A Letter for a California Courthouse

Let us remember on this Veterans Day that countless men and women gave their last measure of devotion to the cause of freedom.

California Proposition 8. Five months from the passing of the law allowing gay marriage in the State of California, that right was swiftly taken away. I found it disturbing that one of the core proponents of this measure was Pastor Rick Warren and his Saddleback Church. You’ll remember Pastor Warren from my article entitled “Faith and Politics” and his call for a more civil national discourse.

A terrible irony was not lost on me. On the same day that we voted in the first African-American President – a man who will serve his term during the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement – another group of individuals were stripped of their rights and turned into second-class citizens.

In my opposition to Proposition 8 and all its brother and sister laws; I was reminded of a letter that spoke to the core issue for humanity and our unending search for truth and freedom. I beg the leave of Dr. King’s memory to talk again of Civil Rights. I do not speak for Dr. King or purport that he believed as I believe. I do not presuppose that he would have agreed with my thoughts of what constitutes Civil Rights. I speak of the struggle for freedom that is the foundation of our spirit and the hope that Dr. King would have understood that religion is not a tool for division nor a rationale for bigotry.

What follows is my interpretation of portions of “A Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. I apologize in advance if this offends some; that is not my intent. Rather, let us look honestly into the mirror we raise on ourselves when we divide the world into us and them. As a reminder: I am not gay, I do not have many people I know directly who are gay - this issue is above personal experience of prejudice, it speaks to all of humanity.

“I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in New Jersey and not be concerned about what happens in California. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all directly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. For years now, we have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every homosexual with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never”. We must come to see that ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied’.

When your first name becomes “faggot”, your middle name becomes “queer” and your last name becomes “dike”; when you see the picket signs outside the courthouses reading “God is Your Enemy” and the signs at funerals of AIDS victims reading “Fags Burn in Hell”; then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.”