On Nov. 3, 2009, the voters of the state of Maine were given the superfluous opportunity to essentially alter the lives of their neighbors.  Only months prior, the significant homosexual population of this state was deeply overjoyed as their general assembly upheld the promises of the Constitution and granted them the protection of full marriage equality.  With the extension of these rights to the gay population, no lives were systematically harmed or otherwise altered to accommodate these committed couples, and contrary to what the whimpers and lies of some seemed to suggest, this event did not catalyze the dissolving of the Earth’s hemisphere, the melting of the polar ice caps, or the immediate and spontaneous disembowelment of our nation’s newborn population.
Some seem to be confused.  Some are not aware what makes legitimate political dialogue.  In this nation of ours, we are lucky enough to live under a law that protects and defends its subjects.  If only these subjects too could extend themselves in the same manner.  In reality, however, these elites are not defective.  They do not breath by different means than the rest of us, nor do they bleed a different color.  No, in fact, they are perfectly able to complete the very same tasks as the rest of us.  They very much could extend themselves with the full integrity of the law.  But the real problem that we face today is that they will not.  They will not afford to others the same liberties, privileges, and opportunities that they expect for themselves.  Even as elementary as the concept is, they blatantly refuse to extend themselves so stubbornly that it almost mimics a physical incapability.
If our nation’s law was meant to fit into the mold of the subtle nuances of its citizens’ imaginations, our lives would look much different than they currently do.  In such a dystopia, any ambitious group of like-minded senators could overturn the very constitutional foundations on which this nation was designed, constructed, and inhabited.  There would be a permanent unwritten “theoretical” clause attached to each and every section, article, and amendment, and each would be deemed unfinished if not infinitely subject to the discretion of each and every representative.  Henceforth, our union would be no more representative of equal protection and opportunity than the most inimical of third world dictators.
Rather, this was a moment of coexistence, in which one people could pursue their own happiness alongside another people who may or may not choose to do so differently.  It is such an event that represents the very nature of this country: true opportunity to coexist.  However, It was the confused, the politically unaware and socially elite who prioritized the systematic toppling of the faithfully executed exercise of the legislative process and the well-warranted jollity of their fellow Mainers.  It was these agitators who consciously and gratuitously retarded the progress of their country, their state, and their community.  And for what?  For egos that spoke louder than decency.
It was a crowded rally, indeed, in which the leaders of the anti-gay marriage campaign exclaimed, “We believe marriage is between a man and a woman!” It shows true foolishness to suggest that simply exclaiming one’s mind is anything similar to legitimate, legislation-bound political dialogue.  The very fact the word “we” was used in the beginning completely strips the statement of any justifiability.  Had the preacher replaced the word “we” with some sort of well-reasoned explanation as to why two consenting adults, free of criminal charge should be systematically denied the right to enter into a civil contract (more of a “because of this undeniable fact that distinguishes gay people as blatantly and inarguably less deserving to enter into a civil contract), perhaps their so-far mewling excuse for an argument would gain an ounce of credence.
These rabble-rousers possessed all of the physical capability in the world to extend themselves – to put higher, over-arching principles of equal opportunity, equal protection, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and brotherhood, above their own fleeting whimpers, their own thoughts and traditions.  Yes, once again, it was not that they could not, but that they would not.  They would not rest before suppressing another man’s triumph of liberty, his glimpse of hope, his opportunity to coexist.
It is this truly malignant structure that will continue to cast shadows upon our Constitution, and upon its subjects.  Light will only begin to shine when today’s agitators become tomorrow’s brothers, when they gladly accept the simple opportunity to coexist.