She said everything I would have to say.

I'm reblogging this. It was written here, by Kate Lieb. I can't say what she said better, so I'm passing this on to my readers...few as they may be.

"As Americans, we’re given the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for ALL. So why is the LGBTQ community not given these supposedly inalienable rights. I mean aren’t they Americans too? Does whom they fall in love with make them Un-American? Since when was choosing something against the “norm” Un-American, after all wasn’t that the concept America was founded on? I’m now going to analyze how each of the aforementioned principles in the Declaration of Independence are not granted for this community.

Life:

Because gays and lesbians aren’t allowed to get married, they aren’t given the same rights that married couples get. One right they aren’t fully given yet because they don’t have the right to marriage is end of life visitation. It wasn’t until this August that they were even given this right at all, but they’re only given this right if the hospital is funded by medicare or medicaid. So if you’re gay/lesbian and your loved one is being cared for in a hospital not funded by these two government agencies, the hospital could likely reject your visitation rights AND they would have the right to do so. This subject really hits home for me because my uncle Arthur developed multiple myeloma and when he was in the hospital, his partner wasn’t allowed to see him. Until the end of his life, Arthur tried his best to avoid going to the hospital so he could spend his final moments with his life partner. Sure, what Obama passed makes the likelihood of what happened to my Uncle Arthur less likely, but it doesn’t eliminate the problem. Until ALL hospitals are forced to let partners be at their ailing partner’s side or gay marriage is legalized, the LGBTQ community will still experience the pain of what my uncles went through.

Liberty:

First off, they don’t have the freedom to serve in our nations military. For the members of the LGBTQ community to serve, they have to conceal their identities and live a lie throughout their tour of duty. If they’re caught or even accused of being gay or lesbian, they’re dishonorably discharged. Since when does sexual orientation affect your ability to serve? Last I checked, they can do anything us straight Americans can do.

Pursuit of Happiness:

Gays are still not allowed to marry. Now why is that? Because people who are against marriage believe that it should be between a man and a woman. Now where is that stated? The bible. This is a direct violation of separation of church and state. Senators are using the scriptures of the bible to figure out where they stand politically. Could it also be for other reasons? Obviously, but those opposed to it still use the bible as the reason why they won’t support it. Until someone steps up and says using that excuse is an invalid reason to continue the ban, gay marriage will continue to be a figment of imagination instead of a reality." 

I've been reblogging a lot lately (for me, anyway). I'm kind of in an inspiration-dry rut right now.

But yeah.

I agree with everything she said.