More Than A Piece of Paper

Doing What's Right Comments (11)

Sitting here trying to work on some pages for the site, I keep thinking about today and how it was a year ago when we got married and how it felt, to not just have a ceremony and all but that it was a legal and binding contract Dave and I were entering into.

Oh there is the emotional and spiritual aspect, and I know that for the first nine years we said it didn’t matter if we had that simple piece of paper, a marraige license, but when you do get to have one, you realize that it isn’t just a piece of paper.

Sure by being able to legally marry Dave and I get benefits. We can file a joint tax return and keep more of the money we earn, our medical plan payments are less and then there are the other legal ramifications. I mean if either of us gets sick, the other has the legal authority now to act on the other’s behalf.

Being older than Dave by quite a few years perhaps I look at that aspect more than he does, but its a reality we need to face. Without that simple piece of paper who would stand up for me when I am not able to? A government decimated by budget cuts and a two tier health system as Harper and his Klan want? A government where pharmacare premiums are out of reach as Jack Layton and his Second String want?

So that simple piece of paper gives me and Dave some protection, as long as it doesn’t get rescinded, by Harper and his Klan.

Sitting here, I wonder what is it about our marraige that has hurt any other marraige out there? I mean the fact that now Dave and I are legal, are accepted by OUR government, how has that weakened the marraiges of those who are straight or opposed to our marraige rights?

Has it made Stephen Harper love his wife less because two queers in Victoria are legally married?

Has it made those who believe in Good Christian Values like the ultra right wing ‘think tanks’ that Stephen Harper thanks for giving him a guiding light any less Christian?

Could someone please tell me where in all of the teachings attributed to Christ that it says hatred, intolerance, and bigotry are traits to embrace and welcome as the religious zealots proclaim not just in their words, but in their deeds?

This simple piece of paper, emblazoned with the crest of the Province of British Columbia and recorded for eternity in the records of the Province, means more than just saying a few words.

It is a symbol of not just our love for each other either but of our acceptance as equal citizens.

It says to all people, that in Canada people who are different are accepted, that no matter their differences, whether it be race, religion, creed or sexual orientation that at least in Canada they are still citizens, equal under the law, equal and accepted.

It says to teenagers who face bullying in schools that there is hope, that no matter the taunts and words hurled at them by the children of the uninformed, children of the frightened, that in Canada, there is a government that accepts them for being who they are, not who someone else wants them to be or thinks who they should be.

This simple ornate piece of paper that lists my name and that of David, isn’t about just having the right to file a joint tax return, it is about no longer having to live two lives. The right to be exactly who God created us to be, and while racism will always exist, by having the opportunity for this simple piece of paper we send a strong clear message to bigots, racists everywhere. We say to them that Canada is not about that, that in Canada we do have good old fashioned values and we put those values on the line by action, not fancy slogans on some old statue, but by encasing those beliefs in our laws.

See to me, what Stephen Harper and his Klan want is to deny that I have rights, deny that my differences are acceptable. It isnt even about mere tolerance, but about sending signals to those less fortunate than myself and Dave. I am a strong bastard and give it as good as anyone can give back, but many can’t do that. Many can’t look beyond today to see hope but when we have a government like the Liberals who risked their political lives to enact this piece of legislation, it became a symbol of hope to many who are abused, degraded, simply for being different.

Being gay isn’t about sex, it is about being different and unfortunately for many they can’t see beyond the sex aspect of our lives. Too bad really but that is life, but thanks to the courage of people like Jean Chretien and Paul Martin many young kids today have hope. They can take that extra day of being baited and ridiculed instead of giving up and ending their lives.

Dramatic perhaps, but the #1 killer of gay teenagers isn’t guns per se or drugs or disease even, but is suicide. This little piece of paper that I look at each day isnt just about financial benefits, it is a symbol of real hope to many of those frightened and scared kids who are gay.

So this simple piece of paper called a marraige license isn’t really about me or Dave. It isn’t even about who is the better leader or less corrupt or has even the best policies. It is about doing what is right, about having the courage to stand up before the face of horrendous pressure and saying.. I WILL NOT YIELD THE PRINCIPLES OF MAN FOR THE SAKE OF VOTES.

That is what Jean Chretien and Paul Martin have done and to me, that negates the shit that they have done, whether it be the sponsorship scandel or which country they registered their boats in.

Standing Up For Canada isn’t voting for Harper and his Klan, not when they are determined to deny me and others like me my rights, my hope. That simple piece of paper is more than just a license, it is proof that there is hope for us, for anyone who is different. Surely that has to count somewhere and where else to better show that it does count than at the ballot box, by marking a big X next to a political party that isn’t about racism, that isn’t about exclusion, that isn’t about elitism, but one that puts actions above words?

As this election winds down I know I will more than likely be voting for the Liberal candidate. Not so much because of just the policies and that they offer me the best choice for protecting our social programs and our economic growth, but simply because they see beyond the dollars and cents. They see that being equal isn’t just words, that it can’t be applied to select groups but must apply to all citizens.

We need hope when things are bad, and with so much hatred in the world, so much segregation and bullying going on, with so much religious anger and vehemence, at least the Liberal party through Paul Martin now and Jean Chretien before him, offer something that no other party offers me… HOPE!

All from just a simple piece of paper…

HOPE borne out of love, love for people who are different, who aren’t the evil sex fiends the religious rights makes them out to be.

HOPE that kids growing up today might have a chance at being normal, at going thru their young lives without bullying, without the fear of someone finding out their secret.

HOPE that unreasonable hatred borne out of fear will diminish so that deaths like Mathew Sheppard won’t happen anymore, anywhere.

HOPE that real values of compassion, love, charity will replace the cruel and inhuman rhetoric of those like George Bush and our own Stephen Harper.

HOPE that people like Harper will never win by using fear and hatred of a small minority to gain power, just as Adolph Hitler did in 1932 Germany.

So much from such a small piece of paper, yet HOPE is what it gives us, that little piece of paper, and sitting her, one year being legally married, I still feel the thrill, the amazing depth of love that came to me that day. Not just for David but for my country that gave me that opportunity to say I DO.

Yes, just a piece of paper, but was then, and is now still, a powerful symbol of the real Canada, of leaders who had the courage to Stand Up For Me… of my government giving me HOPE.. I want to keep it that way…

On the 23rd, I cannot support Stephen Harper or his Klan because to them, I am evil, I am less deserving of equality than other minorities because of their religious beliefs. They want to turn back the clock, to medevil times where women knew their place raising babies and fags were beaten at will.

Harper wants to take that piece of paper from me, and I cannot let that happen, not now, not tomorrow, not ever.

I am a Canadian and for me, Stephen Harper stands not for me, not for Canada and all it is. I love my country, as much as I love my 88 year old mother, as much as I love my wife David. Stephen Harper wants to take my love away, my hope.

Please… don’t let him take away HOPE from this great nation.

Sphere: Related Content

Ian @ January 21, 2006