up-bringing (in suburban and rural Oregon), experiences around the world, all of my years of education, and professional experience, I have only ever come to know that people are fundamentally equal. In my experience, it is without question that we are equal in the eyes of a loving God, and absolutely, we need be equal under the law.
I am very grateful for your love and support in my life. And I hope you will continue to talk to people about equality and the deep need for us to understand in our hearts that there are different ways to be in the world. If we all shared the same views we would have nothing left to learn… I look forward to my generation eroding these fears we have of each other – eroding the last outposts of a culture of hate.
If you yourself voted Yes on 8, or are in a different state but would have, or you know someone who did, I would be honored to talk to you or them. I really want to understand why. I want to hear your story, your rational, in your words – not from a commercial or a cold statistic. I want to thank my friend Chris for being the first to share his views with me. Please be courageous and contact me so we can begin a dialogue.
With love, hope and an unwavering commitment to equality for all,
Brittany
Brittany
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