Suggestions for California

California,

You are my home state, the place of my birth, and the place I plan to live for the rest of my life. You disappointed me today (as you did on November 4, 2008), but I have some suggestions for improving the quality of life in this state, which can be implemented by changes voted on in the next general election.

1. Amend the State Constitution to disallow constitutional amendments to be proposed by initiative. All constitutional amendments should be proposed by the legislature, period.

2. Restore California's integrity by repealing that idiotic ban on recognition of same-sex marriages. It creates a wholesale contradiction within the constitution itself (contrast it to the equal protection clauses), and it's not really being implemented as intended anyway (see the CA Supreme Court decision, upholding recognition of the 18,000 same-sex marriages already performed, completely contrary to the plain language of the constitution).

3. (this is pie-in-the-sky dreaming) Completely eliminate the initiative process. It's a failure. Nothing good has ever come of it that I've ever heard of. Everything either ends up having horrendous unintended consequences or getting overturned -- all of which just makes things more expensive for the state (in terms of court proceedings and tax consequences, etc).

While I anticipate that I will always be proud to be Californian, I cannot say that I am proud of how my home state is governed.

Sincerely,
a humble voter

Today was such a good day.

At least it started that way.

Breakfast with the parents, noon-time course to prepare me for volunteering at the Animal Rescue Foundation, afternoon at Oktoberfest in Concord...

Then driving home from Oktoberfest, we encountered *them*.

Now, I'm not a confrontational person. If I know you and I disagree with you, I'll let you know and I'll even argue with you - sure. But I don't do that with random people on the street. I avoid such things as much as possible. I rarely even say "good morning" when crossing paths with a stranger.

But today, on the drive home, on the corner at Willow Pass and Market, there were people on the median and on the sidewalk waving around their annoying yellow signs that read "Yes on 8!" and "Protect Marriage!"

There was nothing I could do. Very little thought went through my brain before I discovered my window had been rolled down and I was shouting at them.

I asked "why the hate??" and they responded that it wasn't hate, it was love for their families. They want to protect marriage. "Protect it from what?" ... the answer? "well, if we let them marry then they're going to have to teach gay marriage to our kids!" (Note: yes, it was a complete change of subject. Still haven't ever received an answer to what they're trying to protect marriage against)

Seems this immigrant (accent was definitely from south-of-the-border) doesn't want his kids thinking it's OK to be Gay cuz then THEY might decide to be gay too.

If Silas hadn't been there to tell me the light had changed, I'd probably have wound up having angry people honking their horns behind me.

NOBODY decides to be gay. NOBODY. Nobody would choose such ostracization.

I'm generally an open minded person. I respect the rights of people to hold beliefs that are contrary to my own. However, I take serious issue to people holding beliefs that are based on lies or misconceptions, and persisting to hold on to those beliefs after logical reasoning is presented to them that invalidates the bases of their opinions.

The only real thing I refuse to tolerate is intolerance towards groups of people based on stereotypes and misconceptions, and imposing those intolerances on others. Heck, amending the state CONSTITUTION to remove a basic human right from one specific group of people simply out of fear. So yes, I admit. I'm intolerant of intolerance. That's a hypocrisy I'm willing to accept.

And after this encounter, I'm having a hard time calming myself. I've just been forced to see, for the first time, face-to-face, that such ignorance and intolerance exists not only in my state and my city, but also on the roads I travel every day... and in people who are so willing to be so outspoken about their intolerance. Outspoken, and PROUD to be intolerant. How can I reconcile that with my idealist perspective on life?

So please. Any of you in California...

Help us stop the hate. Vote NO on 8.