I don't know Tiger Woods, but he's mixed race and so is his family. Imagine golf without him...I know, right?

Today a news article about an interracial marriage being denied by a Louisiana Justice of the Peace circulated the internet (See Huffington Post).  You can read the article; it’s sentiments need not be repeated here.  It’s been less than 50 years since the ruling of Loving v. Virginia (1967) and regardless of the prejudice an individual might have against interracial marriage, interracial couples can marry.  That’s the lay of the law.  I won’t bog down this post with my desire that this same litmus test should apply to same-sex couples (just be aware that I think it should).

The point of this post is a conversation I had with one of my former roommates today when the Huffington Post article was circulating.  In the midst of our conversation, I took a moment and looked back on the 26 years of my life and consciously thought about how different my life would be if interracial marriages and couples were outlawed everywhere.

And immediately the image that came to mind was…empty spaces.

It was a realization in the immediate: The conversation I was having with my former roommate would not be happening because she is the daughter of a mixed race couple.

It was a realization in family and friendships:  The people around me, who have inspired me and have shaped who I am, so many of them are children of interracial relationships or are in them or were in them.

The more I thought about this idea, the more people disappeared out of my life, the more I found that the empty spaces were becoming me.

Where would I be?  Who would I be?  If so many people were gone or whose choice in partner was not allowed?  How would they be different?  Would I even know them?

Thankfully, I am not an empty space, and my life is rich with people of all different backgrounds.  But prejudices will always exists and hopefully laws will continue on to say: you can believe whatever you want, but you are not allowed to make anyone an empty space.

-cct

Due to conversations with my co-worker, I am also calling this post A Moment Without Hapas.

Buy "So Special" - All Proceeds to go to Equality California

UPDATED: I have changed the location where you can purchase the song.  Please refer to the updated blog post on this!

I have just released my “So Special” song on SnoCap. Because the song is about my take on marriage equality, I have decided that anything I make from it will go to Equality California (http://www.eqca.org) and the fight for marriage equality. Whether or not you like the song, it’s only 99-cents! So please help out this great cause by purchasing the song! You can catch the full-version of my song on my myspace, or just purchase below.

Lyrics Below:

So Special (cc.tran)

You can wrap your arms around me
I can give you a kiss
We can wear rings of gold
And declare to the world this is it
And anyone could say
That we were right or wrong
But we have the choice, we have the voice,
to say we belong

Chorus
But what makes us special?
What makes us more real -
Than other lovers in love
Just the same?
What makes us so special?
That people could hold claim
That others shouldn’t have it -
What so many throw away

Love one another
Words I abide
Golden rule
In a collective denied
I know that you love me
And that’s all I need
But we have the choice, we have the voice,
to say we belong

Chorus

Bridge
What if the tables were all turned around?
What if we’re the separate side of equal?
Our choice, our voice, was someone else’s sound?

Chorus

But we have the choice, we have the voice,
to say we belong

Thanks!

-cct

via Keli Goff: How the Crucifixion of Miss California Hurts the Marriage Equality Movement.

Talk about ideas!  Anyone up for it?  Suggestions?!!