A Giant Thanks

I want to thank everyone for the slew of comments that poured in on yesterday’s highly controversal post "One Giant Leap Forward And One Giant Leap Backwards". Between my blog here and having the same post also featured on the front-page of BrazenCareerist.com, I received over 75 comments and a few e-mails in less than 24 hours! Today, the comments and e-mails are still coming in and I think it’s great! Like any good debate where people are sure to have strong opinions and disagree with one another, the conversation did get a little heated at times. However, I’m happy to say that it never really got to the point where anyone was "name calling" or being disrespectful when speaking their mind or listening to another speak theirs. I love the fact that everyone was able to interact with one another so maturely about such a hot button topic and do so in such a passionate way. You made this boy proud.

Originally, my rant against banning gay marriage started a few months back when I left a comment on the 20SB forum, it’s a community for Gen-Y bloggers which I’ve become mildly-addicted to. Someone had brought up gay marriage and I threw in my two cents on the matter. Then on November 4th when I learned Prop 8 passed, I was not only shocked and angered by the news, but I was also deeply sadden. And THAT is what prompted me to take, what at one time was essentially just a message board comment, and turn it into a full blog post. What’s kind of funny is that I wrote the post rather quickly, in about 15 minutes, and didn’t think it was all that special or would impact people as much as it seems to have. Although, from what people are telling me, it’s not so much what I said, but the fact who said it – a straight male. People expect a gay man or gay woman to stand up for gay marriage. People may even expect a lot of straight women to stand up for gay marriage since most women are the more understanding and compassionate sex. However, most people didn’t expect a straight man to feel so strongly against the gay marriage ban.

Even with all the feedback I received and all the insightful things people had to say, I STILL don’t feel like anyone has given me a valid reason, that is completely unrelated to religion, as to why gay couples shouldn’t be allowed to marry. But in a way, that’s ok because the conversation expanded into other areas and beyond, like whether or not gay couple should be allowed to raise children. It even spiraled out of control at one point when Ryan asked if it should be ok for people to marry animals. Let the record show, I love my dog enough that I would probably marry him. Although I can’t seem to slip the ring over his fat paw so don’t look for our wedding invite in your mailbox anytime soon. It’s more likely he will be my ringbearer one day, rather than the ring wearer.

In all seriousness, whether you agreed or disagreed with my post, I want to thank all of you for getting involved and letting me look at it from multiple angles. I did read each and every comment that was left and I did take into consideration what each and every person had to say. I think it’s important to be as open minded as possible in this world. Because when you open your mind, you also learn a great deal not just about others and the world, but also about yourself. So I want to thank everyone for that. And I say it with the utmost sincerity - thank you.

Below are the direct links if you would like to read what everyone has been saying and/or keep the discussion going.

On My Blog
http://diamondkt.blogspot.com/2008/11/one-giant-leap-forward-and-one-giant.html

On BrazenCareerist
http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/11/06/one-giant-leap-forward-and-one-giant-leap-backwards

Also a special thanks to "well-intentioned heartbreaker" who out of all 70+ comments, was the only person who shared her condolences about my Aunt. That means a lot and I appreciate that.