Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Numbers


The boys and I walked down the street today in the little village near our house. We passed a guy who was asking for support to overturn Prop 8 (and if you're not a California resident or have been living under a rock, click here). He had his clipboard and his pen and an earnest, young face. I smiled kindly and told him that I supported the overturning of Prop 8 but that I didn't have any money that day to contribute. I thanked him for his work and we walked to the car.

"What's Prop 8, again?" Oliver asked, once we were in the car.

"Do you know, Henry?" I asked Henry. Henry just shrugged and said that he'd forgotten.

And so I explained to Oliver that men who loved men and women who loved women and wanted to get married to them weren't allowed to in California because of Prop 8. I told him that there were people in the state who believed it was morally wrong to love a person of the same sex in the same way that I loved their Dad. I told him that I thought it was not only a civil right to love whomever one chose and to marry whomever one chose but that it was also a human right and that I and Daddy both believed that. I told him that it doesn't matter whom you love and that I didn't understand why so many people would feel otherwise. I told him that I thought Prop 8 was wrong and that I supported taking it away because it denied equality and freedom to many people.

I finished up my mini speech and asked him, "Do you understand that?"

And he said, "Yeah. What is 16 + 16?"

And I said, "32."

And that was that.

5 comments:

  1. Ha! This could have been me with my kids, right down to the 16+16.

    I'm also passionate about this issue. I LOVE that Ruby says that her (girl)friend T. is going to be her partner when she grows up. When I ask "why T.?" she says "because we both want to have lots of babies."

    I want my kids to grow up believing it's ok to love and marry anyone. Here's to overturning Prop 8!

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  2. Gotta love the kids...they sure keep us humble! This was a great read at 5AM today...thanks!
    P.S. the word verification thing for comments is "boupsing"...this is very funny to me right now...thought i'd share...coffee's not in yet.

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  3. Thanks for the morning chuckle!!

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  4. LOL! Hmmm, perhaps 16 plus 16 is like some secret code for something.... Isnt it funny how when you think kids are listening to you they're just on to the next thing? like, did it sink in? but then, you hear them weeks later saying whatever it is you said, and you realize "ah, they WERE listening..." :)
    and BTW - totally WITH you on your opinion! And refreshing to hear it since where i live in NJ happens to be some kind of Bible Belt pocket of the Garden State where opnions are... um... quite different than mine :)

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  5. Beautifully said, Elizabeth! And isn't it amazing the way kids' minds work?? :-)

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