Tailspin: I'm in one.

[crim son]

The anti gay rights vote in Maine feels like the last fucking straw, right now. I know I'm overreacting, that perhaps the closeness of the vote implies that we are gaining clear ground in the fight against idiocy and bigotry but I can't stop crying. It's like I'm surrounded by enemies and by enemies I mean stupid fucks. On the front of the Bangor Daily News there is a pic of Yes on One voters celebrating. One old woman is ON HER FUCKING KNEES kissing some man's hand in gratitude, apparently. The comments section is full of comments written by people who feel like I do, but there are also loads of comments praising Jesus, saying the issue is dead and the voters have spoken, etc.

So worried we're going to find ourselves once again under the control of the least intelligent, least compassionate and least understanding among us as we were for eight hellish years.

Wish I had a drink.

[fizzgig]

1. wish i could give you a real one of these

:hug:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear crim son!

Ah, sweetie...

These fights are always a process...

And progress is never easy nor straightforward nor simple...

I hear you, sweetie...

:hug:

[graywarrior]

3. I can't even look at any of the news online or tv

There is nothing worse than gloating bigots drooling all over themselves.

[crim son]

4. Well, my comment on the BDN story that all the Yes voters

should be reincarnated as mealyworms, was deleted. Where is the fairness and balance? :P

[TommyO]

9. Even worse are some of the DUers who won't let us be angry at Maine

and the bigoted voters who did this to us.

I understand that there are good people in Maine that aren't bigots and did the right thing by voting for us, but the outcome is what matters today.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

5. Hi crim son

You are not overreacting in the least bit and you have every reason to cry. I'm sending you a :hug: and will raise a glass of wine in your honor.

Don't let your despair last long, this isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.

[Arugula Latte]

6. I am so angry, too.

I am having a hard time separating people from their beliefs.

My mother has a boyfriend who happens to be Catholic (my mother is an atheist). She thinks he's the greatest guy in the world, but when I think of him supporting these positions like trying to deny women abortion and deny equal rights to fellow citizens, it makes me fucking hate him. She wonders why I cannot warm up to him, no matter how superficially "nice" he is. She hints that he could be a grandfather figure to my children (my father died six years ago). Next time she says something like that, I am very tempted to tell her, sorry, I'd like them to have a grandfather figure with values that I respect, not despise.

This morning, I am having a hard time dealing with my anger. I emailed her congratulating her on Garamendi's win (she lives in that area), and then launched into a tirade about how I am so fucking infuriated by the Mormon and Catholic Churches, how it infuriates me that religious idiots get to decide whether my gay friends have RIGHTS, and how I wish these churches would be taxed into oblivion. I don't care if she connects the dots and understands I'm calling out her stupid fucking boyfriend -- I am PISSED OFF. :grr:

[keithjx]

The fight goes on

In every civil liberties movement, there are the inevitable advances and retreats, and the cliche of losing battles but winning wars. It doesn't make losses like the vote in Maine any more palatable, but someday in the (hopefully near) future, a child will look into her parent's eyes and ask why so much energy was wasted on who can marry whom when people are dying, starving, freezing, suffering across the nation and the world. Just like I asked my parents why women weren't allowed to vote and black kids didn't eat at the same table I did, and simply couldn't comprehend the answer, the base inanity of the gay/straight distinction will someday be called what it is: discrimination at its purest, hatred and ignorance distilled, in this instance (as is all too common) by so-called "religous" furor, into state-sanctioned bigotry.

Crim son, you're a foot soldier on the side of equality and compassion. The battlefronts may change from segregated group to group, but the fight will never end. Take a moment to breathe, to rest on the shoulders of your sisters and brothers. Thank you for all you give in inspiration, wit, energy, support. The next battle is around the corner. We'll see you there.

:hug:
KJ

[crim son]

11. Thank you.

That was a very dear response. :hug:

[peacefreak]

7. I'm with you too, Crimmy

I plan on stepping away from this computer, putting on as many dumb movies as I can & see if I can find something to laugh about.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. I understand, crim son

Not a day goes by when I don't kick myself for not emigrating in the 1970s and 1980s when I had a chance. (I had three separate opportunities, one each to Japan, Norway, and Australia.) But I honestly did not believe that America would turn so blatantly mean and dumb.

