Do you think I deserve less than you?

“I will be your friend and love you even if you support Chick Fil A. I support and care about you as a person. I want to know your thoughts and views. I want to be able to share my thoughts and views with you. My connection to you is deeper than a chicken sandwich.”

This was my Facebook post. I still mean it. I do want to be able to hear and know other peoples thoughts and feelings. I don’t know if it is because I am having a rough work week but hearing other peoples view points this week has been hard.

I celebrated my three year wedding anniversary. I had a church wedding. It was amazing. Listening to people debate if I can legally get married because it’s against the bible is hard to understand. I am not sure what the bible has to do with legal marriages because plenty of non-reading bible people get legally married. People who say they only believe in biblical marriage makes me wonder if they ever read the bible. I don’t see women legally being forced to marrying their rapist, legally becoming a man’s property, having to marry her brother-in-law if her husband dies, or husbands taking on multiple wives. I am just saying if we want to keep marriage biblical maybe we should think about what that means before saying it.

I work in state that can be fired from my job for being gay. I love my job. I work hard and put it long hours. I am always early and always stay late. Is it fair that because some person doesn’t agree with who I love, I can get fired?

And then finally let’s talk about family values. My wife and I we both work in jobs where we service others. She is a pediatric chaplain. She spends all night sitting with people in the darkness. She cares for children and their families that are going through the most difficult times of their lives. I am special education teacher in an urban area. As a family we raise money for various organizations as well as donate are own money. We donate our time and talent. And if you need a dollar, a ride, or a hot meal we are there for you no matter what you believe. Our daughter is a smart, caring, talented young lady getting ready for college.

The debate about Chick Fil A brings me a lot of pain. Not because I want to take away a groups rights to free speech or freedom of religion but because of what it says to me. It tells me that some people think I am of lesser value as a human. It tells me that some people think that my child is not as worthy as their child because as a family we get fucked when it comes to taxes. It tells me that some people think that in an emergency the person who knows me best should not be able to make medical choices for me. I want to scream at people right now, “YOU ARE NOT DEBATING FREEDOM OF RELGION OR FREE SPEECH. YOU ARE DEBATING MY RIGHTS.”

This is not a campaign issue. This is not religious issue. This is about me. I am your friend, your co-worker, your aunt, your cousin, and your niece. When you talk about these things to me, you need to know that you are talking about not giving me the same rights you already have.