Being Together

This long weekend (Fri-Mon) we spent a lovely time with the Rainbow RV group in Bodega Bay. There were 30+ RV units with the club signed in when we began. Our first official meeting was a potluck hors d'ouvres gathering. Trust me when I say it was way more than simple hors d'ouvres. Not a soul left hungry, I can tell you that for a fact! There are obviously CHEFS in this group, as well as the run-of-the-mill homemade treat makers, and a few who bring store bought munchies. All in all, it was a terrific meet and greet; we met many new folks, reconnected with a few couples that had been at the first gathering we attended in Gold Country, and we formed some nice friendships that began at this gathering. The second day was a tour-around on your own day, but the evening's potluck dinner added pounds to every one's waistline! What treats there were. This gathering showed just how important being together can be. There were several birthday celebrities, but more important were those celebrating anniversaries - 37 years, 23 years, 19 years, 32 years, 27 years, 18 years - and so it went. The numbers, with two exceptions were always two digits. The two exceptions were one man who had recently lost his partner of nearly 30 years, and one new relationship of only a few months. Again I was struck by the fact that virtually all of these GLBT+ folks are in very long term relationships. They believe in being together, and they deserve the right to be married. They deserve the same rights as everyone else that is committed to their relationship. Yes, Angela and I are married - 42 years come July - but we are unique in the GLBT+ community because we married as man and wife, and that cannot be undone. I am absolutely dumb founded that anyone thinks that because two men sleep & have sex together, or because two women sleep and have sex together is any one's business. What other group is repressed because of what they do in private. I don't know what my best friends to in bed with their spouses, and they don't know what my spouse and I do. So, why would anyone care what GLBT+ folks do in bed with their loved ones, and why do they think thy have a right to judge that? As we've seen in the news, many of the most vocal leaders of the religious right, who say they are against all the things they say are sinful, continue to get caught doing exactly those things they preach against! Guess what, most of the things they do are certainly much worse than being in a committed relationship with someone of the same sex! The point is, gays are asking to be allowed to make their long-term, commitments to another person legal and equal in the rights of the law. I can't see how anyone can see 2 peaople being in a committed relationship as a bad thing! You'd think the religious right would be all for gay marriage, but they aren't. Good heavens, one can find almost anything in the bible, and use it to as a hammer on someone else. I'm sure there's a verse about looking after the log in one's own eye before going after another person, but that doesn't count of course. In fact, very few foks on the far right follow what is in theBible to the letter. If they did they'd all still be living the same way folks lived in the first century after Christ was born, sacrificing animals and a whole raft of other things! It's time to allow progress, particularly in the human rights department. Let's get a focus on the child abusers of the world rather than on folks that want a committed relationship! We continue to allow child abusers access to the very children they abuse! That's nuts, plain and simple. Loving another person enough to want to marry them is a good thing, folks. Okay, I'll get off my podium, with one request: think how important it is to love being together enough to want to make that love legal! Then let everyone have that right and quit worrying about what someone else does in the privacy of their own home when they are loving another person (not abusing them). Turn the energy being expended against gay marriage into energy towards protecting the children of this land from their abusers who are most often their own relatives!