So Apparently I'm Not American Anymore.

I'm really not sure why we were even allowed to vote on Prop 8.

Here's the deal; I am so incredibly sick of hearing about Proposition 8. Really, though. It's starting to drive me CRAZY.

We voted on this issue in 2008, and I hated it then. People were getting so angry and were just fighting with each other, not about the issue. Half of my friends were calling me an "ignorant bigot" because they assumed that I was voting yes on 8 because I'm Mormon. The other half were calling me "uneducated" because I'm a registered democrat. Despite the fact that no one actually ever asked how I was voting, I just couldn't win.

I can't stand seeing people fight each other rather than debate an issue. I'm okay with people taking different stands on an issue, don't get me wrong, I think it's great that [some] people inform themselves enough to form an opinion. HOWEVER, I hate hearing the same stupid argument over, and over, and over again. And, regardless of which side of the issue people are on, the "argument" usually ended in the word "bigot," or something of the sort.

Prop 8 has turned into another yelling match yet again, since today it was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. So now I'm wondering, why did I even get the chance to vote on this issue if a court is going to tell me what's right/wrong, anyway? This drives me crazy.

I got a nice little comment on facebook today saying that I'm "not American" simply because I don't agree with the fact that this issue was taken to the courts. Awesome. So because I believe in the voice of the majority, I'm not an American...because that makes sense.

I've also been told that I'm denying "basic rights" to fellow Americans, again because I believe that the vote was taken and the majority should rule. Let me just clear something up: marriage is not a right. Just like getting a driver's license is not a right. Equality is, in fact, a right, and one that I [obviously] completely support. I do not believe that anyone's right to equality is being violated, and I do not agree that gay marriage should be compared with slaves being freed, black children being able to attend school with white children, or women voting. Those are real equality issues.

I don't want to offend anyone, so I hope that I didn't. I'm just sick of this whole issue from BOTH sides. I'm sick of activists saying that they are more "morally correct" and more "enlightened" than us "religiously close-minded," because that implies that their opinions/beliefs are more validated than those who voted Yes on 8. I'm also sick of people claiming to use religion to justify marriage being between a man and a woman using slanderous/hateful words against the more liberal. Because religion and slander really work well together...not.

I just want to vote and for my vote to matter. If a decision is going to be given to the court, do me a favor, state of California, don't give me the chance to vote on it. Thanks.