Unequal citizens…

Our nation is in schism. While we here at Faith Aloud rejoice over the fact that only one of four anti-choice propositions or initiatives passed (Arkansas’s adoption ban for non-married partners) we are deeply saddened that all three anti-lgbtq propositions to ban same-sex marriage passed. California’s proposition 8 will amend the California constitution to TAKE AWAY the right to marry someone of the same sex. What really saddens me is that other minority groups in California were instrumental in passing Proposition 8. But why? It wasn’t all that long ago that Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." Isn’t denying any person the right to marriage an injustice? Isn’t the ban on same-sex marriage just the modern parallel of the ban on interracial marriage? It seems people don’t realize that taking away someone else’s rights doesn’t give them more, but rather increases the likelihood that their rights will be taken away too. While I applaud the California voters for voting no on dangerous abortion restrictions that would limit women’s rights, I am perplexed by their simultaneous willingness to take away the rights of other citizens. As we work here for reproductive justice we believe wholeheartedly in the words of Dr. King. We will not allow justice to be threatened on any front, and we continue to fight in solidarity with all those who feel they are unequal citizens in this country. We will not rest until religion is safely out of politics and until the government gets out of our beds, our places of worship, and our private decisions. Justice for everyone, everywhere…yes…we…can.