Why No On 8? Think of the Children

• Politics and Law • california, prop 8 • 3 Comments

How will a vote against Prop 8 impact children? The latest No On 8 ad, called “Parents,” explains:

I’m sure most readers here already agree. If you need to convince those who prefer an opinion that doesn’t come from a No On 8-produced ad, however, here’s what straight über-momblogger and self-described “recovering Mormon” Dooce had to say a few weeks ago:

I’m just going to go ahead and link to No on Prop 8. Gay marriage has become such an important issue to me, as it should be an important issue to everyone. It’s a civil rights issue, period. And the only reason anyone wants to deny homosexuals equal rights is a religious one. PERIOD. Your God says it’s a bad thing. But what if my God disagrees? If you take religion out of the equation, THERE IS NO ISSUE. And don’t even get me started on the slippery slope end of the argument, because you know the only reason I’m writing this is because I want to legally marry my dogs. Both of them.

And Alexandra Cole in the LA Times reports that the media buzz about Prop 8 has made it “the topic of conversation” among her eight-year-old daughter’s and her schoolmates. She makes the very wise observation:

The irony is that gay marriage has become the No. 1 topic of discussion on school playgrounds and sports practice fields precisely because of Proposition 8. The political battle has done far and away more to raise awareness of same-sex marriage among schoolchildren than the state Supreme Court’s ruling in May ever would have. This last month has been a giant teachable moment on gay marriage — which is probably not what Proposition 8’s backers intended.

3 thoughts on “Why No On 8? Think of the Children”

  1. Los_angeles_web_design

    Thanks for posting this. It’s true that all of the attention the proposition has brought to gay marriage has certainly affected children; I know it’s been a topic of discussion between my oldest son and his friend up the block, both of whom are 10 years old!

  2. John Bisceglia

    What about the children in California?
    Is Proposition 8 child abuse?
    Do children’s mental and emotional well-being matter?

    In California, imagine how SAFE the young children of gay or lesbian parents are feeling during this PROPOSITION 8 INSANITY.

    Would children feel SAFE if they knew other families were voting, for God’s sake, VOTING on whether their parents deserved the right to be married and treated fairly in society?
    How SAFE would a boy feel knowing some parents and teachers do not believe his own family is the same as their families?
    How SAFE would a girl feel knowing some children do not believe her own family deserves “the same” as their families?
    Now even young children ECHO this intolerance on the playground, thanks to their parents hateful words and ideas. How sick for the children of the YES ON PROP 8 crowd to feel more deserving than other children and their parents! Many children already know and love their gay uncles, lesbian grandmothers, and other FAMILY MEMBERS who are LGBTI, so we have created a hideous world with PROPOSITION 8 and other amendments like it in the U.S. Children are living in a world where they are witnessing adults spending MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars FOR or AGAINST their FAMILY.

    Children deserve to grow up in a world where they BELONG.

    Children deserve to grow up feeling SAFE.

    How sick of a society that we
    ALLOW family rights to be VOTED ON?

    Straight and gay children are being raised by straight and gay parents, but the government forgot that we are ALL interconnected in our families and in society. So now PROPOSITION 8 has brought children into this culture war, a war based on the assumption that some families deserve more legal rights and protections than other families in times of sickness, death, and divorce [for starters] .

    SICK.

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