Fighting against our freedoms

They say they are fighting for states’ rights. They are lying. They are fighting against our freedoms. Were they fighting for states’ rights when they passed the Defense of Marriage Act and proposed a constitutional amendment to discriminate against marriage equality?

In the leak and aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade in the United States, there has been a lot of emotion. It has taken some time to gather my thoughts.

I do know I stand for choice. I support abortion rights. This is why I have been standing with Planned Parenthood for over 10 years. Even though I’m not a person with internal reproductive organs, I know that all of our rights are intertwined. When I think of abortion, I think of a difficult situation. A rape of a 10 year old who now has to go to another state to get their life back to normal. I think of the woman who died in Ireland because doctors become afraid of how to treat complicated pregnancies when there are abortion restrictions. Luckily, Ireland learned and legalized abortion.

At first my response was, “Fuck the Supreme Court!” Certainly not the most nuanced but definitely capturing the emotional moment. The Republicans have since been spinning. They know the majority of Americans support abortion. They certainly are lying about states’ rights. They say the 1973 decision was forcing states to go against democratic action in those states. I have always refused to allow democracy to define my rights as gay cisgendered men or anyone else. That is why we have a constitution. It doesn’t surprise me then that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and now several Republican politicians are using this decision to create the building blocks to attack LGBTQ+ and thus my rights. Except it’s not about states’ rights. They demonstrated that when Republican President George W. Bush voiced support to amend the constitution to ban marriage equality. This was in response to Massachusetts legalizing marriage equality. How about that for states’ rights?

No, the Republicans have a single mind set of control and power. Listen to the background and you will hear them wanting to ban abortion, contraceptives, marriage equality, and even LGBTQ+ sexual relationships nationwide. They want to impose their religious views on the nation in direct defiance to the fact that the United States of America was founded to create religious freedom including freedom from religion if desired. They will also stop at nothing to give themselves that power including voter intimidation, and even stealing an election. We also can’t forget how they stole a supreme court seat from President Barack Obama. They play dirty and they are downright mean. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that prevents anyone from talking about LGBTQ+ in schools. This has caused LGBTQ+ teachers to have to hide who they are from their students or risk getting fired.

Now you are right to be concerned about the economy and inflation. The Republicans will have you believe the 2022 and 2024 elections will be about the economy and inflation. Except inflation is happening everywhere. In every country worldwide. In the United Kingdom, where there is a Conservative government, they are also experiencing inflation. So how are conservative policies going to rescue you when they aren’t rescuing them? Every country in the world is dealing with high energy prices and inflation. There are multiple causes including the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

So don’t be fooled into thinking that voting for a Republican is a vote for the economy and definitely don’t give me that excuse. If you vote Republican in 2022, you are voting to take away my rights. You are voting against democracy and enabling voter suppression and the next insurrection. I’m not exaggerating. Look at what they are saying and more importantly what they have done.

It shouldn’t be this way. The United States of America should be a beacon of democracy and equal rights. I shouldn’t have to ask you to help me keep my democracy, my right for my vote to count and more importantly for the right to privacy, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Today though, I am asking you, please vote for our rights. We won’t have an economy if we don’t have rights.