I am a Second Class Citizen

Yesterday morning I drove to one of the early voting polling station to exercise my rights and responsibilities as an American citizen. I chose the poll located at ArtServe, the public art gallery housed in the building that used to be Fort Lauderdale's main library when I was a kid. ArtServe's parking lot is not all that small, but cars were double-parked along the street, the barriers, in no-parking zones and even on the nice lawns of Holiday Park. I knew that the lines had been long on the weekend, but seeing that many people out on a weekday morning was heartening. As of yesterday, a million Floridians have voted. When you consider that only a quarter of that number took advantage in the last election, that's saying a lot.

In the queue, people were calm, courteous and patient. There were no arguments over the issues, no angry proclamations, no bitching about the wait. People either read their sample ballots, talked on cell phones or with their companions or silently read. Discussion between strangers was mostly limited to the merits of the art on display. The supervisor of elections office workers seemed to do everything they could to make the experience as painless as possible. They provided free water bottles for the thirsty and plenty of chairs for those whose feet were aching. They were courteous in answering questions or giving information, especially when it came time for people to turn off their cell phones. They made sure disabled and elderly voters were moved to the front of the line and provided chairs for them to sit in while they waited to take their turn at the special voting booth.

My wait from the back of the line to getting my ballot was just over two hours. I spent that time writing or reading on my handheld or pointing out some of the more outrageous pieces on the wall with a nice couple standing behind me. The last third of the queue was along the wide open windows looking out on to Sunrise Boulevard. Two things struck me while I was along that stretch. The first was that the large marine dealership across the street, which had sold all manner of water toys from boats to rafts and had been there for as long as I can remember, had gone out of business. I realized that I and everyone else patiently waiting in that line were there mainly because we can no longer afford the recreation equipment they used to sell. With Florida so heavily dependent on our recreational activities for our public's income, the simple closing of a boat dealership is a big deal.

The second thing I noticed were two signs spiked into the lawn in front of the building. One said "Vote NO on 2!" The other read "Yes on 2! One man. One woman."

For those of you who don't know...proposed amendment 2 of the state's constitution reads: "In as much as a marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

The most interesting thing about this proposed change is that it not only effects same sex couples who want to get married, but heterosexual couples who do not want to get married. It would strike down all domestic partnerships and common law marriages. In Florida we have a lot of senior citizen couples who simply can't afford to get married. Amendment 2 would keep them from enjoying those few advantages their domestic partnership arrangement gives.

So as I stood there with lots of time on my hands I came to a very sobering realization. I am a second class citizen. A second class citizen, according to Wiki, is defined as: a person who is systematically discriminated against within a state or other political jurisdiction, despite their nominal status as a citizen or legal resident there.

Amendment 2 is just that. It is systematically discriminating against citizens and legal residents of the state of Florida. It means that I, and everyone else it will act against, are less than minorities, even less than those illegal aliens living in our state because they are protected by law against discrimination and are entitled to equal protection no matter their residency status.

By the time I had received my ballot and started to blacken in the little ovals, including a big NO on 2, I was angry but more determined than ever to exercise those rights which I am allowed and to never give up the fight until I am granted the same rights as everyone else. Whether or not amendment 2 passes and whether or not one day I end up along that wall in the final solution to shoving us back in the closet, I am not giving up.

Anyone who doesn't vote is a fool. They're throwing away the right to make a difference in this world. Most Americans don't realize just how precious our democracy is. I hope we don't allow those horrible narrow-minded politicians destroy it.

Get out and vote people.

--->Susan