Are We Really Changing?

This week, when Obama was elected President, I was ecstatic for our country, as was evident by my last blog.  However, the next day, I suddenly realized that as far as this nation has come, there are still so many obstacles that I feel will never be leaped over, such as Proposition 8 over in California.

Now, this is something that doesn't really affect me personally but rights are being taken away from people and that bothers me.  It's just so hard a concept for me to understand why people are so reluctant to let members of the same sex marry.  It's so easy to understand a normal marriage and sometimes they are just as uncomfortable to bare as people are saying same sex marriages are.  

Prop 8 is the amendment in the California constitution that doesn't allow same sex couples to marry and that only a man and woman would be considered a legal marriage.  Not only is this very old fashioned, but it's also very discriminating.  Why should any one person not be considered as much as a citizen as the next?  When divorce rates are growing each and every year, it seems that sometimes same sex couples deserve it more.  Love should be the everlasting bond that connects two people, no matter what gender each of them are.

Some people are scared that their children will grow up and learn that same sex marriages are right.  But as my sister and I discussed this, we both realized that not once did we learn about regular marriage in school, so why would children be learning that?  Aren't we supposed to be teaching children to respect everyone no matter what their religion, race, ethnicity, or beliefs are?

  I have friends that this might affect in the long run and the thought of them not being able to live the same way I can makes me want to run up to uncomfortable conservatives and punch them in the face ( and I'm not a violent person!)

When Barack Obama stood in front of the huge crowd of supporters, I thought people were getting used to change.  I felt that that was what they wanted, especially now.  I've learned though, that people aren't really ready for change.  They just want to feel safe again.  After a devastating war and a terrifying economic crisis, who would blame them?  But when will everyone grow up and accept those who are different?  After hundreds of years battling this sort of ridiculousness, shouldn't it be time for us to unite because of our differences? After all, we pride ourselves on the blend of cultures that are in this country.