During a random chat with some of my classmates, the subject of the upcoming elections eventually surfaced. When someone inquired as to who I would be voting for, I truthfully replied, "I don't really like Kerry, but I hate Bush, so I guess I'll go with the lesser of two evils."* When asked why I dislike him so passionately, I gave a brief spiel on his atrocious record on gay rights, women's rights, the environment, etcetera. These were simply the first issues that came to mind, and, as I pointed out to my classmate, I could go on at some length about why I disagree with his policies.
* I hate doing this, I really do. It makes me feel incredibly dirty. Actually, politics in general make me feel as though I've jumped into a stinky, slimy swamp. Blech.
"Well," he replied, "you shouldn't let minor social issues sway your vote."
As a white, heterosexual male, I'm sure that, to him, these are fairly minor issues. After all, it doesn't affect him in any way, shape or form if GLBT people are discriminated against on a regular basis. He isn't the one who has to worry about getting fired from his job or put out on the street by his landlord if he reveals his sexual orientation. And it doubtless matters very little that I (and many other women) had to fight my insurance company in order to get them to cover my birth control pills, despite the fact that I am on them for purely medical purposes. Never mind that most companies will cover Viagra, which has no medical use, at the drop of a hat. He will never have to worry about getting pregnant, and so Bush's promises to instate a Pro-Life** judge to the Supreme Court and attempt to make abortion illegal again don't affect him in the same way.
** When I use the term Pro-Life, I am referring to people who wish to outlaw abortion. Simply saying, "I don't like abortion, and I would never get one. However, I think that women should have access to the proceedure," does not make one Pro-Life. That belief is actually Pro-Choice. Anti-abortion advocates have attatched a stigma to the term Pro-Choice by equating it with being Pro-Abortion. Much like the phrase "activist judges" being thrown around in the same sex marriage debate, this term is really meaninless and is used as propaganda to drive people towards their side. But that's a rant for another time.
I'm sorry, but these are not "minor social issues" to me. They directly affect my life, and the lives of those around me. How am I supposed to contribute to society if I keep getting fired because of my sexual orientation? (No, it hasn't happened to me, but I'm also in the closet at work. And I do know people who have lost jobs because their supervisor found out that they were gay. Yes, it's legal to terminate someone because of their sexual orientation in Michigan.) How am I supposed to be a productive member of society when I have to live in fear, constantly lying about who I am?
It must be nice to be at the top.*** It must be nice to see civil rights as something so minor that it doesn't influence your view of a presidential candidate. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have to care about it so much.
*** I'm not saying that heterosexual, white males don't have problems in life. I'm not saying that they are never stereotyped or discriminated against because of what they are. However, it happens at a much lower rate, and when push comes to shove, they have the power. They've had it for centuries in this country. White priviledge, heterosexual priviledge and male priviledge all exist, even though most of us never notice it.
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if those are minor social issues, what are the major ones?
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