I think it's time I came out of the closet....

Not as a homosexual, but as a Mormon who lives and breathes the gospel but who thinks that rights are rights and my religious agenda shouldn't interfere with other people's lives. I believe in a separation of church and state and I like that my church and my government are their own entities. If anything, it gives the gospel more meaning in my life. Not everyone has the religious beliefs and upbringing that I have so why should I expect them all to adhere to the same lifestyle? If I expect people to let me practice my religion, why shouldn't they expect the same with their own practices?

There it is.

Today, half of my friends changed their Facebook profiles to the equality symbol. I would have done the same except for fear of stirring up controversy and unneeded contention in such a public arena. Maybe because I'm also a coward. I have too many people on my Facebook with differing views and I want to respect them all because they each have good reasons for their stances.

But I did want to say something and I think that as I have all of two people reading this blog, this might be the safest place to vent.

I could go on and on but I'll try to keep this brief:

I support gay marriage.

If you don't like it, don't have one.

It's not going to make your kids gay. Open-minded, maybe. And heaven forbid that happens.

Marriage is a sacred thing (and for me, it's eternal versus the earthbound marriage that's stirring up so much controversy) and I can't deny another person that privilege if it's what they want. It means sharing something with the person you love most. And if you truly care about that person, you should be allowed to be considered that person's family. It doesn't make marriage any less meaningful to me. I've seen more heterosexuals take light of marriage than homosexuals, in all honesty. It doesn't matter which way they swing. People are people and there are douchebags in every subculture.

Kids with gay parents don't typically care that they don't have a "mother" and a "father" (as far as I know). They have parents and I don't imagine they love them any less. Gender is not an issue. My friends who have gay parents are just as well-rounded as I am. A man and a woman can still be crappy parents just as a homosexual couple can (or not).

It's not going to lead to people marrying/having sex with goats. I'm pretty sure that stands under non-consensual.

One day, this issue is going to fall in line with women's suffrage and  the civil rights movement. It's just bound to happen and we can't fight it. The fact that so many Christians are is making us very unpopular. Not that that should be an issue but it doesn't help our case when we complain about being persecuted and then go on to persecute others (not that all Christians are doing this).

If I have kids someday and one of them is gay, I don't want him or her to be afraid to be honest about themself with me or  with society. I'm not very open about my views unless people ask because I know a lot of people won't accept it and it sucks. I don't want to put other people through that.

When my roommate holds hands with his boyfriend in public, it's not a statement intended to offend anyone. It's a simple gesture of affection and should be left at that. I'm not trying to offend homosexuals by holding hands with a guy in public.

Shoving my religion down other people's throats, when they don't want to hear it, isn't going to convert anyone to my views.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a social issue and my religion has nothing to do with it. I don't consume alcohol but we saw how the prohibition went down. We know making it illegal isn't going to make it go away.

It doesn't affect me. My friends having same-sex relationships doesn't mean I'm going to and it doesn't mean that Mormon temples are going to have to allow same-sex marriages. It's a private institution. And people have to be temple-worthy for it anyway.

Look at Canada... it's been legalized for years and their society is still standing. As Pierre Trudeau put it: "The government has no business in the bedrooms of Canadians"

Most of my friends right now are part of the LGBTQ community. And they're good people. My roommates are some of the most caring and pure-hearted people I know and yet they're met with so much hate, ignorance, and opposition over something that, as far as they're concerned, they can't control.

I believe in free love. Not in the sense of having sex with multiple partners but in the sense that everyone deserves my love and acceptance. As my church says: Love one another. Everything else is between that person and God. Live and let live.

Besides, if we keep denying gay marriage....

There, I got it off my chest. I'm sure there are great counter-arguments to most of what I said, which is why I don't try to stir up debates on Facebook. I could argue back and forth but it's not going to accomplish anything because people have their views for a reason. I probably know most of the arguments too. These are still my views and I'm sticking to them. I may not be very educated or politically involved but I can still think for myself. It doesn't make me a radical liberal, I'd just like to think it makes me a decent person with a little common sense.

Sorry, that wasn't as brief as I thought it would be. Here are some thoughts on love and commitment:

Sincerely,
Whit
(and I hope there are others who feel the same, even if, like me, they lack the courage to say)

As a side note: I really appreciate that my church has been reaching out with statements like this that clarify our stance: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-mormon-responds-to-human-rights-campaign-petition-same-sex-attraction

Here's a story about a whiny little brat who doesn't like birthdays!

Birthdays are really controversial for me. I love them, I hate them, I sometimes wish we could just pretend they don't happen.....

I wish I could pinpoint what it is that gets me so bugged around my birthday.

 It could stem from that one birthday party when my parents took me and all my tomboyish friends to a hair salon to get makeup and curly updos. After which, one of those friends told me that she didn't want to be friends anymore because I was too girly (I remember wanting to go horseback riding or to the fun center but for some reason neither of those happened, either it was a money thing or Mom had a girly agenda....hm....).

Or it could be that I don't like the attention. Or making other people feel obligated to celebrate me. Or just getting older and not feeling like I've accomplished much in general. I don't know, really.

