Marriage Equality - News for Blondes

Описание: http://www.TangoDango.com http://www.facebook.com
Danielle discusses additional steps we must take as a culture in the issue surrounding marriage equality.


INT DAY -- Foyer
DANIELLE is all fixed up to party in the streets to celebrate (maybe in a wedding dress?) marriage equality passing into law in New York. The camera follows her. She is cheering, screaming, and ready to burst into the throng of people celebrating.

EXT DAY -- NYC Street
DANIELLE bursts onto a street that seems like business as usual. Cars pass. No one takes notice of her noise or garb.

EXT DAY -- NYC Street
DANIELLE looks at the camera.

DANIELLE
Looks like I missed the party. I'm Danielle and this is News for Blondes.

Last week at this time, New York was poised to become the next state in the union to affirm marriage equality. And, we did it. In one fell swoop, the state of New York single-handedly more than doubled the number of same sex couples who may now get married.

And, while this is an important milestone, there is still work to be done. New York is now one of only ten states to recognize same sex marriage. So with only 20% of states recognizing marriage equality, there are still a lot of people who can't visit their partner in the hospital, who can't designate their loved-one as their next-of-kin, and who can't introduce their partner with the same confidence as, "I'd like you to meet my wife or husband."

There's a bigger issue to tackle here, and I think it's time that we figure out how to take action.. While there are many people working tirelessly on the civil rights side of this issue, we also have a cultural issue.

The buzzword used to be tolerance, as if that was the answer. Really. Tolerance. That's like holding your nose as you slurp down some cherry cough syrup. Or in the case of pain tolerance, the word implies there is a breaking point. That we ultimately will reach MAXIMUM CAPACITY before we can no longer take it.

Tolerance is something that people do for those people in some other place. It keeps us distanced from each other. But in our culture, family members or close friends can often be the most hostile toward a person once someone acknowledges their homosexuality.

We need what Thomas Kuhn in the Stucture of Scientific Revolutions calls a Paradigm Shift. I'm not gonna lie, this Blondie's a bookworm!


We need a paradigm shift in our culture and our language that moves beyond tolerance and toward love and acceptance. What's the difference? Tolerance is an action. Acceptance is a state of mind. Acceptance is respect. Acceptance is my new Buzzword!

While a law may mandate tolerance, as individuals we have the awesome ability to move beyond it and choose acceptance. Imagine that! A world of respect...

I wish I had the magic powers to make this change. "Blonde Powers... ACTIVATE!!"

Anything? Well, I'd like to get involved and work with others to figure out a way we can make this change. Come to my facebook page and we can talk about things we might do to start impacting our culture. New York's Marriage Equality is an important milestone, AND, it's not the end of the road. So, let's keep it going!

I'm Danielle, this is News for Blondes, and you're watching TangoDango. Don't forget to subscribe!