THE FRIENDLY FEMINIST: Same sex marriage is gay

A faint scent of incense fills the air and live conga music pleasures my ears. I'm enjoying the Juneteenth festival in Berkeley with my mom, but it isn't long before she has to comment on something to provoke me.

"See, that's just how I am. I don't like that gay stuff,"

It's sad. How close minded your own flesh and blood can be.

But I have a different approach to that "gay stuff". Especially for Same-sex marriage. I just don't understand how wrong it is.

Same-sex marriage isn't about gender anymore. It's about equality, and homophobic California's meddling in it.

People like to argue that it degrades marriage, or takes away from its value. I say that's what cheaters, divorce, and 24-hour Las Vegas wedding chapels are for. And sure-marriage comes straight from the Bible, but the idea that only men should marry women does too-and last time I checked, the powers that be shouldn't govern from the Bible.

So if we're ruling from the Bible, let's stone our wives and ride around in horses. If you aren't stoning your wife or getting to school on horseback, its probably because doing those things now are unreasonable, and because times and circumstances have changed.

How is it possible I can enjoy the fruits of a cannabis card or fly overseas with the objective to kill "for my country" but absolutely COULD NOT reap the rewards of a domestic partnership with someone I loved?

I don't think the decision should be up to the close-minded of California. Why does everyone else get a say in who marries and who doesn't?

California (the close minded part), you're getting a little controlling. If this is a way to keep things right, you still have a long way to go, and you shouldn't start here. Your religiously influenced values aren't fixing anything -- they are keeping people like me a little more angry and California a more prejudiced, less equal state. You should hang out with Vermont or Massachusetts more often. They've got the hang of things.