On February 18, 2012 Hotel Solamar hosted a NOH8 photo shoot. The NOH8 Campaign is "a charitable organization whose mission is to promote marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest." (from noh8campaign.com)

I don't believe in hate. I don't believe it's really an emotion that is worthy of too much. I believe in passion and love and even sadness and regret. But, I don't believe in hate. I believe in the value of marriage. But I don't feel my value has a stake in what other people choose to do. If a couple decides to live without ever marrying, if they decide to get a divorce, if they choose to marry a person of the same gender, none of that has anything to do with what I believe.

I believe in human equality and don't understand people who devote their time and efforts so adamantly against something they don't believe in. Rather their time could be better spent focusing on things that they...support. I believe in freedom of speech, but think there are quite a few people who abuse that privilege. When it was announced that Ellen DeGeneres was named spokesperson for JC Penney, there was a Facebook page created in opposition to this. I have been on their Facebook site and also, on their website and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, their ignorance is astounding. Regarding the JC Penney debacle, they use phrases like "conservative shoppers" and "traditional families," without definition of what either of those mean. I'm sure their version of a traditional family doesn't make room for divorced parents and their kids either. Does that mean no mall shopping for me?

I was baptized and confirmed a Catholic, although I can't remember the last time I stepped foot in a church except for a wedding or funeral. I believe in God and prayer and what I was taught as a child, which is that God loves everyone and He is the only one to judge. I don't believe in Bible pickers and if we're going that route, I don't think God would approve of it either. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (It's been awhile, but pretty sure this is from the Bible.)

Bible pickers like to "pick" and choose what the Bible says and how it should be interpreted. Bible pickers not only value marriage between a man and woman, but they also seem to think that God would condemn a marriage any other way. So in short, God loves you, you and you...but not you. Among the Bible pickers of America, I would say it's a fair guess that nearly half of them are divorced, have been involved in an adulterous affair, or have engaged in pre-marital sex, which if true, I'm pretty sure their man and woman marriage only theory has been shot to shit. Bible pickers are not above the Bible, much less God.

I hate the idea of bullying for any reason. I hate that there are adults that teach their children to discriminate against other people. I hate that anti-gay activists, not to mention politicians, feel it is their right to decide for complete strangers their marital future. So, when I stand up for NOH8, maybe I'm being a bit of a hypocrite, because I guess there are things I do hate; but gay marriage and homosexuality aren't one of them.

Hate is the emotion that keeps you up at night while you chase your tail looking for an answer. You don't find answers with hate, though, just continuous arguments. Tolerance, though, tolerance is a different story. As in, I have no tolerance for the ignorance of close-minded individuals. And I love the inevitable outcome that hate has in store for their pathetic souls. Because I also believe in karmic retribution. And karma has universally been pronounced a bitch - gender undecided.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/29/23646/