Election Emotions

[livingdeb]

Every single one of the idiotic amendments passed (although one that lengthened the terms for regional mobility authorities from two years to six years didn't). We continue to resolve local disputes with constitutional amendments and now we are restricting rights. It's one thing to feel that our politicians are corrupt, but to feel that the majority of our citizens are imbeciles is, in a democracy, disconcerting at best.

Not only that, but proposition 2, meant to ban gay marriage, passed in every single county in the state except mine. Texas is a big state, with something like 235 counties. It's hard to imagine that this amendment could have passed in every single other county. I suddenly feel surrounded by hostile forces.

First I wanted to cry for a long time.

Then I wanted to refuse to ever get married, in protest. Who wants a piece of that if it's only for people who are lucky enough to fall in love with the "right" gender? I'll just live in sin forever. That'll show 'em.

(Although since I don't want kids, I don't suppose I'm really human anyway.)

Then I wanted to start grabbing other females and kissing them in public. In Dallas. In a mall. No, in front of a church. No, in a church. One of these churches where you shake hands with everybody at the end? I surround myself with females and start kissing them.

Of course none of these things would help. Revenge only exacerbates conflict. It's probably much easier to tolerate gay people if they are safely closeted, just like it is easier to tolerate smart people when they are safely locked away in their little cubicles, inventing cool things for you to buy, but only as workaholics, not as people trying to interact with you.

I am trying not to feel vengeful, but I can't help feeling saddened and disgusted and vulnerable.

Comments

[raaga123.livejournal.com]

I'm with you! I know a hetero couple in Boston who actually did have a non-marriage commitment ceremony, and gave one of their reasons (at the ceremony) as the fact that they were boycotting an institution that was unjustly denied to others.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

That must have been a while ago. I believe same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts, at least for now.

I've heard of this kind of issue before--should you use advantages you have that are unfair? For example, Nicolas Cage doesn't use his real last name (Coppola). I don't think I've followed this strategy before (other than refraining from lying and cheating). I normally don't notice my unfair advantages--I'm just used to them.

Another strategy is to use unfair advantages to make up for unfair disadvantages. I do this with claiming charitable deductions on my income tax forms. On the one hand, I contribute to public TV in order to get their schedule, and I contribute to the wildflower center in order to get in free. That's not really charity, but I can count it as such. On the other hand, I also give interest-free loans to relatives, and sometimes just give them stuff when they are in trouble--that charity doesn't officially count.

Same with income when I was applying for a house loan. They wouldn't consider the fact that I would generally have a roommate, which I do. But they would count a relative's outstanding debt with me at the time (I think--or something similar) which I would never have counted in a million years.

It strikes me that it's probably easy to dream up "unfair disadvantages" than to notice unfair advantages. For example, Nicolas Cage could have decided that the Coppola name would make up for his lack of typical movie-star good looks.