Unrelated Shit: "The Real Enemy to Gay Marriage: Apathy"

April 1, 2001.

June 1, 2003.

June 30, 2005.

(Or June 8, 1901)

July 20, 2005.

November 30, 2006.

June 17, 2008.

May 1st, 2009.

December 21, 2009.

(Ceremony in Mexico City, but recognized throughout country)

June 5, 2010.

June 27, 2010.

July 22, 2010.

June 7, 2012.

These are the dates that Gay Marriage was legalized in these countries.

And these are the states in the United States of America that have legalized, within their jurisdiction, Gay Marriage.

This is not a piece on how we can "fix" gay marriage, or achieve equality for those seeking it, but how we can fix ourselves, if we really want to help the movement.

Recently, Chick-Fil-A came under fire again for the current owners' comments on gay marriage, and their support for one of the 8 different types of "Biblical Marriages". Now, if I remember correctly, this same event(s) occurred in the beginning of 2010-2011, when an "independent operator in Pennsylvania supplied food to an event sponsored by a group formed to defeat same-sex marriage initiatives"; and when it was also reported "that Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation did not admit gay couples to marriage counseling."

The title I've attributed to this piece is the message I am aiming for, Gay Marriage's greatest enemy is not the Christian Right, Fundamentalist Islam, Gang Violence, Migrating Beavers, or Gazelle Stampedes, it's us. We are letting it down, again and again. This generation is acting under the assumption that rights for minorities that are ostracized and attacked can be petitioned into legislation, that rights can be achieved in one lifetime, or even a decade.

The first slaves were brought to North America in 1619, it took nearly 345 years before they even got to enjoy some of the liberties they have, and we have, today: desegregation, equal opportunity schooling, and equal opportunity voting.

Now. "People" always complain about the next generation. Always. This is not new, "Roarin' Twenties" and the 30's had the flappers, the 50's the beatniks, the 60's the civil rights activists, the 70's the hippies, the 80's the metalheads, the 90's the "grunge generation", and finally, we've the millenials. The real problem people have with this generation, is not so much that they're desensitized to so much via the news, ungrateful for all the things they have, or that they're fucking stupid, the underlying factor that this is all stems from, that is shown time and time again in their failings, is that they just don't care. The flappers were fighting for womens' rights, the beatniks were fighting for freedom of expression (somewhat), the civil rights activists were earning their name, the hippies wanted to end Vietnam and spread peace, the metalheads just wanted to lighten up the place and enjoy themselves, and the grunge were a bunch of whiny little teenagers with terrible fashion sense, but, they cared.

What have we now? Sure, they're ungrateful:

And quite possibly largely stupid compared to the rest of the modern world:

Yet this all is exemplified by an earlier "travesty" committed this year:

They don't care enough.

And for those who do, it's the "wrong" way.

No not the Hell part, the Boner part, damn hormones in foods.

It's a peculiar phenomenon, exemplified best by this: 

I always hear this argument:

Why does it matter what these people do, it doesn't affect you, it's not your problem! This isn't an issue that affects you!

This argument is ignorant, and it obviously just doesn't work. 

It's extremely obvious that they are making it their issue; and that they are using this philosophy to their advantage. Advocates are using the "Apathy" approach, or under it's euphemistic terminology, the "Live and Let Live" philosophy. Yes, this is a good philosophy, when the actions are legal (Not moral or anything abstract, simply legal). But when it is being used for advocating for a legalization of anything, it fails horribly, because the advocates, using the politically correct "apathy" approach, i.e. pretending to ignore it, are fighting against people who actually care about the outcome of the legalization, it's like Europeans fighting for womens' rights in Southwest Asia, it's the "Live and Let Live" (Europe is one of the worst victims of the "Political Correctness Disease") argument, yet they are fighting against a culture that has oppressed them for millenia, one that seriously cares about the outcome.

I'm not claiming I'm perfect, (I am), or that you are a terrible sack of shit for possibly not caring enough (You probably are), I'm claiming, that in order for Gay Marriage to become a federal reality in the United States, we need to stop tolerating intolerance. 

We need to care more than the other people, who have obviously made it their problem.

We need to be more informed, trying to save Gay Rights, or promulgate them in the first place, requires knowledge of what is being supported.

And lastly, We, the People, need to recognize, need to care, need to understand, and need to "Live and Let Live", but most importantly, we need to fight for that right.


Witty Catchphrase

Thanks for reading.