We are warriors

In light of the repeal of Proposition 8 yesterday in California, the shining star of degrading gay couples and their dignity as American citizens has been overturned.

The court’s ruling rang through the streets as supporters of the proposition cried out and shriveled into puddled messes on the floor.

The U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit’s backing of gay marriage, or as we like to call it, “marriage,” is the latest victory in what seems to be a tiny swell of pro-equality legislation and rulings.

Washington, too, will likely pass equal marriage laws in the coming weeks, following an explosive victory in New York, which should put hope in the hearts of states to come.

Legislators in New Jersey, Maryland and Maine are making moves to ensure the equality of marriages for all people.

I don’t mean to be underwhelmed, but at the rate we’re going, it’s looking as though proponents of traditional marriage are slowly being foiled, as open-mindedness for human privileges are starting to take hold.

For the first time, I feel confident that by the time our generation is reaching adulthood (and like, real adulthood, not proto-adulthood), I’ll be able to get married in most of the United States.

Or, at the very least, the states that people actually care about.

The overheated, indiscernible rage and ferocity projected by the youth of us budding adults is a powerful tool and terrible handicap.

On one hand, our blind anger stampedes in the direction of our foes until they are smothered into submission.

With a common goal and a spiking intimidation, little stands in the way of our charge.

We are warriors, headed full speed at our opponent. But then lies the question of when we are to stop and evaluate. When the enemy is trampled, we charge into a void, and are left with little to no productivity.

So what I’m trying to get at here is that when our marriage is legalized from coast to coast, what will we have left to be pissed about?

I am here, unabashedly, to remind you.

We must turn our attention to the treatment of our health. Equality and respect for all patients, HIV or otherwise, should be expected nationwide.

We should be able to donate blood without being barred by FDA-regulated bigotry, put into a category with injective drug-users and prostitutes.

We should expect the same rights in the workplace, in our wages and in our rights to worship in any religious denomination we wish.

We should introduce these ideals of love and same-sex equality to the youngest of young, as acceptance is developed and learned in primary stages.

We should teach acceptance in schools, speak for the inequalities within our history and subject learning minds to the nature of our past and the brightness of a future.

We should preach our fortune to the struggling and defend against the ever-present bully, for it truly does get better.

We should consider our rights as parents, as foster parents, as domestic partners and as beneficiaries of financial dependents.

We should be able to take our kids into any state without worry of ridicule or improper schooling.

And all of these things should apply to the riled up transgender and transsexual population of our country, as they are not merely anomalies tacked onto an equality bill but thriving members of our movement.

Yes, we’re well on our way to winning marriage, but reigning equality still has its battles.

­— ftirado@indiana.edu