Yesterday was the off-off-year election with no congressional seats up. Democrats are hailing it as a victory: they claimed both governorships that were in play and voters in California rejected all of Republican governor Arrnold Schwarzenegger’s initiatives. I live in Texas though, and it is a sad day for liberals in Texas. Not unexpected of course, just sad. Our state approved a constitutional amendment, prop 2, to discriminate against gays. My wife and I both voted against it with the knowledge that it would pass anyway. What stunned us was the sheer monstrous weight by which it passed: 76% to 24%. Even in the reddest of states I cannot conceive of the numbers being that extreme.
Of course we have electronic voting machines made by Diebold with no paper trails. You remember Diebold? The owner of the company promised to deliver votes to Bush in 2004. I have to level with you: every day I become a little bit more of a conspiracy theorist. Then again, is that an accurate term if there really is a conspiracy? Doesn’t matter today though. Today I’m just sad.
now now, it’s going to be alright. what i don’t understand is how recent a phenomenon gay marriage is as a political issue. search your memory banks: when did you hear someone speak about it with seriousness? it really didn’t seem to be much of a front-burner in the ’90s, though i vaguely remember Clinton vetoing something related to it.
The haziness is one thing. What I don’t understand is why can’t this be approached with patience on the part of those who want it? i personally am offended by gays who put legal marriage as an issue above the war and the economy. if you haven’t guessed, i’m not terribly for or against the matter. i just think it odd you could be SO sad about something which is an extremely uncomfortable and radical idea for the majority of Americans.
save your sadness for another day. gay marriage could be possible sooner than you think. especially when the war winds down (as it will) and the economy continues its statistically healthy path.
sincerely,
J Donovan
J, your points are valid. It is a very recent phenomenon. In terms of the struggle other groups have gone through to gain equality, starting from the point at which the potential for equality started to gain momentum (think Rosa Parks), gays have made strides remarkably fast. I also agree with you that people who believe in such equality need to take the long view and have a little patience.
But that doesn’t mean they stop trying to gain that equality now. Nor does it mean that events happen in a vacuum. It’s possible to be concerned with both the war and gay rights. I know I’m very concerned with both.
This vote wasn’t about providing new rights to gays that they haven’t previously had, such as marriage or government protected partner benefits. This was to institutionalize discrimination into our constitution. What made me sad was that so many people saw the need to do that.
I appreciate your thoughts on the situation.