Either way, I get all moody around bday time every year. It starts with getting slightly excited a month before and thinking maybe I'll actually plan something fun. Then the closer I get, the less zeal I have for even acknowledging it. Then I eventually get to the day and just decide to buy myself a congratulatory smoothie and go about my day as normal.

Anyway, this year was no different. I called my sister a month before and told her she should come down and we could go out and have fun on my bday. A week later I took it back but she was already set on coming (I didn't realize at the time but she had already contacted some of my friends to surprise me at dinner).

I thought about going to the Mummy exhibit that's in town but it was too expensive and people were busy so it kind of fell through. I finally settled on just hanging out with Hay and going out to dinner with whoever was available that day.

My day actually started really well. I woke up to this incredibly crappy weather and a barrage of text messages (I didn't even check my facebook until way later that night because it's too overwhelming, but the wall posts were appreciated nonetheless!):

 (First day of Spring gloriousness!)

Ate a cliff bar and broke in these bad boys (thanks Mom and Dad!) with a nice run around my neighborhood:

I even got to race my good buddy, the mastiff across the street. He even stood at the ready until I ran past. I may have ran a few laps past his fence since he was so excited to race with me. And my Iphone is magical and always knows what songs to play. It was perfect.

I skipped Spanish class (Ay, no bueno!!) and lounged around the house watching some depressing biographical dramas from the punk-rock era with my roomies. I even gathered up the energy to try curling my hair while my roomies were out:

(Oh-em-gee, shameless selfie!)

At some point during this frustration, my roomies came in and yelled my name. They got a really crouchy response and then I threw open the door only to see them holding a box of my favorite vegan cupcakes. They sang Happy Birthday to me and I felt like a jerk. I may have devoured those cupcakes four times over. My roomies are awesome and they know me too well.

Then I pounded out some of my screenplay before Haley arrived. We went to Gateway and strolled through the Urban Art Gallery there and Haley bought me some prints for my wall (despite my objections to her spending money on me >:( ) < angry Jabba the Hutt face!

and we discovered a new Blickenstaff's had opened there and probably spent an absurd amount of time playing with all the toys:

(I'm the birfday princess and Harey is my gallant knight!)

We even found Bueno bars, which I haven't seen since Spain:

Then we got Rose Lemonade at Tony Caputo's and met up with Megs, Nick, Brady Kummer, and Cho at my house and drove to the Himalayan Kitchen for dinner. Devynne met us there as well. It was delicious and I was in heaven. The server was pretty funny too and nice enough to take an awkward photo of us with the aftermath:

(Cell-phone tower. So embarrassing....)

All in all it was a surprisingly great birthday and I actually felt pretty special. Gotta thank Hays for making it happen! I kind of blew the surprise by inviting everyone to dinner but they all conveniently had work off.... sneaky, sneaky. So that was surprise enough ;) Maybe I can get over this annual birthday crisis I seem to have.

(And to conclude...here is Cho's depiction of Kummer as a zombie. She claims the app was glitchy...I claim operator error. We had some fun goofing around after dinner and annihilated what was left of my cupcakes.)

And God said "let there be mornings" and he laughed and laughed

Dear girl walking around a windy campus in a very ruffly mini-skirt,
My condolences for that poor life decision you made this morning. You seemed very uncomfortable having your butt cheeks exposed like that. It was a good idea, in theory.... Oh wait, no it wasn't.

But then I can't judge people based on the drowsy choices they make in the morning. Personally, I thought it would be fun to dance like an idiot while drying my hair and nearly knocked myself out with the hair-dryer. This is why mornings are the worst idea ever.

Dear God,
Please make it so mornings do not exist.

And God said...

This is what it's like here:

"Spaghetti-O's? Looks like someone's having poverty for dinner!"

"I've had these same earrings in for like 3 days...."
"For 3 days?"
"Yeah, I've slept with them, showered with them..."
"So, like, you're going steady?"

"Who bought this 7-11 toilet paper? Those opposed to chaffing say 'aye'!"

"I bought Ho-Hos!"
"I'm not gonna say it...."
"What? Were you going to say it's a reflection of what I am?"
"This is why I love you."
"Want a ho-ho, ho-ho?"

"You should tell your mom you're not feeling well again so she'll send us more candy."

Me - "I hate wearing dresses and heels."
Nick - "Oh, me too."
(this was followed by a long moment of me trying to figure out if he was being serious. He was.)

"What's with this welfare candy? Are we trying to repel trick-or-treaters?"

"Your food is what my food eats."
"Are you saying you're going to eat me?"
 - regarding vegetarianism

"Nick, this yogurt expired a while ago. Do you think it smells bad?"
"I'm not going to smell your yogurt."
"Nick, smell my yogurt!"
(later, while eating the yogurt)
Me - "Why am I still single?"

"One of your people stopped by." - regarding my home teacher

"Oliver, come out of the closet, sweetie, I won't look at you any differently!" - regarding Nick's cat

I probably think we're funnier than we actually are....