Choices

Picture credit:    Michael Hulshof-Schmidt

 

Living in California for over 30 years,  allowed me to have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

Not judging people by their Color, Race,  Ethnicity or Sexual Orientation,  is one of the things that I am most proud of about the Golden State.

But today all over America and  even many parts of the World, personal partner or marriage choices,  are getting harder and harder to make happen.

Right now, here in Florida and in many other US States, people are being told that they cannot, may not,  marry the person that they love.

It is against the LAW and if they try to do so, they will be breaking the LAW!

Our laws, religious groups  and society,  seem to have drawn a line in the sand and refuse to listen, or accept the idea,  that they could possibly be wrong on this issue.

As a side note, it is just a bit difficult to stay focused completely on the “issue of freedom of marriage choice”  in this state, because as of today, Florida unbelievably, STILL has not passed the ERA.

The mood, the discussions, the emotions,  right now in Florida are hot and only getting hotter.

Every region,  or part of this state,  now has a Judge who approves of these marriages, but as soon as they are approved, our State Attorney General,  jumps right in and smacks them down.

And the issue is once again, back to square one, or, one step forward, two steps back!

But I digress,  the Issue here, is about choices.

I myself, am not gay, lesbian,  bi-sexual, or transgender.

But I will defend to my death, the right for any who are,  to have the right to choose WHO they wish to spend the remainder of their life with in a permanent,  loving relationship, or what we call Marriage.

I am ashamed and disgusted by the behavior of those who call themselves Christians,  who proudly march and name call, any and all that they view are wrong to wish to be married in a different way than they are.

Who each of us chooses to marry, should be our choice and only our choice, not Religious Groups, not the State or the US Government.

No one should ever have the right, to tell another Human being,  who they can,  or cannot be married to.

We are all granted, by our Constitution, Civil Liberties.

This should be a personal choice between two  consenting adults, and not subject to discussion or interference, by anyone other than the two persons involved.

Personally I have had, over my lifetime of various careers,  in various states in this Country, many friends who are gay, or transgender.

These relationships were some that have left me with wonderful, lasting memories and the thought that our Country, our World still in the year 2014, intends to forbid, to shame,  to stop them, from making their personal partner choices, makes me sick.

With the level of tensions, troubles and REAL problems on this Planet, right now, wouldn’t you think that they might focus on some of them,  instead of trying to impose their will on the millions who only wish to have a legal marriage?

By the way, many of my Word Press Followers are included in this painful, ugly situation and my prayer is,  that they will find happiness and peace,  in a World that is blinded by prejudice.

We are all the children of one God,  or another,  and as for me, I personally believe,  that any loving God would wish to allow each of us the freedom of CHOICE.

 

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I am an ALLY, are you?

I AM AN ALLY
Picture credit:  I AM AN ALLY FACEBOOK PAGE

 

I was just about to write about two Endangered Birds this morning,  when this came in my email.

The Birds can wait until tomorrow,  this is much more important to me and millions of others around the world.

First let me say, that I have felt this way since the 60′s, when I lived in L.A., long before it was fashionable to do so.

It was the time of flower children, free love, inspirational speeches and thinking, yes some of it was quite radical as well, and also sadly, way too many really bad drugs.

It was more importantly, a time of a different kind of attitude toward others.

Did the Viet Nam War/Conflict have anything to do with this, probably.

We were all so very young and so very scared.

We had a common bond,  a mantra,  ” trust no one over 30.”

We were afraid of the violence that surrounded us daily and sought what we thought was a better way to be live, to be.

It was a time of gathering of minds, souls and bodies in support of one critical idea, Peace.

We desperately searched for this state of being that was seemingly just out of  our of reach.

Quite understandably, so many from a wide variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds, came to L.A.  back then in support of what was happening and it was easy to ignore stereotypes, racism and ugliness toward any who were ” different.”

