The Personal Essay and the Writing Process

Pondering a topic to write about for the personal essay, I was immediately struck with (or by) an idea. Last Friday morning I was at my computer going through my morning routine of email, Facebook, and weather. I then went to the MSNBC website, feeling confident enough in my to-do list, social interactions, and the forecast for that day that I could handle whatever horrific events were occurring in the world concurrently. The main blurb at the top of the page was something predictably disheartening about the economy and I quickly scrolled down. When I came across the text-only lede I had to read it three times before I could comprehend what it said. The supreme court of the state of Iowa had ruled unanimously to overturn the state's restriction of marriage one man and one woman; finding that the law was in violation of the state's constitution that guarantees equal rights to all classes of citizens.

I then went to the Des Moines Register homepage where the news was confirmed and with much more attention. I remembered the brief attention the lawsuit filed to the state supreme court had garnered when it was filed some months ago. I also remembered thinking at the time that it would be another lifetime before anything became of it. I was utterly amazed and somewhat incredulous. I remembered past feelings of frustration over the ignorance and prejudice of others and feeling so bewildered that anyone could even think that there still needed to be a debate over the issue: that justice and equality were still rights that could be reserved and denied.

What I want to share in my essay is that as a gay man and as an Iowan, I have myself had prejudiced ideas about the gay and lesbian community and that I can understand how people can make judgments based not on reason but on their own personal beliefs (and often, their own ignorance). I want to get at the importance of everyone voicing their opinion and being comfortable with themselves to demonstrate the diversity within groups that are still seen as uniform and homogeneous. If we are to continue to make progress and to gain equal rights for everyone then we cannot be afraid to make share our commonalities with people from other groups. We can no longer (and this goes for the gay community as well) make distinctions between "us and them."