The following rant notwithstanding, this blog will be about language learning. More specifically, it will be a place where I attempt to write in other languages. This is not something I do particularly well. I like writing, and I'm fairly good at it, so it frustrates me when I can't express myself as cleanly or precisely in Italian or Spanish or Swedish as I can in my mother tongue.
I'm hoping to work through that frustration here, by writing every so often about one of the things that pushed me to start seriously learning languages: lesbian storylines in foreign TV and movies. My goal is to go through the (rather extensive) catalogue of large and small screen productions I've seen and write a few paragraphs about each in its language, or in Italian if I can't manage that. Hopefully pretty girls who <3 each other will be inspiration enough to help me overcome my hatred of making mistakes. I'm going to try not to worry too much about grammar or correctness. I'm just going to write, and see how it goes.
For now, though, please indulge my overexcited political ramblings. Maybe tomorrow I'll translate them into broken Spanish.
....
So.
Something happened today. It's kind of important, important enough that the word "historic" has been bandied about.
What happened is this: Judge Vaughn Walker ruled on California’s Proposition 8, the amendment that defines marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman, thus foreclosing upon the possibility of same-sex marriage. In a lengthy decision (138 pages!), Walker today declared Prop 8 unconstitutional, stating that there is no logical, legally justifiable reason to uphold it. The amendment sought to codify in law the personal belief that gay couples are less legitimate than their straight counterparts and this, Walker writes, just doesn't fly:
Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples. (page 135)
I can't even express how awesome it is to read that. Like, I was so excited I had to stare at the words for a minute to make sure I wasn't making them up. I'm still that excited, honestly.
I'm not usually political. I'm more interested in living my life than making a cause of my sexual orientation, and the people I hang out with are a lovely, accepting bunch who treat me the same as they did before I came out. When asked to describe myself, "lesbian" is far from the first thing that comes to mind.
This decision is a big deal for me, though, and I'll tell you why.
However little you engage in the political side of things, it's wearing when society tells you day after day that you're misguided at best and damned at worst. It's wearing knowing that the majority of your country sees you as something inherently lesser just because of the gender of the people you're attracted to. Even if you have great friends and an accepting family, the weight of that otherness can be suffocating.
Considering how many people there are in the world that hate people like me - and do so blindly, instinctively, utterly without reason - I've wondered sometimes whether I'm not the crazy one.
That's why it's so incredible to hear someone in power, a representative of these United States of America, declare openly and on public record that beneath all this talk of protecting marriage's sanctity is the basic, ugly belief that gay people are different in a way that makes them less worthy.
I know how unlikely Walker's decision is to have any real, practical effect on the status of gay marriage in California. Appeal procedures are already underway, and considering the US Supreme Court's current composition the odds aren't good that his ruling will be upheld if/when this case makes its way there.
Still, though, this is a good day, and it's a huge thing that people are finally questioning what it is that gives rise to things like Prop 8. The more people have to justify the rationale behind anti-gay legislation, the flimsier their logic becomes. The more blatant their homophobia, too. That's bound to make a difference eventually.
In case anyone's interested:
Walker's complete decision
The New York Times' coverage
