Bittersweet-ness

I must say, today is a bittersweet day. It is sweet because America has finally elected a smart person to the White House after 8 years of stupidity. I'd like to say that we voted not based on the color of his skin, but rather, Obama as a person. But I know that there are people who voted for Obama just because he's black and those who voted against him just because he's black. But at least it's a step in the right direction. I know many people who are White, Asian, Hispanic, etc. who voted for Obama because we thought he was smart and his stance on the issues, and race was never a factor. So, yay for that.

On the other hand, it is a bitter day because California allowed discrimination to be written in their constitution. Civil rights should not be decided by voters. I'm pretty sure that if people voted whether to give women or blacks equal rights, we could have passed a law opposing these rights. So I hope that this ban is overturned. I've been really posts and articles about the proponents of Proposition 8, and they make no sense. These are the arguments that I have read for the ban:

1. The bible says so.
If people haven't figured it out yet, the constitution says that there is a separation of church and state. Plus, not everyone is Christian or believes what the bible says, so it's unfair to impose the bible's words on everyone else.

2. We must protect traditional marriage.
I don't understand this argument. Protect what? It's not like gays want to ban marriages between a man and a woman. So what are you trying to protect? It's not like homosexual marriages would affect heterosexual ones anyway. Marriage these days are a legal thing anyway. And if you want to protect marriage as something sacred, you first should not allow marriages between drunk hook-ups in Las Vegas.

3. Marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman.
Since when did people care so much about definitions? Definitions change with time. Just compare a dictionary from 50 years ago and one from today.

4. Marriage is supposed to be for procreation purposes.
So why can sterile people get married? They can't help being sterile, just as gays can't help being gay.

5. Same-sex marriage will be taught to our children in school.
Well, now it will. Marriage in general was not taught to me in school, so I don't know where this argument came from. If people are thinking, oh no, the school is going to turn my children gay, then they're stupid. You can't turn someone straight gay and you can't turn someone gay straight. And being gay isn't a choice. I'm pretty sure if people got to choose whether they were gay or straight, they would choose the one that wasn't so pounded against. And if they do teach same-sex marriage in school, it would show children who do realize that they are gay, that it's ok, and it's accepted. Except now it will definitely be taught to children, and children will grow up thinking being gay is bad and they will be persecuted... leading to higher suicide rates in gay teenagers (which is already higher than average).

6. Churches will be forced to perform same-sex marriages.
Um, no. I know of a Catholic church (probably many) that won't allow Catholics to marry anyone else but Catholics... and I don't see them being forced to do it. And plus, why would someone want to marry in a church that hates them?

If you think of any more arguments against same-sex marriage, please tell me. I'd love for you to give me a good reason.

I used to really want to live in California because of its sunny weather and accepting attitudes, but now, it makes me sad. Hopefully the Supreme Court will overrule this ban.

But I'm happy that the country as a whole is headed in a better direction, despite some steps backwards in parts of the country...