Melissa Ethridge is "Fired up" & so is Melissa Petersen

I saw an advertisement for tomorrow's Oprah show. Apparently the topic of discussion will be the controversy over California's Prop 8. The teaser for the show said "Melissa Ethridge is Fired Up!" Well, guess what! This Melissa is fired up too! So I wanted to write about my thoughts on Prop 8 and put my two cents out there.

I live in Utah where Prop 8 has gotten a lot of attention mostly due to the fact that it's the Mormon capital of the world, but when I was in California 2 weeks ago it completely opened my eyes. I happened to be in the Palm Springs area which is an area with a high population of homosexuals and it happened to be the weekend before election day. Over the past several months I had heard reports from my dad about all the work their stake has been doing to help the proposition pass but I never really understood what was being done and the opposition that was facing those supporting Prop 8. But by actually being in California, I got to see the full on "war" first hand.

First of all the news and media are COMPLETELY slanted. The newspaper in that area is literally plastered from front to back with the topic of Prop 8, and the articles supporting the No vote out number the Yes vote articles 5 to 1. Accusations of hate, prejudice, and intolerance are headlines. It's disturbing!

The Saturday before election Tuesday the stake in the area stood on street corners around the valley. Each ward took a street corner and held "Yes on 8" signs. My sister joined her singles ward and stood on one of the busiest street corners in the city and peacefully demonstrated her beliefs about the institution of marriage. On the other side of the valley I ran an errand to the bank where I encountered my first Prop 8 "situation". I was going about my business with a teller when out of nowhere a woman storms in the bank and approaches the counter next to me. In a booming voice, loud enough for the entire bank to hear, this woman proceeds to announce to the teller helping her (and everyone else within 50 feet) that there was these "#%*# protesters" outside. She went on to yell about how these "protesters" were so "#%*# prejudice and hateful". As I was listening to this I could feel the anger inside of me start to bubble up. I was arguing back in forth inside myself about whether or not I should just ignore this very loud, opinionated woman or if I should say something. For a while, as she ranted and raved about the "Horrible gay haters" who were "picketing" outside, I just held my peace. Until she made the comment "someone should go hit those #%*# prejudiced picketers with a car!" That's when my blood started to boil and I said, as politely as I could, "ma'am, they aren't picketers" to which she completely ignored and continued her crusade. When I just couldn't handle her filthy lies and accusations any more I again politely said "ma'am, they don't hate anyone and they aren't picketing. They are simply using their right to freedom of speech to express their opinions". Again, I was ignored. I wanted to tell her that my sister was one of those people she wished would get hit by a car. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity this woman finished her business at the bank and stormed off but not before ending her little speech with a few more inaccurate, intolerant and hateful words. After the woman left, all the bank employees were all up in arms. Not because they disagreed with the woman but they actually agreed with her. I left the bank feeling so completely disgusted.

Another incident: The evening before election day my sister and some members of her ward headed over to a street corner to hold up signs. My sister accidentally parked on the "Wrong" side of the street. It happened to be a street corner where some folks were supporting the NO side of things. So unfortunately Charity had to walk past this small group in order to cross the street. As she was standing there waiting for the street light to change she was shoved by one of the girls. This girl proceeded to scream at Charity and tell her she had no right to be on "their" side of the street and pushed her again in an attempt to block her from crossing the street. I can imagine it was probably a scary situation for Charity but instead of responding in a angry way Charity responded in a mature and Christ-like manner. She told the girl "Hey, I'm just trying to cross the street. I think it's awesome what you guys are doing. I'm proud of you guys for getting out here to voice your opinion and stand up for what you believe in and I just want to cross the street and do the same." After Charity's remarks the girl and her friends calmed down and allowed Charity to cross the street.

I guess this is my point. We, the supporters of Prop 8, have been accused over and over again of being "haters" and of being intolerant, yet from what I've seen it's those opposed to Prop 8 that have been the unkind, intolerant and the hateful ones. I've seen the "Yes on Prop 8" signs torn down and vandalized. My sister was pretty much assaulted simply trying to cross a street. The woman in the bank wanted the people holding signs run down by a car, my mom was flipped off for having a "yes on 8" bumper sticker on her car, and the supporters of prop 8 who were peacefully showing their support by holding signs had threats yelled at them and objects thrown at them from people driving by. So tell me...who are the intolerant ones?

One of the things that angers me most about this whole thing is having people tell me (and anyone else that believes the same way I do) that I'm a "hater". I do not hate gay people. I do not believe they should have their rights taken away, I simply believe that marriage between a man and a woman has been ordained by God and is sacred and therefore should be defined as between a man and a woman. My belief and opinion does not involve hate at all. We are all children of God and he loves us all. Hate and prejudice are not in the picture.

It is so scary to see how Satan has gotten a hold of the hearts of so many. The aftermath has been so crazy with people rallying around California Temples, boycotting businesses, and filing lawsuits to invalidate the proposition. It scares me to see what this world will be like when my daughter is an adult. Frightening!

I am SO proud of the folks in California who have donated their time, money, and resources to help a cause to protect the institution of marriage. I am so proud of my sister who has gotten so involved and done so much for this proposition. She has made phone calls, been harassed, stood on street corners, donated money, gone to rallies put on by other faiths and she even carved her Halloween pumpkin to show her support (she did such an awesome job with the pumpkin!). She is a true leader...standing up for her beliefs even in the face of adversity. I admire her ambition, dedication and example!

I just pray that the decision made by the people of California (twice now) will stand, even against all of the opposition, and that the prayers and hard work of those supporting this worthy and righteous cause will see fruition.