It IS About Equality: Rep. Maureen Walsh on Gay Marriage

Posted on February 13, 2012 by zoeweil

For my blog post today, I simply wanted to share a moving testimonial from Representative Maureen Walsh, testifying on the Washington state bill regarding gay marriage (which is to be signed into law today):


For a just world for all,

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

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Mushrooms, Monsters, Gay Marriage & MOGO: Fear of New Things

Posted on November 13, 2009 by zoeweil

A couple of summers ago a large mushroom grew on the path to the ocean by our house. My dog Ruby and I walk this path frequently, but she’s often prancing through the woods and not necessarily paying attention to everything on the actual path. On the particular day that this story takes place, the mushroom had grown rather enormous. Ruby was trotting along in front of me on our way back from the ocean when she saw it.

The monster.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Her fur stood on end and she crouched down. She barked at the mushroom. She shuffled backwards. She barked some more. She became paralyzed. Holding back my laughter, I urged her to come along beside me, but she wouldn ’t budge. She was terrified. After more urging, she inched forward, sniffed the air, but then quickly retreated and ran a circuitous route to avoid the path.

Ah, Ruby. She doesn’t much like new things appearing on her path.

How many of us do?

Last week I wrote on my blog about the sad defeat of marriage equality in my state of Maine. Most people don’t seem to like new things in their path, and gay marriage is still too new for many. It’s scary. It seems huge and dangerous like the mushroom in Ruby’s path. I was quite dejected when I wrote last week’s post, but I feel a little buoyed by some statistics I’ve read since last Wednesday. At the University of Maine, a state school whose student body is comprised primarily of Mainers, the vote was overwhelmingly (more than 80%) in favor of gay marriage rights and against repealing the marriage equality law passed by Maine’s legislature earlier this year. For young people, gay marriageisn’t so scary. It isn ’t so new. They have gay friends who, unlike previous generations, admit their sexual orientation. They have friends whose parents are the same gender. They’re just not afraid of two same-gender people making a life commitment to one another and having the same rights as heterosexuals. It’s no big deal. It’s fair and right.

I bet that if we had big mushrooms sprouting up on the path every day, Ruby wouldn’t be phased by them. She’d lose her fear. So, too, we lose our fear when we grow accustomed to things in our path.

The challenge is to hold our fear at bay when we confront what’s new; to keep our eyes and ears open and receptive to new ideas; to seek to understand and make determinations based on a commitment to do the most good and the least harm. Then perhaps we won’t bark so insistently, nor cower in the face of the unknown, but respond bravely and wisely instead.

~ Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm and Above All, Be Kind

Image courtesy of Sonneteer via Creative Commons.


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The Defeat of Marriage Equality in Maine Isn’t MOGO

Posted on November 4, 2009 by zoeweil

I woke up to very upsetting news. By a 53% to 47% margin, Maine voters repealed Maine’s new law, passed this year, that allows gays and lesbians to marry. I am so sad and embarrassed by my state. Many will be analyzing these results, pointing to the massive funding that the anti-marriage equality proponents poured into the campaign, discussing the misleading ads, assessing Maine’s demographics. But I want to look at this through the MOGO lens.

I have tried very hard to understand the perspective of those who oppose the right of gays and lesbians to marry, and the only way in which it makes sense to me is through a religious lens. If one believes that God condemns homosexuality then I suppose one would oppose gay marriage.

It’s funny that I should be posting this blog after several recent posts about faith and truth, including one about beliefs inhibiting critical thinking. This is a perfect (albeit, in my mind, tragic) example. If one’s belief in the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality is the only reason for opposing gay marriage, then one is likely to shut down any further consideration of the question and not even wrestle with other ideas and viewpoints.

I recently updated my Facebook profile. Under religion I wrote: “The MOGO Principle.” Although many might argue (and I would agree) that MOGO isn’t a religious precept, for me doing the most good and the least harm to people, animals, the environment, and myself is the guiding principle of my life. It is a practice not unlike many spiritual practices, but instead of being based on faith, it is based on critical and creative thinking and acting with integrity.

When I look at the question of marriage equality through a MOGO lens, it seems clear that what does the most good and least harm is allowing equal rights for those who happen to love and be committed to someone of the same sex as they. By sanctioning these unions legally, gays and lesbians do not have to worry that they will be excluded from hospitals and decision-making when their partner is ill; that upon one of their deaths, the other will be ensured the protections that come from legal marriages; that their children will be one step closer to inclusion rather than potential shame about their parents; that prejudice against gays and lesbians – and the concomitant violence and cruelty that often accompanies that prejudice – will be closer to being, if not eradicated, less tolerated. I could go on and on. This would all have created more good. Sadly, repealing the marriage equality law perpetuates harm that has been endured by gays and lesbians and their families for generations.

One final thought. I hope that those who use the Bible as a source of truth will watch the film For the Bible Tells Me So, which challenges the idea that Christianity should oppose gay rights based on the Bible.

~ Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm and Above All, Be Kind

Image courtesy of Bryan Bruchman via Creative Commons.


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Filed under: citizen activism, critical thinking, discrimination, human rights, MOGO (Most Good), politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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