Marching along . . .

My last blog was about things that I shouldn't take for granted. Today's blog is about things that YOU shouldn't take for granted.

You see, today is National Coming Out Day; and the day of the National Equality March in Washington D.C. And today is the day we're discussing all the ways that Gays and Lesbians aren't equal right here in the "land of the free".

Just in case anyone wasn't already 100% clear . . . I'm gay. Scott is my husband. We were married last year. Not legally, of course, because we live in Florida. But we did have a Big Fat Gay Disney Wedding, and we're as married as any other couple we know. Heck more married than some.

So, my dear straight friends, this is about things that we don't have that you shouldn't take for granted.

For instance, a married couple is automatically designated as next of kin for each other. They get the right to see and make medical decisions for their partner if the partner is incapacitated. This isn't the case for gay couples. And even though Scott and I have given each other Medical Power of Attorney, there's no guarantee that it'll be honored by any given hospital. Here's a case in South Florida where a woman was kept from the bedside of her dying partner. The hospital told her that Florida is an "anti-gay state" and that they wouldn't honor her legal documents. To make matters worse, when the woman sued the hospital, the courts backed the hospital!

This terrifies us. We live in Florida. And even though we've taken all the legal steps that we can to protect ourselves, it's still possible for some bigot to decide to ignore those protections.

Speaking of taking those steps to protect ourselves, we had to spend quite a bit of money to get the legal documents drawn up. Let me tell you, Brittney Spears paid a LOT less for her quickie wedding than Scott and I paid for wills, power of attorney, etc. And we don't even get the full compliment of protections that she threw away when she changed her mind and kicked the guy to the curb a day later.

They New York Times recently did a study on the costs of being a gay couple. In other words, what it costs us to accomplish what straight couples get simply by being married. It's a variable statistic of course; but on the low end, a gay couple has to spend over $25,000 to approximate what a straight couple has. In some cases, the amount can go up to nearly HALF A MILLION DOLLARS!

Tell me again, how "we hold these truths to be self evident" that all Americans are equal? Bullshit.

I could go on and on and on, of course. The gist of my message is this. I'm and American Citizen! I pay my taxes! I want equality!

If you've got it, don't take it for granted. And do what you can to help those of us who are getting a bum deal.

I wish that we could been in Washington today to march along with them. We couldn't. But that doesn't matter. The spirit of the march is that we keep fighting. And by doing what we can day to day, we are always marching along . . .