True Q

Today I was at the Minnesota State Fair and I was so pleased to see a large number of people wearing VOTE NO gear including T-Shirts, buttons and carrying fan boards. It is wonderful to see that so many people support not just gay marriage but the true issue at hand which is human equality and equal rights. I am also always in some way disgusted with the term “gay marriage” because it should simply be called marriage! The only distinction between any two marriages is the people involved and some marriages happen to be a man and a woman, some are two women and then some are two men. Each marriage between two people faces interesting challenges and a unique set of circumstances to deal with but they all have a common factor, two people who are in love and face those challenges together! I would like to take this opportunity to share a few thoughts with the few folks I saw today wearing “VOTE YES to protect marriage” shirts.

Dear Person Wearing A Vote Yes T-Shirt At The Minnesota State Fair,

First of all I would like to congratulate you for wearing a shirt that expresses your feelings and opinions on a subject that has a good deal of controversy, this takes a lot of guts! I understand this action completely because  I too wore a politically motivated shirt, the only difference is that my shirt said “Vote No: Don’t Limit The Freedom To Marry”. As you can see we are on the complete opposite ends of this issue, but this doesn’t mean I am going to come at you with disrespect, hatred and contempt. If I may I’d like to point out a few thoughts to you and even pose a question for you to ponder in your spare time.

First, the United States of America is a country founded on the principle of the separation of church and state. As most people in support of this constitutional amendment have a strong faith base for their stance on the issue I would like to point this out. My challenge to you is to attempt to separate your religious beliefs and the true question of this argument that being the following: Is it acceptable for a government to deny equal rights to a group of American citizens? I am very aware that many people get married in churches and that religion has a lot to do with marriage ceremonies for many people. But to you I would like to point out that to get married in this country you need to get a license through the state and not through the church.

Second, are you aware that within the bible there are a lot of rules that dictate how you should live your life? One of these rules of course is to Love They Neighbor which means that you need to love everyone and treat everyone the same. Another set of rules in the Bible provide restrictions for the eating of shellfish, the beating of women, the beating of children who disobey and even a few rules about being dead. Yes in this section of the Bible it also says that when two men lay together it is an abomination. My point here is this plain and simple, you may hate me for being a gay man but I had better not catch you eating shrimp and if your little brat talks back to you I want to be there when you kill the little kid!

Third, how does the marriage between two men or two women threaten the significance of your marriage to your spouse? I have heard several talks about the sanctity of marriage and how sacred the bond between a man and a woman is. Why then is the divorce rate sky high? Why then are Hollywood celebrities allowed to marry for a ratings stunt and get divorced months or even days later? These two stances don’t seem to jive with each other. Another question that I have for you is this, how would you feel if the issue wasn’t gay marriage but the issue of bi-racial marriage? This is of course as you know is an issue that was a major deal nearly fifty years ago.

Now finally I have a few questions to pose to you. Have you ever thought that you may be on the wrong side of history? Not so long ago there was a very loud group of people who were outraged when a black woman sat on the front of a bus and demanded that segregation continue in this country. How is the issue of equal rights for blacks different from the demand for equal treatment of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people? Also if you are opposed to so called gay lifestyle why do you continue to benefit from the work of many talented gay and lesbian people? You cannot be disgusted by my lifestyle but laugh your butt off at Will & Grace or Ellen DeGeneres this simply doesn’t work.

These are simply my thoughts as a gay man who simply feels that this issue is one of basic human dignity and respect. We need to all have respect for each other and truly there are bigger issues in this world to confront that two men expressing their love for one another and declaring that in marriage to the world. Gay and Lesbian women are not ill, perverted or mentally disturbed and no we have not simply met the right guy/gal yet. We are simply people who want to be equal members in American society and want the promises of the constitution upheld most importantly the following phrase: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I hope that you have read this and truly considered the information it contains. I realize too that you may read this and regard it as garbage and dismiss it immediately. In closing I would like to pose one last challenge; get to know a gay man or woman and I mean really know that person, learn about them and see if your opinion of us changes.

With Respect and Hope,

A Gay Man Wearing a VOTE NO T-Shirt At The Minnesota State Fair

Elliptical Machine- Calories:410, Miles: 2.55

True Q

The Enterprise has taken aboard a young woman named Amanda who has won a scholarship to do a job shadow on the ship. Young Amanda takes to her duties quickly but seems to have some strange abilities like accidentally making some puppies appear and then disappear. She then stops a warp core breach from happening on the ship. It is at this time that Q appears and informs everyone that his girl is the daughter of two former Q’s who decided to live as humans but they of course died when she was very young. Q and Picard tell Amanda what she really is and immediately Q tries to kidnap the girl but she refuses to go with him. Q agrees to work with the girl and allow her to make a choice. Amanda continues to work with Dr. Crusher but Q interferes with the lessons on a regular basis. Amanda struggles to make a choice between begin human and being a Q. Through a series of situations she is challenged but her choice becomes clear when it is revealed that the Q continuum killed her parents and intends to kill her upon her reentry into the continuum. She is then given the choice to either go the continuum unharmed or stay and be unable to use her powers. She decides to stay and not use her powers. At this moment a situation arises where Riker, LaForge and the inhabitants of a planet are about to be destroyed by a massive meltdown. Amanda cannot help herself and corrects the situation and then vanishes with Q.