Tired of being "a political and spiritual football"

Are those that supported Prop 8 in California listening to the voices of those most affected by it? I hope they will stop to listen and try to understand, because there are stories of pain and sadness coming out in the wake of a shameful effort to target a specific group of people and take away their right to marry. I was moved today by a piece written by Candace Chellew-Hodge, the founder and editor of Whosoever, an online magazine for GLBT Christians. Some excerpts:

While many Americans are celebrating a groundbreaking first, the election of an African American president, I find my mood tempered by another history-making moment at the ballot box—the denial of marriage equality to gay and lesbian citizens in Arizona, Florida, and California.

It must be unprecedented for so many states to put the civil rights of other citizens on the ballot to be voted up or down like special sales taxes or zoning decisions. It must be nice to be in such a spot of special privilege in this country that you believe it's fitting for you to have the power to say what another human being can do with their lives—how they can live it and who they can live it with.

As a lesbian, I wouldn't know that place of privilege. I don't get to vote on whether or not another group of people can arrange their lives as they see fit and expect the government to respect their wishes.

As a Christian, who happens to be a lesbian, the harm done to the community that I love is devastating. So many gay and lesbian people forsake God and end up filling their spiritual void with dangerous addictions. They've been told that God hates them and will never love them unless they "change" and "turn from their sin." I certainly cannot blame them when they walk away from God and the church because of the actions of mean, ruthless, and graceless people who claim the title of Christian. But I mourn for the spiritual fulfillment, love, and community they forsake when they do.

I'm tired of my life being used as a political and spiritual football—debated and voted on like I'm some theoretical entity. I have a life—one that includes a relationship that is just as worthy as those who claim to be living God's "gold standard" for relationships. If yet there is any shred of hope it will be that an Obama administration will choose two or three Supreme Court justices who will overturn these constitutional amendments in a Loving v. Virginia style challenge. Until then, it only changes through education, by coming out and living our lives out loud and proud—something I encourage all my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to do.

As Soulforce founder and author Mel White told Larry King many years ago, "Once people find out we're just as boring as they are, we'll win our rights." I am fighting for the right to be just as boring, and just as legally protected, as a heterosexual—for better or for worse.