July 11, 2012
Don’t Let the Political Parties Get You Down
Courtesy of Emily Mills (Lost Albatross on flickr)
Yesterday, Freedom to Marry launched a new campaign called Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry in an effort to make the issue of marriage equality less of a partisan issue than it currently seems. The members of the group will do exactly as it sounds–they will be young conservatives encouraging other conservatives to stand up for marriage equality.
“The center of political gravity has shifted for good. The freedom to marry is fast becoming a bipartisan value embraced by all Americans who believe that love and commitment deserve support and protection.”
~Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director of Freedom to Marry
In a time when partisan campaign commercials have overtaken our televisions in preparation for the upcoming elections, I think this is incredibly inspiring. What people tend to forget when it comes to election time is that so many issues are not black-and-white (or red-and-blue). Or that most people don’t agree 100% with the things that their claimed political party supposedly believes in. There are pro-life liberals. There are pro-marriage-equality conservatives.
The only way we’ll get anything accomplished is if we actually work together. We can’t have all partisan, all the time.
Think of the houses of Hogwarts for a moment. In theory, every Gryffindor needs to be courageous, every Slytherin needs to be cunning, every Ravenclaw needs to be intelligent, and every Hufflepuff needs to be friendly. But we all know that’s not true. Look at Neville for a moment–sorted into Gryffindor, but he had to grow into his courage.
In fact, many of us tend to relate to more than one house. In the HPA staff alone, I know we have many SlytherPuffs and GryffinClaws. I have two house scarves hanging on my bedroom wall at this very moment. Nothing is completely black-and-white and it’s impossible for one person to fall entirely into a single group when it comes to views or values. We’re all too different.
Perhaps if we were all clones, we could do that.
We’re not clones.
That’s the most important thing that Freedom to Marry is doing with this effort, in my opinion. It’s not just about getting more people into the fight for marriage equality. It’s not just about getting people to speak out more or to go to Pride Parades or to rally in front of Capitol Hill. It’s not just about the numbers or the votes or the passing of the amendments. All of those things are good, of course, and will strengthen the fight, but it’s not what this should all be about.
It’s about getting people to realize that everything doesn’t have to be on one party line or another. It’s okay to cross party lines and it’s okay to speak out for what you believe in, no matter what you identify as.
This is an important thing to remember as we go into this election season. We’re going to all get slammed with claims and accusations from both sides of the aisle. The conservatives will shout one thing, the liberals will shout another. The he-said-she-said will get thrown around like a tennis match. But at the end of the day, the only voice that matters is yours. You have to be the one to speak out for what you believe, regardless of anything else. Tune out the shouts from the different sides and do your own research. Look into everything as best you can, putting political parties aside.
Marriage equality, abortion…all those hot button issues we have going on right now. They shouldn’t belong on just one side or another. No issue should.
So try not to let the Muggles (or political parties) get you down this election season. Fight for what YOU believe, make the difference YOU want to see, and be happy with that.
