Any other CafePress shopkeepers here? I could use some support, fast.

[Sapphocrat]

Log in and read, before it gets deleted:

http://forums.cafepress.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/84310838/m/183104201

[Ayesha]

1. Dammit

The thread came up as "under moderation" as I was typing this out, but here's what I wrote. Hopefully the topic will be reopened.

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I think a lot of middle class people feel uncomfortable thinking about homosexuality, but that doesn't make them anti-gay. People who want to drive gays out of their jobs or communities or who want to beat them up are bigots and should be prosecuted when they act on those beliefs. Most of us just want to do what we do in our bedroom and not hear what other people do in their bedroom.

Ah, but it does. Passing laws against gay marriage and civil unions makes it difficult or impossible for gay couples to secure basic rights for ourselves, such as inheritance, joint property ownership, joint parenting rights, hospital visitation rights and the right to make medical decisions if a partner is incapacitated. Passing these kinds of laws says to gay families, "you're not welcome here." In many states it is still legal to fire someone from a job or deny them housing based on sexual orientation. If that is not discrimination, nothing is!

My partner and I are both from the Midwest, from Minnesota and Indiana respectively. I believe that both of those states have anti-gay measures on the ballot this November. We both miss our families, but we live in California because here we have rights and face much less discrimination. We plan on adopting children in about 5 years, and here in CA we can easily do a joint or second parent adoption. That means if one of us dies, or God forbid we separate, we will both be the legal and equal mothers of our children. In some other states that is not so easy to do. We are hoping that after we have that legal security, we can move and be closer to our families and they can be close to their grandchildren.

Plain and simple, these kinds of laws do not "protect" families, they tear them apart. It is discrimination and it is hatred, and I fully support LavLib in objecting to this bigotry on Cafepress.