My Issues with Idaho

This from my home state of Idaho...

Supporters of a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Idaho are giving the issue another try this year, with a new conservative group called the Idaho Values Alliance leading the charge.

“The signal that we’ve gotten from legislative leadership on the house and senate side is they’d like to see an amendment go forward,” said Bryan Fischer, executive director of the Boise-based group. [...]

Legislative attempts to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage have failed the past two years. A constitutional amendment must pass the house and senate by at least a two-thirds majority and win approval from the governor before being placed on the general election ballot.

Last year the Idaho senate blocked a measure that would require the state to recognize only marriages between one man and one woman. That measure also would have banned civil unions, which grant gay couples the legal rights and benefits of marriage.

Idaho already has a 1997 law banning same-sex marriage, but Fischer and other supporters say the amendment is needed too. He noted that in Washington State, the state supreme court is considering a challenge of Washington’s 1998 ban on same-sex marriage. “Because Washington State does not have a constitution that protects marriage, the state supreme court there may well issue a ruling any day now that would provide for gay marriage,” Fischer said. (source)

Yes, I know.... get over it Bill. Idaho is a hick state with “good ole boy” values, which doesn’t hold up much value for queers. OK! I get it. What I don’t get is the notion of people being so damned frightened of people like me wanting to commit to someone. Would they rather that we go to public parks for quick sex and go from sex partner to sex partner? Is that what they would prefer? I suppose they would rather hold on to the idea that we are sick perverted freaks than see us as people who want to get the most out of life that we can - just like THEM!

It’s people such as Gerry Sweet of Meridian who said that allowing gays to marry would fail to “protect marriage” and would “destabilize society.” Sweet adds, “We are under attack. The family is under attack. This issue is not about somebody’s chosen behavior. We’re not debating morals on the floor of this Senate. We’re debating the stabilities of families and the stability of society.”

In response to that, Boise Democrat Mike Burkett said, “There is no attack and at the very least there is no attack by gay couples simply trying to live a life of commitment and purpose.” (source)

So, it would seem that there are both sides of the issue in the Idaho legislature. Let us hope that enlightenment and reasoning will win the day. We still can’t get married there and gay couples living in Idaho have absolutely no legal protections at all. I know that gay couples live all over the United States. I would venture to say that, when they start getting older (50+ years), they start to look at moving where they will have more stability in their lives in terms of legal protections. It only makes sense. Not all will, but many, like myself, will start to worry about what protections you will have when you are most vulnerable.

It saddens me and makes me sick to think of what the actions of some have done to us, and want to keep doing to us. The way some of us have had to live our lives in the past is really a crime against humanity.