Hi everyone!
Let me begin by saying Happy New Year! I hope the new year began great for everyone. I don’t know about anyone else, but I am planning on this year being my best year EVER!! My first order of business is FINDING A JOB!! I have been looking real hard, especially the last two months. Of course the last month or so was not a particularly great time to look for a job. A lot of people are not quitting jobs in the holiday season, so there are not a lot of people hiring. Or employers simply want to wait until after the holidays. The Wednesday before Christmas I went for an interview at a long term substance abuse treatment center for women as a substance abuse counselor, and I have the experience in residential living, one in a domestic violence shelter and one as a clinician in a different womens substance abuse treatment center plus with my BA I minored in WMS. They were looking specifically for people with experience working in the substance abuse field and also working with/training in womens issues. They are also looking for someone who is licensed in R.I. or can become licensed. I am not currently licensed, but I can become licensed. I would have to become licensed in Mass first, since that is where I live. So the problem is that they could interview someone that is already licensed. They told me they will be calling anyone they want to do a second interview with. They were hoping to finish the last of the first interviews last week. So hopefully I will be hearing from them regarding a second interview.
In the meantime, I have been sending resumes since Friday to every human service agency I can find in Mass or RI that has job openings that I am qualified for. Even sent out a couple of blind resumes, hoping that they have positions open. Hopefully with all the resumes I have sent out, something will come along. I have been sending resumes all over Mass, from Cape Cod to Boston and beyond. And have sent them to several different cities in RI. Since I don’t drive, commuting will be fun.
I am going to also go to the NB career center on Wednesday. All I can do is keep looking. I am feeling really positive tonight, I am not sure why. Not that I am not usually positive, I am. But tonight (this morning, really) I am feeling extra positive. Positivity is always a great feeling!One of the reasons that I am so intent on finding a job A.S.A.P. is because Shanna and I are moving next month. We are going to apply for an apartment complex in our city, and you have to have a certain income. Unemployment is not going to cut it. We really want one of those apartments. If we don’t get one for any reason, we will look elsewhere, but that is what we really want. So our finger’s are crossed.
There are a lot of reasons why we decided to move and this is the perfect time to do it. We plan on moving by February 28th, hopefully even by the middle of February. We shall see how it goes. We already have a lot packed, we are pretty much living with the bare essentials. lol We have gotten rid of a lot of stuff and are planning on starting with a lot of new stuff, including new furniture. We really needed new furniture, so now would be the perfect time. It is just kind of nerve wracking trying to make sure everything gets done. Once I find a job things will be a lot less stressful. Shanna and I are both really looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.DADT was repealed, which is a very important step in my opinion to equality. Our President also stated that his feelings towards marriage equality are evolving. Some polls are showing that a good portion of America is ready for marriage equality. I believe this needs to be done at the federal level, just like the issue of interracial marriage had to be decided at the federal level. This will take it out of the states hands and those states that have made anti-gay marriage laws will have to get rid of their discriminatory ideas and make everyone equal. That is what this is all about. All American’s deserve to be treated equally. What would happen if someone said to heterosexual folks Hey, sorry, but you can’t get married. A person does not know what it feels like to be discriminated against until they are themselves discriminated against. Can any heterosexual person know what it feels like to know that your own country, not any country, but the U.S. of A does not think you are equal to your the majority of people in the country? Because that is what is being said when people say we do not deserve to have marriage rights. My wife and I are lucky. We live in Massachusetts so we are legally married, at least in our state. But our country still does not think we are good enough to be married.
A lot of people who are against marriage equality say that homosexual’s being married will ruin the institution of marriage. I guess they are not aware of the divorce rate among heterosexual people. I hate to say this, but straight people have already ruined the institution of marriage. How can we possibly make it worse than what it is? My wife and I have been together 10 years this year. On June 15th, actually. We have been married for four years this year. On August 18th. We don’t drink, we don’t do drugs, we don’t go out clubbing. We are homebodies. We do everything that any other couple does. The only difference is that we are two woman. People are focused on sex and not the commitment that two gay people can share. Personally, I don’t care about any one elses sex life. Gay, straight, bi, trans, I simply don’t care to know about anyone’s sex life. So why do people care about my sex life? Let’s get one thing straight. The problem that people have with gay people is sex. Pure and simple. Anyone saying differently is lying. Possibly even lying to themselves, but lying nonetheless. Why don’t we just leave sex out of it and think about the fact that love is love. People should be able to find love with whomever they choose, as long as both people are adults.
The funniest excuse I have heard against marriage equality is “if we let gay people get married, where will it stop? Next people will be wanting to marry their animals.” As a human being I find it very amusing that people would be concerned about such a thing. Animals? Really? I love our dog to death, but I would never want to marry him. As someone with a degree in Psychology, I worry about people with thoughts like that. Those are some scary people, in my opinion. The fact that anyone would even come up with such a sick idea is alarming. What makes a person think that way? At the very least it is a tremendous amount of hate and at the very most some severe mental illness. It’s a fact that there are some very sick people (hopefully very few) who enjoy sex with animals, but does anyone really think they would admit to that? Better yet that they would ask for marital rights? That thinking is simply ludicrous.
The problem is that if people have any kind of hate in their heart (and make no mistake, homophobia is a form of hate, just as racism is) will come up with any excuse to further their agenda. Do we gay people have an agenda? Hell Yes!! We want to be treated EQUALLY. What is so wrong with that? Will we do anything to further it or go to any length to further our agenda? I hope we would not go to the lengths of some people who are against marriage equality. I know I wouldn’t. Why should we have to? We only want what is right: simply what everyone else has. We don’t want extra rights. We only want the same rights. We want the rights we deserve. Either no one can get married or everyone can, real simple. Because there is not one single heterosexual couple better than Shanna and I. Nor are we better than any heterosexual couple. We are equal to any heterosexual couple.
Ok, that’s it for me tonight! Wait one more thing…My fave reason that I have heard for gay marriage: “Why shouldn’t they (gays) be allowed to be as miserable as the rest of us (straights)?” LOVE THAT! lol
Have a great night (day) everyone!
Hugs and kisses!
Janet Lee Smith
Note: Thanks to my good friend Ben I changed this piece to what I wanted it to say in the first place, marriage equality, not gay marriage. I was conflicted when I wrote it because I do not feel calling it gay marriage is productive. I feel it separates us from our heterosexual counterparts, which is not what we want to do.
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