You are not better than me...

Dear Person Who Believes They Should Be Able to Vote on My Rights,

You don't know me, but for some reason you think you should be able to control my life.

Because you don't agree that I should be able to love and have a life with the person I choose, you think you have the right to prevent me from doing so.

I don't know why you think you should have this power over me.

Maybe your religion tells you that I am wrong. But that is your religion. It is not mine, nor is it the religion of the state or the country we live in.

Maybe you believe that marriage equality threatens "traditional" marriage. Every time I hear that excuse, I'd like someone to show me an example of a couple whose marriage was somehow affected by a same-sex couple's marriage.

But there are no examples. Because this is a lie.

Did Newt Gingrich cheat on his first and second wives because of same-sex marriage?

Did Kim Kardashian remain married for only 72 days because of marriage equality?

Have Donald Trump or Jennifer Lopez or Billy Joel or Nicolas Cage or Paul McCartney been married and divorced multiple times because of marriage equality?

No.

Those who are concerned about protecting marriage should focus on one thing: preventing divorce. That's what destroys marriage. So does infidelity.

The fact that two people who love each other want to make a lifelong commitment to each other doesn't destroy marriage. It never has, and it never will.

The legislature in New Jersey approved marriage equality earlier this week. But Governor Christie vetoed the legislation because he believes that marriage equality should be decided by the voters.

The Maryland Senate approved marriage equality yesterday and it is expected to be approved by the Maryland House and signed into law by Governor O'Malley. But opponents of marriage equality believe the voters should have a say.

If the voters were asked to decide whether women should have the right to vote, it would not have happened in 1920. Who knows how long that might have taken?

If the voters were asked to decide whether African-Americans should have the right to vote, it probably would not have happened when it did.

If the voters were asked to decide whether interracial marriage should be allowed, it probably would not have been approved. And yet there are a number of political and religious leaders in our country who are married to someone of a different race.

My rights are not yours to decide.

I don't care what language you speak, what god you worship, whether you choose to carry a gun, smoke, drink, or if you know every episode of Star Trek by heart.

How you live your life doesn't affect me.

So why does how I choose to live my life concern you at all?

You are not better than me.

Think about that when you have the opportunity to vote on whether all people should have the right to marry whomever they choose.

You should not have the right to vote on my rights.

You are not better than me.