Etheridge Speaks Out Against California's Gay Marriage Ban
The singer and breast cancer survivor said she is no longer a full citizen in California and she will not pay her taxes under such discrimination.
After Tuesday's election narrowly passed into law a measure that will define marriage in the state of California as valid only between a man and a woman, lesbian rocker Melissa Etheridge took to a blog to declare herself tax-exempt, according to People magazine.
Etheridge said if she is not "allowed the same right [to marry] under the state constitution as any other citizen . . . I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes, because I am not a full citizen."
"There is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California," Etheridge said.
Etheridge was a vocal opponent of the proposition to ban gay marriages in the state. She, as well as Brad Pitt, Sacha Baron Cohen and Mary J. Blige, donated time and money to urge people to vote down Proposition 8.
The measure invalidated the marriage of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, who married in August. It also nullified the marriage between George Takei and his partner, Brad Altman, who married in September.
Etheridge had one last thing to add to the supporters of Proposition 8: "Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away."
