There's Still Room in My Heart for This Election

I’ve got delayed on-set election fatigue, which means I spent ten minutes this morning watching some gun-toting crazy hold the Santa Barbara stretch of the 101 hostage. Anything but election coverage. Then a couple election-related items came along to shake me out of my coma:

1) My Mom is canvassing for Obama in Pennsylvania. Yep, titanium hip and all, she is pounding the pavement in exotic-sounding Media, Pa.

2) Google Docs and the National Writing Project joined forces to get tons of middle and high school students to write letters to the next president about the issues that concern them most. Natch, I immediately perused the letters addressing “Gay Rights” and “Gay Marriage”.

It’s heartening to see the number of middle and high school kids out there that get it. These kids, arguably at the age most vulnerable to getting harassed for supporting equal rights for GLBT individuals, write passionate and eloquent calls for a fair and just society that recognizes all members. Of course, there are kids who do not support gay rights.

Like Chandrika B., who sees gay marriage as a boon to divorce lawyers:

“If gay couples were allowed to get married then the divorce rate is likely to increase. Gay couples have more partners than a straight couple would according to Joe Kort who wrote Gays Anatomy. This fact being true, tension could be raised in the relationship leading to divorce. This would hold up our court systems and only put money in the lawyers pocket.”

Or Aaron D. who argues that gay is a choice, and therefore gay rights are a “want” not a “need”:

“Yes the Constitution does give the right to pursue happiness, but that does not mean giving them a special right to satisfy their wants, not needs.”

I put these kids’ sentiments up here not to mock them, but as an example that kids want to think critically about issues like GLBT rights, and it’s imperative upon us to step up with factual, credible resources they can study and use to form their political views.

The good news is that there is a majority of kids who don’t get why all the pants in a twist over GLBT rights and marriage. Like Koleen K, who charmingly wonders, “What if Lucy loved Ethel?” (Do kids these days even get 50s sitcom references?) And then concludes, “All I'm saying is homosexuals are the same Americans that heterosexuals are. Therefore they should have the same exact rights. Leave religion out of it and decide with an open mind.”