Last Day of the Blog Hop

So today is the last day of the Hop Against Homophobia, and I guess I have a little bit more to say.

Homophobia reaches out its ugly tendrils and burrows itself insidiously into our every day lives in so many ways, but let's look at marriage equality first, and the positive benefits of allowing same sex marriage. Besides the obvious.

So what happens when you admit that love is love is love and you allow same sex relationships to become legal? Well, think about it. You've just opened up a whole level of business opportunity for a lot of people! Wedding planners, caterers, rental halls, just to name a few. Wedding boutiques. What do you bring to a wedding? A gift, of course. There alone lies unlimited opportunity. Bring in the prospective couple and let them register for their choice of booty! People who attend weddings often buy new clothes too. Sometimes they need babysitters to watch their children while they attend the happy event. More employment. And let's not forget, the happy couple needs a place to go, so now we've included the travel industry, hotels and resorts!

That's a whole lot of business, and it equates to people spending money and other people having jobs in order to take that money. That's a wonderful thing, don't you think?

Point number two - when the opponents of gay marriage have nothing to fight against, all the money they're currently spending on hate-mongering can go to more worthwhile causes - feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, protecting battered women and children, educating the children.  Projects of love, and hope, not hate.

Think about literature too. You'll be able to find m/m and other "non-traditional" romance stories shelved with the "mainstream" love stories. You can even get a start on that now - go to vendors, such as B&N, and ask for these books, say you want them on the shelves. Make your voices heard. Make people realize that it's all normal. In my B&N, all the gay literature is relegated to a small section marked Cultural Studies, and there isn't much of it at that, and most of it is lesbian-related. It's like a lot of men can handle that, but not m/m. Stupid, isn't it?

So, what else happens? Well, children can be allowed to read books about families with two fathers or two mothers without people getting their dander up. It'll be no different than reading about children with other types of families - in this day and age, there is no norm. Families are torn apart and reconstructed on a daily basis. Children are raised with step-parents, or foster parents. But what is the common ingredient? That they be raised with love. Period.

With DADT taken care of, at long last, the military will be able to recognize and respect and appreciate the gay members of the armed services, who have always been there, forced to remain quiet about who they really are - risking their lives the same as everyone else, and for what? To be told they weren't good enough to come out of the homophobic closet? Fuck that shit. I'm proud of each and every member of our armed forces. EACH AND EVERY ONE.

Will it be automatic? When same sex marriage is legalized, will everyone accept it and be okay with it? No, of course not, that's not a realistic vision of how things will be. Some people will never accept it, no matter what you do or say. Some people are too mired in the past, in old ideas, ancient prejudices, and cannot open their minds to new ideas. You can't please everyone, it just can't be done. But that doesn't mean you don't still do what's right.

There are still people out there who don't approve of mixed marriages of any kind. Does that mean they shouldn't happen? Of course not.

Our children are the hope of the future. With each generation, we can see the changes, as they grow up with acceptance and tolerance and understanding. More and more of them.

I truly do not understand what these hate-mongers are so afraid of. Why do they care so much what goes on in other people's bedrooms. They have feeble arguments such as the old Adam and Eve/Adam and Steve chestnut. Really? Or how same sex couples can't procreate, so that is apparently a standard to measure their marriage-worthiness. Really? Then does that mean that women who are beyond child-bearing years, or cannot bear children shouldn't get married? What about the couples that chooses not to have children? Should they be forbidden too? No, it's all ridiculous. There are plenty of people who are having children; the human race is in no imminent danger of disappearing anytime soon. Except possibly through its own follies - such as war and hate - but not from lack of procreation.

How can you look at these happy faces and not realize that they are loved? And isn't that the point? I'll leave you with the words of Toulouse Lautrec, in Moulin Rouge:  The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to just to love and be loved in return.


Love. That's what it's all about, folks. Love everybody, and let them love who they want.

Thank you, and God bless.

Until next time, take care!

♥ Julie


PS Tomorrow, I'll announce the winner of my contest, as well as the It Started With a Dare contest. Thanks for your patience!