I’m not a wild horse (in case you were wondering), but I advocate strongly for the humane treatment and protection of these beautiful animals. Does that make me part horse? No? I’m also against deforestation and want legislation passed that protects endangered forests from industrial logging. Does that make me an evergreen tree? No? Well, why is it when I advocate for gay marriage (or simply “marriage” as I like to call it) some people seem to think this makes me part gay or at the very least have some latent, confused, closeted identity issues lurking under my stance?

I may not be gay, people. BUT I am a huge fan of human rights and equality, one of the many being the right for someone to be able to marry whoever the hell they want to. This is a human right that, I feel, should include every human on the planet. It is not a heterosexual right that applies only to a specific pie slice of the population.

Just as strongly as I feel about human rights, I am also invested in spreading the idea of humane rights. Human rights are the legal liberties afforded to members of our society. Humane rights are the rights to express humanity, compassion, and empathy for others unclouded by varying backgrounds.

On the human rights side I want it to be possible for anyone to be able to get a legal certificate that binds them to any other person they choose (that is of age, duh).

On the humane rights side I want someone to have the ability to express their compassion, love and empathy for another without restriction. It seems like a simple concept, right? Love is love no matter who you are, but so many (TOO many) have a problem and are hell-bent on putting restrictions on what defines love — which is sooo contradictory to the definition of the word that I don’t even know how to wrap my head around that.

The funny part is that sometimes when the subject of equal rights comes up and I speak my piece, people assume I have an ulterior motive. What, do you think I’ve been pretending to be straight all these years, safely flying under the radar until my chance appears to be out and proud without any legal ramifications? If that’s true then whenever I advocate for wild horse protection that means that some part of me wishes I were a wild horse too? Or perhaps I’ve been hiding my beastly side all these years?  See how silly that sounds?   

Advocating for animal rights doesn’t bring up any imaginary red flags, but for some reason when you advocate for human rights, all of a sudden something weird is going on. How narrow of a point of view!

Let me be clear here and now: I just want people, all people, to be happy and have the same rights no matter who they are. Shouldn’t everyone want that?