Too scared to ever go back...

[judecorp]

As much as the affordability and the good friends draw me back to Columbus, it's things like THIS ARTICLE that really scare me into even considering it. There's so much at stake in my life, so much Jennifer and I want to accomplish, and I just can't run the risk of having anything screw that up.

It just makes my heart hurt to think about it.

On Nov. 2, Ohio will vote on Issue 1, a state constitutional amendment that purports to simply ban same-sex marriage but actually goes much further. Ten other states -- Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah -- are also voting on anti-gay marriage amendments. They're all expected to pass, most by wide margins. Eight of the state amendments prohibit domestic partnerships or any other public benefits or recognition for gay couples. But as a headline on the front page of Columbus Dispatch recently said, "Issue 1 wording makes it the strictest." Polls show support for it hovering above 60 percent.

Issue 1 is only two sentences long, but there's a world of uncertainty in it. While the first sentence simply decrees that marriage is between a man and a woman, the second says, "This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."

Comments

[kungfoogirl.livejournal.com]

Lousiana just has a similar amendment overturned because it addressed two issues in one amendment. Geogia Equality is fighting the GA version on the same grounds.

There's a little hope that perhaps we can push this off a while. By then we might have different people in government, or public sentiment will have changed. Or something. But the longer we keep this tied up in court and off the ballot, the better.

And even if it does pass, we need to be thinking about what the next steps are.

See. I keep being torn between wanting to teach and wanting to be a lawyer. On one hand, I can help enlighten people and maybe change some minds. On the other, I can maybe actually help stop some of these laws.

Or I can just be ME and make a difference in small (but powerful!) ways by voting and volunteering.

I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I have too much to do, and other times I feel like I have nothing that I can do. It's all very frustrating.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I know there are legal recourses for all of these things, and I know in my heart that in time people will realize these laws are stupid and they will change them. But I also know that people are scared right now, and they are being pushed into fear by people they're supposed to be able to trust - political leaders and church leaders and family leaders.

And it may be that some of these amendments are overturnable (heck, they're ALL unconstitutional regardless of language because of the full faith and credit clause in the Constitution), but I think it says a lot about a state that a majority of people would try to pass such a thing.

And the bottom line is that I will not raise a family in a place where my children are not afforded legal protections. It's one thing to have to approximate marriage protections with a million and one separate legal documents. I'm willing to do that. But to pass an amendment that could be interpreted to make those separate legal documents null and void? I can't risk that.