Gay Marriage- A Civil Problem Too

Gay marriage is a sensitive topic to many people. Though people are more accepting towards gay couples the idea of them getting married is a completely different issue. Some believe that marriage is a sacred ceremony that should be kept traditional as man and woman while others believe that gay couples deserve equal rights. In a 2012 poll 48% of Americans oppose gay marriage. Though that number sounds pretty good there are still 39 states that ban same-sex marriage.

Same sex marriage isn’t just a gay rights issue; it’s also a civil rights problem going back to the constitution. The constitution was created to achieve equality such that a rich person won’t get more votes than someone who makes $30,000 a year, a Hispanic and Caucasian that committed the same crime would receive the same punishment, Christianity and Judaism will be treated the same, etc. However same sex couples are left out of the loop. They are denied hundred of constitutional rights given to married heterosexual couples. They are unable to make decisions about their partner’s life in a medical emergency, denied social security benefits, and can’t file taxes together and so on. According to the New York Times the lifetime cost of being in a long term gay relationship versus a married relationship can go as high as $467,526. In no way is that equal or just. 

America prides itself on being a country of freedom and equality, but that is evidently not true.  While it’s understandable for American’s to want to uphold traditional marriage there are also many pros to legalizing same sex marriage. It would boast the economy, promote good morals like acceptance and tolerance, and encourage family values as well. It’s time for gay couples to receive their own emancipation proclamation.  

Love and Marriage: As Defined By Gender

Remember that guy on the news? The one who was beaten as he stood up for the right to be able to marry someone of the same gender—yes, I am talking about gay marriage. Well maybe that story just flew by your head, or maybe you thought that he deserved it; I mean he is gay.

Homosexuals are abnormal. Homosexuals aren’t welcomed.  The Bible taught us that homosexuality is a sin; that you’ll go to hell; that it’s wrong. But wasn’t God all about love? Well none of that matters because you’re a normal, sexually attracted to the opposite gender person. But then your friend comes out; they’re gay. She doesn’t find that blonde, blue-eyed football player cute and he doesn’t think that brunette c cup cheerleader is sexy. Your friend needs you. Your son or daughter is looking to you for help. That person is praying for mercy. The shopping trips to the mall, the break ups she helped you through, the time she stood up for you, are they all meaningless now that she’s a lesbian? Does the bonding over games, the time he backed you up in a fight, the shenanigans you both pulled, and the scolding received afterward disappear because he’s gay? Is your daughter/son any different from when you raised him/her as a little child? No. That person is the same. Are you going to be the friend that denies any relation because you’re afraid of being unpopular or that you’ll become gay—I mean everyone knows that gay is a very contagious disease? Or will you be a true friend that says ‘who cares’ to the fact that they’re gay. You don’t. Will you be the parent that throws their own child away because of their sexual preference? Or will you choose to love them as they are?

This is America, the land of freedom. But how can America call itself America when its people don’t even have the freedom to love regardless of gender without beimg discriminated against? It can’t.

Sentence Blog

     "As it turns out, the mere fact of having a unit to myself makes me an aristocrat within the Blue Haven community. The other long-term residents, whom I encounter at the communal laundry shed, are blue-collar people with uniforms and overalls to wash, and generally quiet at night. Mostly they are couples with children, much like the white working-class people occasionally glimpsed on sitcoms, only unlike their TV counterparts, m y neighbors are crowded three or four into an efficiency, or at most a one-bedroom, apartment. One young guy asks which unit I'm in and then tells me he used to live in tat very same one himself--along with two friends. A middle-aged woman with a three-year-old granddaughter in tow tells me, in a comforting tone, that it is always hard at the beginning, living in a motel, especially if you're used to a house, but you adjust after a while, you put it out of your mind. She, for example, has been at the Blue Haven for eleven years now. "
 Credits to Barbara Ehrenreich from  Nickel and Dimed (70)

     According to society's rules, a male must not be attracted to another male and a female must not be attracted to another female. Majority of so-called Christians, who are constantly at the church praying nonstop, say evil-doers must be gays and bisexuals, therefore they deserve no rights. But homosexuals are just like us, those statements from the bible-loving homophones have no actual evidence, we have nothing to fear, the main difference being that homosexuals prefer the same gender, they pose no world-ending, threats. We shouldn't be denying the right to love or marriage when the ones who try to protect it abuse it as well—consider all the divorces. As freedom-loving American citizens the I-hate-gays doesn't suit the American values, in fact it’s contradictory, America believes in equal rights is false, when in reality, anything is that different from the norm, is just another hindrance to society, a crime that we are guilty of. Discrimination, the reason, why America will never be what be what it stands for.

