the state of hawaii stands on the brink of history. barring unforeseen disaster, the legislature will pass same-sex marriage by the end of the week. for those loving couples and their families it will mean for the first time, at least in our state, they will be equal in the eyes of the law. it will be a victory that can never fully be quantified. sure, we talk about tax benefits, health benefits, retirement benefits, and so on, but the word “marriage” in our society means so much more than just these tangible benefits. being able to point to the person they love and say, “this is my husband” or “this is my wife,” to be able to say that, without qualifiers or explanations… well, i can’t even imagine the sense of relief and joy that benefit will bring to so many.

and still, in this day and age, they will still be looked upon by some, by too many in our community as evil, or dirty, or an abomination. despite the passage of this landmark legislation, too many couples, too many individuals will still face discrimination and hatred. you need search no farther than the tens of thousands of pieces of testimony given, in writing and in person, over this past week to find unequivocal evidence of that discrimination and hatred. yes folks, i’m sorry to say, bigotry is alive and well in the aloha state.

of course, those fighting for this victory for nearly 20 years, the couples, their families, their friends, their allies in the search for justice know this all too well. we’ve been witness to it every step along the way, every time we pushed for just a little bit more. religious zealots, bigots who claim theirs to be the side of righteousness because their faith claims to be the only one that counts. and if these people don’t think they’re bigots, i’m sorry, but they’re just fooling themselves.

now, don’t get me wrong, i’m not claiming that every single person who stands against the right for same-sex couples to marry is a bigot. but those who say horrible things like same-sex couples are unfit to be parents, or that “gays” are filthy and spread disease, that they choose the lifestyle, yes, those people are bigots. i don’t begrudge anyone to hold any belief that helps them sleep at night and make sense of the world around them. but the minute they presume to impose their beliefs on someone else, they’ve gone a step too far.

while one can point to places in the old testament (as a jew, the only “holy book” that really matters, hehe) where homosexuality is forbidden, there are other passages of the same divine law that these people choose to gloss over. there are passages that allow for slavery and forbid the eating of pork or shellfish. it seems these people that are so insistent against very few and narrowly interpreted passages should also be standing in protest out front of every grocery store, restaurant, and sundry shop that sells spam. it’s also been pointed out to me that Solomon, supposedly the wisest of all jews, had more (way more) than one wife, but these, excuse me, hypocrites, also take a first stand against polygamy.

if you want to take the old testament as the “word of g-d” in its entirety, that’s fine, but if you’re going to cherry-pick passages that parallel your personal feelings on any particular subject, sit down and shut up. if not, then maybe you should leave room for the possibility that maybe you’re faith, your “g-d” doesn’t have all the answers and be tolerant of other views.

let me also be clear that the proposed sb1 that people have spent approximately 30 hours testifying on doesn’t discriminate on the basis of religion or in any way diminish a religious organization’s first amendment protections. no law at the state nor federal level can trump the first amendment. what is says is that if you allow the public, i.e. people who aren’t members of your church or who share your faith, to use church’s facilities to have weddings or receptions it becomes a business, a “public accommodation” and no longer subject to the full protections enjoyed by the first amendment. the bill doesn’t give car blanche to religious organizations to discriminate.

you don’t have to allow same-sex couples to use your facilities, no one is forcing you to. all you have to do is refuse anyone else (other than church members) to use it. but of course, they don’t want to do that. these, largely christian, churches want the ability to make money while also being able to discriminate and the law doesn’t allow that.

ok…. i’m clearly just venting at this point, but never in my life have i ever been witness to such ignorance, bigotry and hatred (even having gone through 18 hours of nasty testimony for civil unions). it makes me angry. and it makes me so sad for all my friends at whom all the  vileness is directed. at this point the only pleasure i can take from all of this is that the bill is going to pass. it will be law before the end of the year, and all the time (and money) the opposition has expended will have been for not.

i can’t help but grin a bit knowing there’s nothing they can do to stop it and they know it.