Photo Credit: Marriage D.C. http://www.marriagedc.com/

Since the Amendment One vote here in North Carolina, a lot has gone on in my life.  Many of these life events have caused this blog post to be delayed however, they have not changed my feelings on the outcome.  I am still as passionate about me feelings on this subject as I was the day I voted. Personally, I voted against Amendment One.  My vote, unlike many others, had nothing to do with my religious beliefs but everything to do with equal rights.  Sadly, many of the voters in favor Amendment One were black.  We…the same race of people who know exactly what discrimination feels like.  Now, like many others, I was taught that marriage is between one man and one woman.  I have always been taught that and always believed that.  But I also feel as though we have crossed the line in stating what others can or can not do.  I am not gay so I can not speak for a gay person.  I can not say how a gay person feels, but the first thing that comes to mind for me is discrimination.  If a church does not feel like marriage between two people of the same sex is right, is within that churches right.  For the government to say it is whole other issue.  This is exactly why there is supposed to be a separation between church and state in this country. People complain about government being involved too much in their lives but were so quick to pull the trigger for this amendment that is supposedly ”protecting the value of marriage.”  Just like with anything that people are so opposed to, here is what I say, if you do not believe in gay marriage, don’t have one.  Who are we to say what is right and what is wrong?  I thought as Christian people, we are not supposed to judge.  I was taught that we leave that up to God.  But the Christians showed me a month ago here in North Carolina that we do a great deal of judging.

Like I mentioned, I am not gay, so I can not really speak on the behalf of gay people.  I do however have many friends who are, one of them being a college friend who eloquently spoke her mind about this subject after this vote on her Facebook profile.  Reading what she had to say solidified that I was not totally off base with the way I feel about this issue.  She has allowed me to share her thoughts with my readers.  Here is what she had to say:

I am Black. I am also Gay. I have been reading so many posts related to Amendment 1 and am both sad and angry. I am also disappointed in my so-called sisters and brothers who have been duped into believing the only way they can express their religious beliefs is by taking away rights of others. My brothers and sisters who of all people should know what it is like to have their rights infringed upon. However they are comfortable with “standing on God’s word” while taking away rights of innocent people. Makes me wonder though if the next time some hot topic comes up in the Black community if they will OVERLOOK the fact that I am gay and living in sin and ask for MY support. I wonder if at that time I will once again be welcomed as a “Sistah” and asked to sign some petition as a way to show solidarity. Perhaps instead of signing that petition I will sit down and leaf through my Bible and find some piece of scripture where my God says I shouldn’t show support. Perhaps my spirituality and religion will not line up with whatever topic my African American friends find important. Maybe “I love you but I can’t support you” will become my mantra. Who knows. But what I do know is that voting in favor of hate and discrimination is wrong. And no one can use the Bible to justify it. Am I bitter? Yep. Petty? Maybe. But I am also Black AND gay. Not one more than the other. Remember that. – Marjorie

This pretty much says it all. Thank you Marjorie!