Jul. 31, 2012 at 10:50am with 133 notes

Anonymous asked: i just want to start off saying that i personally am 100% pro-gay marriage and equal rights all around. but i was just interested in hearing what your views/thoughts were on this: it seems that people who don't believe in gay marriage are perceived as hateful and evil. but what happened to freedom of speech, or peoples right to have their own beliefs and opinions? some people seem to think that either you believe in gay marriage, or you are unamerican and a bigot. thoughts?

first off, there is a different between having an opinion on something and taking action (like voting) to ensure that this thing you don’t like is denied the rights that you have. example: i don’t like religion. i can talk about it all day, sometimes i do. when i drive across america and see billboard after billboard yelling at me that im going to burn in hell, i have the right to whatever words i want. however, i would NEVER vote or lobby in anyway to deny the right for those billboards to exists. that is freedom of speech/opinion. if you have issue with homosexuality or the concept of marriage equality but you are still voting/fighting for equal rights - than that is completely fine. its vital to recognize that your opinion is just your opinion and denying rights to innocent people is no longer an opinion - its a reality created by your actions. weather those actions are to vote against equality, or even to simply not stand up for equality, you are creating or helping discrimination to exist.

i would fight for something i didn’t agree with if the idea of it not existing was a violation of human rights. not believing in gay marriage is one thing - not helping to ensure equal rights for all, regardless of your beliefs, DOES make you a bigot in every sense. what if it was my opinion that black people should’t be allowed to sit at the front of the bus? would you think i was a bigot? duh. just because we are used to the opinion that gays deserve less than the rest of us doesn’t make it any less grotesque. 

i hate ed hardy shirts. if i spent time or money trying to create or uphold laws that guys in ed hardy shirts should be treated as 2nd class, id be a major bigot. 

people can hate gay marriage all they want, just get out of the way and help innocent people have the same human rights that YOU do regardless of your opinion.