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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

The Waiting Game

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - I'm patiently waiting. Again.

I'm waiting for a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage to pass through the Rhode Island state Senate.

I'm the Rhode Island reporter for Courthouse News and I'm gay.

This is not a big deal. I'm not famous. I'm not going to lose any endorsements. I'm not going to rock the nation or lose any fans. I'm not Oprah. continued...

Still, considering the trend of recent teen suicides from feelings of shame about sexuality, not to mention the high school prom that was canceled last year because a girl wanted to bring her girlfriend, I think even the most insignificant of the average Joes and Josephines should take a stand. It seems like the right thing to do, so here I am.

The teen years, and high school in particular, are hard. I was a cheerleader who dated male jocks and competed in beauty pageants, but high school was still a nightmare for me. I can't imagine what it would have been like had I given in to my true nature at the time. How much harder would it have been for me if everyone had known that I am a lesbian? I cringe at the thought.

These kids need to know that it gets better.

Well, sort of. I say it gets better and yet I am sitting on my couch, watching people on the local news protest my right to marry whomever I choose, just because when we're alone, in private, in our bedroom, we have a slightly different version of sex, and the thought of it makes them uncomfortable.

To be honest, lots of things make me uncomfortable, too, such as attending Catholic school for 18 years and being made to participate in a ritual that involved the eating of someone's "body" and the drinking of his "blood." That made me uncomfortable. But hey, as long as no one is getting hurt, I'm not going to protest people's right to partake in such an escapade.

I have yet to hear a logical argument about why same-sex marriage should be illegal. In fact, if Rhode Island passes this bill, it stands to give a large boost to the local economy as a bonus.

Since I attended Catholic school, church every Sunday, confession and the whole kit and caboodle for much of my life, I am expertly schooled in my opponents' arguments about why I should not enjoy the same civil liberties as every other tax-paying American.

I can't help but raise a question that continues to boggle my mind.

The Bible says a lot of things are against God's will. In chapter 11 of the Book of Leviticus, it states that eating shellfish is an "abomination," but I don't see people boycotting Red Lobster in the name of God.

Because the thing is, the Bible also states something else very clearly on several occasions. According to the Bible, God gave us free will. We can do as we please, and this is His Big Gift to us. This is no mere stocking-stuffer. This is the Bentley with the red bow on it in the garage.

So my question is this, to all those who oppose my right to marriage: If God won't limit my options, where do you get the audacity to think that you have the right to?

So I wait. I sit and I wait for it to get better.

I know it will, because the world is changing in my favor, slowly but surely with the rise of every new generation, but still ...

I think we've waited long enough already. As a 25-year-old woman getting the itch to start my conventional life with the woman I adore, I keep my fingers crossed in the hope that it really does get better.

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