We Shall Be Free

"When we're free to love anyone we choose, when this world's big enough for all different views, when we all can worship from our own kind of pew, then we shall be free." - Garth Brooks

This week started out like any other...assignments due, dinners to be made, exams to be taken. By the end of my week, Thursday, I found myself going over insurance forms with Sara. Every year around this time we get our new enrollment packages that tell us what changes will be made and what will stay the same in the upcoming year for our health insurance. Wah, wah, wah....

I've never really looked at the enrollment package before. I guess I figured Sara knows best and she'd take care of it. This year was different. Something peaked my curiosity. I wanted to take part in it and see what it was we were actually paying for. I must say it got me wound up. I was on my soapbox and I didn't want to come down. Now that I'm talking about it again, I'll hop back up on my soapbox and hope that you stay tuned to hear what I have to say about insurance and "domestic partners".

I am grateful that Sara's company offers domestic partner benefits. By the way, a domestic partnership can be man and woman, man and man, or woman and woman. I just wanted to clarify this point. However, a man and woman have the right to go from their domestic partnership into a legal marriage. Sara and I don't have that right. Being the employee, Sara gets to make use of the FSA (Flexible Spending Account). Which means the money she puts into this account, from her paychecks, get matched up to a certain amount by the employer. Any doctor appointments or prescriptions for Sara will be reimbursed to her through this account depending on how much money is in the FSA. BUT, I'm not covered under this part of the plan because I'm not her dependent or her legally recognized spouse. Therefore, any appointments or prescriptions for me do not get reimbursed.

Sara had told me of a guy at her work that had a longtime girlfriend and they had a child together. They hadn't set plans on getting married but when presented with the insurance dilemma, they tied the knot. It would be cheaper to have his girlfriend be listed as his wife instead of his domestic partner. I thought to myself, "how nice that they are able to get married and pay less for health insurance." I don't mean this as sarcastically as it may sound but it did hit me funny. I guess I'd never given much thought to the term "domestic partner". I sure thought about it that night...for the rest of the night.

I haven't made peace yet about getting married to someone of the same sex. That statement is about me only. It's between me and God. I feel that anyone of the human race should be able to legally marry the person they love regardless of race, gender, religion, origin, etc. That is a decision to be made by those people and God. If they are good with it, the government shouldn't have a right to deny them. Who is the government to tell me that because I love someone that is the same sex as me, I can't legally marry them? It isn't right. I literally could go out and get married to my best friend (happens to be a guy), or some guy I just met...as long as it's a man. The government isn't making marriage about love, their making it about gender. And just because the "powers that be" have their beliefs, it doesn't mean they can have everyone in America agree and conform to those beliefs.

So it's not out of jealousy that I'm speaking about this issue. It's about fairness. It's about equality. People shouldn't have to loose out on benefits, pay more money, or not be given certain medical rights because they can't legally marry the person they love. *stepping off soapbox*

"When there's only one race and that's mankind, we shall be free. We shall be free. Stand straight, walk proud, have a little faith, hold out. We shall be free" - Garth Brooks