Note: I have nothing against Christians expect for the hard-core ones who believe that eradicating "sinners" is completely acceptable. 
 

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Just Stop It, Please--I Can Feel the Stupidity

Just some social changes I would like to see in my life time to know that the world is moving forwards, not backwards. 

School/CGS

• Get rid of the 10/10 rule. Taking a bathroom break is more of a distraction in the middle of class when content is being taught. 
• Crowded hallways- it's hard to get from one side of the building to another in 4 short minutes when the hall is flooded with people
• Use funding to provide laptops for students in CGS. We can save a lot more paper and ink if everything was done digitally. 
• Stop posting flyers everywhere. Nobody looks at them and they're just going to get thrown out. 
• Don't give homework that doesn't benefit students. More papers for the teachers to grade and more time it takes away from students. Besides you're not the only teacher who gives out work!

National

• Make gay marriage legal in states. Spread the love!
• Allow incestuous marriages between consenting adults 
• Lower the drinking age 
• Legalize euthanasia 
• Insanity and mental disorders shouldn't be an excuse to not go to jail for a crime 

Political/Govt

• Oil is important, but if you're going to middle east or Africa try to do some good, not create more problems or hatred towards America. 
• (On going to war over religion:) "You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend." -- Rich Jeni

Media

• Stop the reality shows, it's not reality.
• Stop paying reality show actors/actresses so much money. Snooki doesn't need $150,000 every show to convince the youth that the Jersey Shore life is the only life. 
• More educational shows
• Stop publishing celebrity gossip in magazines. No more nonsense
• Stop the fast food commercials. Smoking is bad enough. We don't need to add obesity. 
• Pass a laws preventing ridiculously gory, snuff like films from being produce. It's bad 
• When celebrities get caught with drugs send them to jail like the rest the society, not rehab so they can gain more publicity
• No more foam puppets in kids show. They scare me. (Just search "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" on YouTube) 

Online

• Censor the web more. Kids and psychopaths can easily get access to many disturbing files, images, videos are various other things online. 
• TAKE DOWN MOTHERLESS
• Make the internet less scary so i don't feel like I'm going to have a heart attack whenever i click on a link

SWAG & YOLO

• Stop using the word swag. What is that suppose to even mean?! There's hell of a lot more adjectives in the English language
• You cannot trade your education so no more "Who needs school when you got swag?" photos. 
• "Personality gets nothing, swag gets everything" just no
• YOLO yes, i dont know that i only live once. thanks for reminding constantly that i'm constantly getting closer and closer to death. shall we create a YODO too? You only die once. 

My Contradictory Name

Greetings to my fellow readers!

 I will be straightforward and tell you that I was not named after some fancy politician or well known celebrity. The first part Karen is Danish word for Katherine which means pure in Greek. But my friends would all agree that I am far from pure. I see the world in a dim light for all its violence and corruption. And honestly, I question whether they’ll be taken down and replace with someone of not-so-evil intentions.

Now my surname is somewhat unique in several ways. One being that my dad actually misspelled the last name on several forms changing it from Cheung to Zheung. A one letter mistake, no big deal except that it puts me at the end of attendance list instead of the beginning.  The other feature making it somewhat unique is that you don’t often see another last name similar to Zheung at least in school and in my social circle. Why? Simple reason, Asians are minorities in this environment. There’s no China town in Connecticut and there most likely won’t be building one too. (Thank God for that.) But among the Chinese my surname is as common Smith and considering the huge population and the fact that there are only 100 surnames it’s not surprising to see Zheung as the third most common surname.

Having a Chinese surname obviously makes me Chinese and as a Chinese person what should my concerns be? Well for starters my obsessive love for Japan is not okay. It’s a sin! A taboo! So whenever an adult hears that I’m studying both Chinese and Japanese their immediate reaction is to go into a long story. “Remember all those thing they did to you in WWII?” I was not part of WWII, I wasn’t even born yet. I’ve even came across little elementary children who say “I hate the Japanese. They should die.” You’re just a kid! There’s no need for this amount of hate. Another issue, does being Chinese really mean I have to excel in every academic subject and be viewed as an over-achiever by my peers? Sorry to disappoint you, but I wasn’t raised in China nor do I live there so I would really appreciate if the “In China when I was your age…” stories would stop.

I’m certainly not pure or as girly as Karen suggests and neither am I as stereotypical and my last name hints. The on-going political grudge between China and Japan, stereotypes and racism that follows my name is very irksome. But a name is a name so I’ll just enjoy all the perks and pain that it brings me.