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As most of you are aware, last week, our society took a huge leap forward and then significant steps backwards as gay-marriage bans passed in California, Arizona, and Florida.

My colleague has already written about the motivations behind the ban’s proponents, so instead, let me address an important leader in the most populous state of the union: bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-Republican Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Dear Governor,

When I heard back in 2003 that you were running for office, I had no idea what to think.

Sure, you had awesome election nicknames like ‘The Governator’ and ‘The Running Man‘. You even had the ‘actor’s charisma’ that had worked so well for other politicians. But how could voters ignore the fact that you had previously held only one political appointment, as chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (also known as “Stop Being Fatasses, America”)? I thought maybe you should stick to what you know best: kicking ass in Terminator, doing it again in Terminator 2, and contributing, as Mr. Freeze, to the disaster called Batman & Robin.

After becoming governor, you had your gaffes. Multiple times, you referred to your opponents as “girlie-men.” Most recently, you mocked then-Senator Barack Obama’s “skinny legs.”

I never took you, or your politics, seriously.

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