In 2007, Congress passed an energy bill that, among other things, was supposed to phase out incandescent light bulbs by 2014. In December 2011, Congress overturned the light bulb ban. This was apparently a great victory for the Republican party. Rep. Michael Burgess told the Washington Times, “Republicans have fulfilled our promise to the American people by allowing them to continue to be able to choose what type of bulb they use at home. Consumers should drive the marketplace, not the government.”
Americans have been freed from the tyranny of a government which dictates what kind of light bulb can be screwed into a light fixture. Too bad the freedom of screwing doesn't extend beyond that.
Florida, especially, has a reputation of being less than friendly to homosexuals. In 2008, Amendment 2 of the Florida Marriage Protection Act (which defines marriage between one man and one woman) passed with a majority vote of 62%. The Florida Family Association spent thousands of dollars in June 2011 to fly a banner over the Orlando area warning that Disney's "Gay Day" would be taking place. In October 2011, the FFA campaigned to have Target pull ads from Teen Nick, which aired a gay-friendly TV show and flashed the number for a hotline to counsel gay young people. When Mitt Romney put his Florida team together in November 2011, he included a good portion of anti-gay activists.
In a state with over 9,330 homosexual couples as reported in the 2010 census, it is no small gesture to use gay rights as a pawn in the political environment. It's easy to lose track of people when they are no longer valued as human beings and are instead valued only as votes, poll numbers, and approval ratings.
Mike Halterman, who grew up in Pensacola, Florida, and graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa, now lives in Arkansas and owns the gay magazine Out on the Town. In an interview, he recalled the way former Florida governor Charlie Crist attempted to use gay rights issues to boost his poll numbers: "Charlie Crist was the worst at using gay rights as a bargaining tool in politics. One day he's willing to sell us down the river and call us unworthy to be teachers or be around children, but then he's all for gay rights when he's losing an election? Absolutely no gumption whatsoever."
Another interviewee, who shall be referred to as "Brandon," agrees. "Very often, 'protecting family values' (whatever that means) and 'upholding morals' are used for political gain. I am unsure how my lifestyle affects the family values and moral sanctity of someone else. It is ridiculous that my ability to live a normal, happy life with the individual I love is paraded around as some sort of trophy when they take it away from me. There is an argument that once gays are allowed to marry, there will be nothing stopping someone from marrying a goat. The difference is, I can say no. The goat has no say. There is a big difference between two consenting adults and a person and an animal."
Sadly, both Mike and Brandon feel like prejudice is often religiously motivated, coming mostly from Christians. "I was raised in a conservative Christian military family, and still consider myself a Christian," Brandon says. "We are basically told that we have no idea what we are talking about, we have chosen to live our lives as perverts, and we do not deserve the right to legally be one entity, and share everything that we have worked for, and earned, together."
"I fail to see what one marriage has to do with any other one, be it gay or straight," Mike added. "It also implies that gays cannot be Christians, and in the South there are more gay Christians than anywhere else."
Being gay in Florida is not easy. However, some progress is being made. In 2010, Florida overturned the gay adoption ban.
"At the end of the day, I am a proud Floridian," Brandon stated. "It is the first and only place I am able to call home. And while change will happen, it is disappointing that it will take as long as I believe it will to do so. I predict that in 10 years, we will live in a state, and more than likely nation, that will recognize me as an equal. Ultimately, that is all I want. I don't need a parade, I don't need special recognition, I don't need anything but to be able to love who I love, and have it be just like everybody else."
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