Pride.

This morning I woke up feeling such a sense of pride for my great state of Maine. In my life, I have never lived anywhere else and today, I wouldn't want to call anywhere else home.

Gay marriage is officially legal in the state of Maine. This is most excellent news. Why you ask? Because everyone is equal- as they should be. 

I don't remember how old I was when I met the first gay person I knew. I don't remember how old I was when I first heard that gay marriage wasn't legal. I do remember that for all of my life, I was taught that all of us should be treated equally- regardless of skin color, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation or otherwise. We are all cut from the same cloth. I found religion when I was in early middle school and, through Sunday school and regular church, I walked away with the idea that we are all created in God's image. Therefore- he must love us all. He views us as equal. I never wavered from that opinion. Whoever it is that God is, that higher power loves us all. We are all created equally- all of us made from the same stuff. All of us deserve the same rights as everyone else. Right? So why is something so fundamental as MARRIAGE taken away from some of us?

This is why, when people who oppose marriage equality tell me that they do, I always ask why. And if they bring God into the explanation, I turn off. Not because I don't want to hear their Christian beliefs, and not because I doubt their Faith or their God. I turn off because God doesn't run my country. This is a country of the people, by the people and FOR the people. So, if you'd like to explain why you are opposed to marriage equality without bringing God into the topic, please do so. I'd be glad to hear your explanation. Honestly I would. I may argue a few points with you, but that doesn't mean I dislike you or am trying to put you down. I'm trying to make you see the other side, just as you are trying to make me see your side. And please don't judge me for my opinions. I try to keep a pretty open mind about all things. But really, this is a question of what is morally right and what isn't. It isn't morally right to deny someone marriage because they love differently than you do.