It has become our business.

Carl had been telling me of his “water-cooler conversations” with people at work about Proposition 8. One work friend, who lives in the San Gabriel Valley, who had attended our wedding a few days before, had actually marched across the street from his home to talk with a neighbor who had posted a “Yes on 8″ lawn sign, and persuaded the man to change his view.

Another married heterosexual, usually very quiet, became interested enough to question Carl about the effects of Proposition 8, and his perspective broadened as a result. In the last few days, Carl came home with a signed note from work. The man had taken the trouble to write a sincere letter to us:

“I suppose social progress does not come as quickly as we would like. Fear and ignorance still have a hold but its grip is weakening. The strain is starting to show as those stuck in the past hold on for all their might and become more and more desperate. Lies and scare tactics are all they have left. Each passing day the hold weakens just a little and then the day will come when the grip is broken.

“There will come a time in the future when children will read in bewilderment how we as a society acted on Tuesday. They will say, “They really did that?” and the teacher will respond with a bit of embarrassment “It was a different time.”

“But here we are today. While I cannot imagine the frustration you and Dan feel that other people made a decision about your private lives, know that Sheri and I share a piece of the frustration as well. It wasn’t even any of our business to vote on your marriage in the first place, but now that this disgraceful addition to the state’s constitution has been made it has become our business. When the voters attacked your marriage they attacked ours as well. We have been weakened knowing that we have a right that has been denied others.

“So while the state of California may not recognize your marriage Sheri and I do.”

In the age of ubiquitous e-mail, I found it touching that both spouses actually signed this letter with a real pen! It kind of makes me think about us putting pen to paper when we signed our application for a marriage license. Thank you, Brad and Sheri, for signing on in this struggle for equal rights and equal dignity under the law!

—Pastor Dan Hooper, Los Angeles

This entry was posted on November 19, 2008 at 09:23 and is filed under Lesbian/Gay Marriage, LGBT Rights, History, Public Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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