An Amendment 2 Kill

I take Amendment 2 personally. Amendment 2 threatens my partner’s health… and life.

If passed on November 4th, Florida courts may decide Amendment 2 nullifies domestic partner medical benefits currently offered by many companies.

C’mon, this is the 21st century.

In 2002, BellSouth, now part of the New AT&T, awarded domestic partner coverage to its employees with a simple requirement that the employee submit a copy of the partner’s Federal Income Tax Return, verifying the two have resided at the same address in excess of six months.

Whether heterosexual or homosexual, domestic partner benefits have become an important tool in recruiting and retaining workers who would otherwise seek employment elsewhere. A definite value has been placed on the professional contributions of domestic partners.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security On Government Affairs, lead by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) and Sen. Gordon Smith (D-Oregon) and 19 other co-sponsors, have introduced the Domestic Partner and Obligations Act that would provide domestic partner health benefits to federal employees. Employees are more productive knowing their loved ones are taken care of with medical, dental and vision benefits.

The Federal Government cannot adequately compete with private sector and state and local governments for qualified employees. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the additional cost of those programs would be less than .005%, one half of one percent.

Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, General Electric, Chevron, Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, Hospital Corporation of America and Texas Instruments offer domestic partner benefits. Disney offered the coverage in 1996. Levi Strauss was a pioneer; the first corporation to in initiate such a policy in 1992.

The religious right should boycott these businesses, restaurants included. Don’t eat out. Blue Cross/Blue Shield should be first on the list. Every passionate church member should distance themselves from the services these businesses provide.

By supporting Amendment 2, Florida voters on the self-righteous side of conservatism will be disclaiming their professed pro-life and right-to-life philosophies. Disregarding concerns of providing life-saving medical benefits puts their faith in anti-abortion laws into the light of selective choice. Selective choice is bigotry.

It’s not only the partners who will be in jeopardy, but also the children of heterosexual partners, not just gays. Will Republican-leaning, radical religious voters be proud of their right to vote with conscious knowledge that they will be giving support to what can be viewed as right-to-die legislation by denying life-support health benefits to children cherished in domestic partner partnerships? Take that away and those sweet smiling children will face hurt and suffering.

I am who I am. I am not limp-wristed. I have no lisp.

I can’t number the people who have accepted our partnership when, in reality, they admit to being homophobic. Just as I judge people by who they are, regardless race, color, creed or sexual orientation, so do those who have come to know us. They’re in awe to learn that our un-matrimonial relationship has endured 30 years, “to have and to hold, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

We’re not married, have no intention of tieing our partnership together in what is, in too many hetero marriages, a slipknot. We’re secure with the acceptance from relatives, friends, co-workers and acquaintances.

What would religious organizations prefer I shave my head, tatter my body with tattoos and rings and things, drink beer or take other drugs, refuse to wed a woman who’s barefoot and pregnant, not pay child support, and, in some cases, abuse the children who were created in sin?

To what extreme are higher than mighty right wing advocates willing to go to correct what is a genetic anomaly? Support stem cell research and provide funding to cure this and other human defects and frailties? Is genetic engineering the Lord’s way?

What of devout religious fanatics, including priests, who have abused young boys and left them with emotional scars that create psychological imbalances for the rest of their lives? Have not the hierarchy of religion side-saddled these deranged acts and scuttle-butted the issue? Politicians aren’t exempt from this inhumanity to young boys.

Amendment 2 is unacceptable. It will create boondoggles that will result in court cases by the dozens to clarify to what extent the legislation relegates denial of an individual’s domestic partner rights, heterosexual or otherwise.

My partner is on Medicare for a mental handicap. The costs of medications for a bipolar disorder are prohibitive of sustaining his life.

On a recent trip, I crossed from South Dakota into Wyoming. I was immensely sorrowed at the sight of wooden fences with crisscrossed, weather-worn wooden posts that reminded me of the hate crime that left Matthew Shepard on a journey to Heaven. How ironic that the date happened to be October 13, 10 years to the day after two straight men killed an innocent young man. More ironic was my destination: Devil’s Tower National Monument was aptly named to represent the crime of those two men.

What of ministries that express hatred toward the recently passed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act? Did they rejoice on October 13? Should there be an open season to eradicate selective individuals?

Andy Marlette’s social cartoon in Friday’s Hernando Today was cynical. It came face to face with a sinical column on the adjoining page. As the caricature pointed out, without Amendment 2 there will still be no legal same-sex marriages.

I’m not begging. I’m not pleading. I’m simply praying that your conscience guides you to the NO box on Amendment 2, just as it does when you decide to mark the box for the political candidate of your choice.