Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights

According to an article in the Bangor Daily News, two equal rights groups started an event called "Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights" in order to show others that straight people can be and are supportive of equal rights for gays and lesbians. It's a weeklong rally for straight people to show their support for gays and lesbians.

I think it's important to note that some of the event's main organizers and attendees are the children of gays and lesbians. So many anti-gay or anti-gay parenting people believe they are "preserving families and children" in their missions, yet I think most children of gays wouldn't trade their parents for anything. They don't want to be saved because they recognize that a person's parenting ability has nothing to do with his or her orientiation or gender identity.

Or, in the words of Becca Hanks, one of the children of a lesbian, ""I want to get across the idea that having a gay mother isn’t any different than having a regular family," Becca Hanks said Wednesday. "Everyone seems to think that’s a big deal, but it’s not. I have a stepparent at both houses. They’re just stepmoms."

Further, the article states that while she has encountered little opposition to her lesbian mother, those who initially were opposed ended up changing their minds once they met her family.

While I can recognize that not everyone who is anti-gay marriage opposes it on the grounds of finding homosexuality immoral, I think that the vast majority of people do. And even if they don't oppose it on those grounds, I challenge any of them to become my friend. Or to become friends with another gay or lesbian person, and then look them in the eyes and tell them they shouldn't be allowed to get married.

Because, when it comes down to it, sexual orientation is one small part of multi-faceted people that has little to do with their innate morality, intelligence, parenting ability, or fashion sense.

I think it's time that all heterosexuals suck it up, get rid of their egos, and start to recognize the realities of gay relationships the way these kids have.