[crim son]

10. My American (conservative) father moved our family

from Canada where I was born and had lived for fifteen years, because he couldn't reconcile himself to the new socialized medicine program they were establishing up there. I am constantly wondering if I would be the cynical, somewhat lonely human being I am now if I'd stayed there. Don't get me wrong, I love the U.S. but I see what you see and it hurts.

[AsahinaKimi]

16. hugs...

:hug:

[Deep13]

12. Duh! Me smart! Me vote fer Jeezuss now. Du-u-uh!

Idiots.

[bullwinkle428]

24. I'd love to ask all of these "anti" fuckers "Who would Jesus hate?"

[Arugula Latte]

13. I know I posted upthread, but I am still feeling almost sick with rage.

I could drink an entire bottle of wine in about ten minutes right now. It isn't even 11 am here. I could -- but won't (have to go help in my daughter's classroom).

Seeing a clip on the Colbert Report last night just about did me in with fury. Two gay guys embraced on a public street in front of the Mormon temple in SLC. The security guards were all over them, tackled them, handcuffed them, led them off. They told them that the fucking church had BOUGHT the land all around the fucking temple -- including the PUBLIC street ("Main St.") If that isn't a scary ass taliban theocracy move, I don't know what is. They told them that it was because they trespassed and acted lewdly, but when a straight couple graphically made out for a long time in front of the temple of course nothing happened to them. People here on DU are always scolding people who speak out against religions, but things like this are precisely why so many of us have HAD it with these freaky oppressive evil cults. I would like to post something about what I wish would happen to all the Mormon temples around the country, but I can't post it.

Angry angry ANGRY. :grr:

[Deep13]

14. also angry +1 nt

[crim son]

19. Good that you didn't drink. I didn't either.

I do believe the churches are largely to blame and while I understand that there are good, openminded Christians and people of other religions, it is still Christians and people of other faiths who insist on being the greatest obstacle to gay marriage. To deny this is to delude oneself and it would be better if, instead of defending the Catholic church for example, "good" Catholics took a serious stand against the Church's grostesquely outdated attitudes toward homosexuality, women, marriage and society in general.

[TK421]

15. Forget H1N1....we need vaccines for hatred and stupidity in this country

sorry you're feeling down...wish there was something I could do but can't imagine what :pals:

[sarge43]

17. crim son, have your cry and a drink.

You have a lot of company tonight.

If it's any comfort, think about how pitiful those creatures are. They are small minded and fearful -- bigotry begins in fear. They can not take any joy and wonder in the marvelous diversity and variety of life. It scares them because they are incapable of understanding and relishing it. So they strike back at it and try to suppress it. But they will not win. They can only delay the inevitable. Time is on our side, not theirs. Life will not be suppressed and it will sweep over them.

They are the sad losers tonight, not you, not us.

:hug:

[Rising Phoenix]

18. I know how you feel, when something is just toooo bad to take

I cried for two days when a friend posted on facebook about a woman who was denied health insurance coverage because her rape was considered a pre existing condition. Just when you think the world is starting to make sense......you hear about shit like that, or maine......and you want to throw your hands up and say "why bother".

Have your cry, get sad, then get mad, then swear you will fight until things are right. Even if it a small change everyday. Standing up for what is right in a small way, we can make things better.

:hug:

[crim son]

20. ...

Thx! :hug: I'm swearing already.

[Rising Phoenix]

21. thats my girl

as I told my friend, I believe I may boycott marriage.......not that hard really as I have no prospects right now, lol, but even if I did, I don't know that I would marry


maybe I'll get civil unioned, even though I am lucky enough to live in a state when I can marry any 1 person I want.


mwah

[Odin2005]

22. The tyranny of the bigoted majority.

:(

[quakerboy]

23. Its all fucked

If I am ever elected dictator, there will be changes, this I promise. And the way things are going, I stand as good a chance as anyone.