By now, everyone has seen this magazine on the newsstands:

It’s a shot of Clay Aiken holding his new son and exclaiming to the world how he’s gay and always has been.  No one in the entire world was surprised.

Unless… you live in Utah County, Utah.  If you live there, and you happen to shop at Macey’s super-conservative-mega-expensive grocery stores, you saw this:

It’s a good thing to know Macey’s is protecting my kids from horrible, evil gay people.  I was worried for a while.  After all, instead of teaching tolerance and understanding, I’d rather we just cover it up, because if you close your eyes and hum really loud, you don’t have to see the real world at all.  As a bonus, I’m glad that you’ve covered up the gay people, but in doing so you’ve managed to draw more attention to the anorexic stars of the new “90210″ on the magazine next to them, so my kids can idolize them and grow up to be sickly little stick people.

I ask:  Which of these covers is more offensive?

People, there is seriously something wrong with the attitudes of the American public.  All this talk about “Proposition 8″ in California has got me all riled up.  Worse, I hear it a lot because I live in Utah and the Mormon church is leading the crusade against gay marriage by championing the whole thing and viciously protesting it, all the while maintaining that the church is “neutral” in political affairs.  What a crock of horseshit.  Religions need to stay out of this thing.  Marriage is a civil union, not a religious one, no matter how much you’d like to believe it.  Sorry, but that’s the truth.  Religions get no say in the matter of marriage at all.  None.

I’ll lay it out this way.  There are changes coming.  Just like 40 years ago, when black people were finally being recognized as the human beings they are, changes are coming.  You can’t stop them, you can’t close your eyes and wish them away, and you can’t pray them away.  Changes are coming, and you’d better just get used to the idea that gay people are still people just like any other people and they deserve the same rights and privileges as any people do.  This WILL happen, and you WON’T stop it.  Mark my words all you bigoted haters and judgmental jerks, it will happen.

Put away your attitudes and your hate and your bibles and accept reality.  Change is coming whether you like it or not.

So today California overturned previous legislation on the matter of same-sex marriage. I think this is a wonderful thing, and I fully support it. I support any progressive thinking that does away with outdated, traditional thought and moves our civilization forward. Outdated beliefs are what cripples society in my opinion, and we’ll never advance as a people or a race unless we do away with it.

Of course, there are the opposing views. Let me share a couple from an internet forum:

“Once again the Bible’s teachings have been thrown under the bus. We will all be held accountable one day for all we have done.”

Fine. Everyone can have their say. That’s what makes us unique as individuals, but this guy is damning the whole race because of something he doesn’t agree with. Kinda harsh.

“It is unconscionable that the CA Supreme Court could ignore the overwhelmng will of the people when they passed Prop. 22, specifically designating marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Next it will be legal to marry my dog. California has become an embarrassment.”

Interesting point about Prop. 22, but it’s old news. When he says “the will of the people”, he means people that think the way he does. Kinda presumptuous to lump everybody in that category, when some of the “people” have a different will.

“If there is anyt issue that will revive talk about a secession from the union, this is it. Governor Schwarzenegger and McCain need to rethink there constitutional amendment stances.”

I find it funny when people try to phrase things in an intellectual sense, and then fail to proofread what they just wrote. Maybe it’s passion talking, but if you want to appear intelligent, fix your grammar and spelling. Otherwise, your argument (to me at least) is irrelevant. If you aren’t smart enough to know the difference between “there” and “their”, how can I believe you’re smart enough to back your position?

This whole thing doesn’t necessarily effect me personally, at least on the most basic level. For the record, I’m straight. Guys don’t do it for me, sorry, but I support this whole-heartedly for this reason: I think equal rights are important, and I think this is a step in the right direction. I think it’s time that people stop living in the past or letting their personal thoughts be dictated by a religion or a tradition. Open your minds, good things will come of it.

I promise.