For EqualityPerhaps because I was raised during the era of the civil rights movement, I've always been a supporter of equal rights. In my formative years my heroes were the leaders of the civil rights movement: the Freedom Riders, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Julian Bond, and Medgar Evers, to name just a few. I greatly admired those who, at great personal risk, used civil resistance in the fight against racial discrimination.
Throughout the 60's my family never bought grapes, honoring the grape boycott organized by the United Farmworkers who were boycotting to improve the working conditions and pay for farmworkers.
Although I never burned a bra, I certainly supported the women's liberation movement in the 70's. I was still naive enough to believe that centuries of domination would be overturned within the decade. We have yet to pass an equal rights amendment to the United States Constitution.
I can probably blame my leftist leanings on my mother who marched at the U.S. border in support of immigration reform and donated to every liberal cause, and probably to more than a few scams in the last years of her life. My brother saved the bumper stickers from her car...
It should come as no surprise that I am a strong supporter of marriage equity and LGBT rights. I was stunned in 2004 when Oregon passed a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Try as I might, I can't understand why anyone cares who anyone else marries. I understand that some people cite religious reasons for not supporting marriage equity, but those people are certainly free to not marry a same sex partner. Government has no business legislating who we love. Consenting adults should have the right to marry any other consenting adult. Groups in Oregon are organizing to once again challenge the legality of the ban on same sex marriages in Oregon.
Today's theme is equality. To find out more about Marriage Equity visit Freedom to Marry.org
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My parents weren't card carrying liberals, but they were tolerant My dad had a blind side for his army, though, and the only argument we ever had on "rights" was the Kent State shootings. I can still hear him saying "they didn't obey orders," and me yelling "they didn't do anything to be shot for!" I guess he and I didn't discuss Vietnam much, and he did pass away in the thick of it.
ReplyDeleteFantastic E post. I was born in the 70's and am fascinated with all the earlier movements, particularly in the 60's, and wanted to see them for myself.
ReplyDeleteI was always kind of our there on my own of the left side of things in my family. I still am.
ReplyDelete"Government has no business legislating who we love." You're absolutely right! It is so frustrating to watch one side complain about the "nanny state" invading our personal lives yet they don't apply that same rhetoric to religious issues. Sounds hypocritical if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteI've always been liberal (as you can probably tell) and my wife is ambivalent but her family are all strict conservatives. It's nearly impossible to have any rational debate with them because they are so closed-minded and obnoxious. I sure hope they're able to overturn that same-sex marriage ban in Oregon and elsewhere.
The Pedestrian Writer visiting from the A to Z blogging challenge
We must be cut from the safe cloth. My mom, who in many ways is very traditional, is also a rebel who believes in social justice.Those beliefs were in grained in me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the title of your post I though maybe you'd mention the protests happening at LDS General Conference in Salt Lake City this weekend. Some women members are protesting the church's practice of only allowing the priesthood to men, asking for it to also be granted to women. Interesting topic. You should check out the news coverage on it.
I was around for many of the demonstrations from the 60's. I often wonder if much has changed!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this informative post!
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