It was the time of,  Hair, the musical that defined an entire generation, and was dedicated to the idea of loving everyone, we were all the same, no color,  or sexual or racial lines, we were united in our determination to stop the prejudice, the violence, the hate and most importantly the killing.

So, today when this came, it simply had to be addressed immediately.

It is who I and millions of others, who were reared up in L.A. in the 60′s,  are/were.

I am now and  will forever be,  AN ALLY.

Won’t you be as well?

And for those who keep asking, I am not a Gator Woman, it is a pseudonym used at WordPress for my Gravatar.

My name is Donna, am so happy to see you here~

 

 

Racism Hurts

The LA Coliseum, home to many memories~
Picture credit : InSapphoWeTrust

 

After living in LA for more than 30 years and going with my family to every conceivable sport venue repeatedly, this story about the racist owner of the Clippers,  hurt in so many ways.

It made LA look bad,  and LA  Sports look bad,  it was/is just plain ugly.

We are speaking of a huge sports loving family here: Hockey, Football, Baseball and of course,  Basketball games.

And, LA has a team for everyone!

We loved it all and it was a huge part of my family’s lives there for many, many years.

Going to any of these games was a joy for us all and if racism was part of it back then, we were not aware of it.

So, seeing all of the sad, vicious,  ugly words running amuck on the News all week,  leaves me questioning and wondering about the future of our species and of sports in general.

Yes, agreed,  this man has serious mental issues that only  he and his God can solve, but in my opinion, what the press and so many experts seem to be missing is, it isn’t just in sports, it is NOT  just an NBA Issue, racism and the evil it brings are still very much alive, not only in America, but all over the world.

Try to find a place without it.

LA has,  to be sure,  seen its fair share of racism exposed for the world to witness.

The riots in Watts in the 60’s,  the beating of and then the trial and its mess surrounding Rodney Allen King in 1991.

I can tell you that living in Simi Valley on the day that those policemen were found not guilty was terrifying.

I had to show my ID to the Police standing on the off ramp that day just to get home.

The riots that followed were just another mess that we had to deal with.

But, somehow,  we survived and I can speak only for me on this, I have been in every part of Southern California over my 30 years there and never felt that racism was going to do us in.

It seemed to me like we saw the problem and reacted to it,  then resolved to try to get it  right, when it was exposed.

Yet, here we are, so many years after all of this and racism still unbelievably,  exists in so many parts of this country.

I have seen its ugly face and know it how it works.

My best friend lives in Mississippi and every time that I go to see her,  there it sadly is,  still alive and well.

Blacks there are still treated badly and are still living with this ugly word.

It is still in existence here in Florida, in Orlando several times recently, KKK propaganda has been put into plastic bags,  tied to a rock and thrown into yards in all black neighborhoods.

So, now what about this sad man who has been slapped down by the NBA Commissioner for the ugliness and evil that lives in his heart?

I do not know him, so I can only speak to what is in the Press.

He has made generous donations to many groups all over LA for years, some now want to,  or have already, given his money back.

His reputation in LA is split.

Some hate him, some don’t.

But if you take his money, can you still call him names?

A bit two-faced I think?

But this much I do know.

LA is not a place where this will EVER be allowed to exist without a response to this kind of evil.

And now that the Commissioner has responded with his punishment, perhaps it may be time for all of us to look into our own hearts and say,   ” Am I a racist? “

” Do I secretly harbor ill  feelings toward those of color?”

If the answer on any level is yes, perhaps this nightmare could be cathartic for us all.

Maybe the surfacing of all of this hate of color,  could help us to be more tolerant,  to openly accept and care for each other, with no regard for color or race.

Hating,  takes so much energy, so much more than acceptance, loving and kindness.

We Humans, as a species,  have been here long enough to have settled this already.

So, why haven’t we?

The answers are not on TV,  in the News, in a book,  or even in our Religious facilities, the answers are in our hearts.

So I will only ask this in conclusion, what is in our hearts?