Post-Prop 8

That's a common belief that isn't necessarily always borne out by the facts: California contains San Francisco and LA, two major bastions of urban liberalism, but the rest of the state is pretty conservative. San Diego's a huge military town, for instance, and so tends towards conservatism. Orange County is super-conservative.

 

grr. I will post something rational tomorrow. Today I am just annoyed.

 

You're right Joey that it wasn't a surprise to those that understand the California amendment process, and paid attention to what was being argued in the court. So post prop 8 starts today! And since I just happen to be in California right now, I'll be heading down to a rally in the next few hours.

 

Of course you're right. I guess it just bothers me because even though I sort of knew it would be upheld, I guess part of me is still enough of a child to believe that in the face of such a decision people still have the common humanity and decency to make the decision that supports love, whether that means giving same-sex couples the right to marry or ordering a cease fire to save innocent lives. Yet time and time again I am reminded that the world sucks. That being said, it's no reason not to look to changing the future instead of dwelling on the present.

 

The bill in Illinois that would grant same-sex marriages/civil unions (don't remember which off hand, but the civil unions offered would be very similar to marriage) must be passed by May 31st. It's pretty much a 50/50 split here, so we'll have to see.

I'm not really familiar with what's going on in other states.

 

"It's time to go on offense. To be fearless in our fight for equality.
Starting right now."

This quote. This is it.

I got chills for some reason when i first read it, and i think its because its that powerful. If we all band together and we all stop playing defense and go on the offensive, we WILL make a difference. We just have to be fearless.

Things we can all do?

- Come out to more people. Make sure the people who are voting on things like Prop 8 know gay people on a real level. Cant stress how important this part is.
- Attend rallies, protests, pride parades and other such events. Dont be invisible, get out there and make some noise. Just like the who's in horton hears a who. If we all yell at once "We are here! We are here! We are here!" then they are bound to notice us.
- If you live in a state not yet decided on marriage equality, phone your senator. Again, make sure that they know were you stand. The LGBT citizens of each state have a right to voice there needs, so voice marriage equality as one of them.
- Donate money. If you cant do any of the above for whatever reason, or your just too scared or closeted to, you can always donate some money to a worthy foundation. The courage campaign maybe?

I live in Canada, one of the few countries in the world with a nation wide ability to get married to either sex, coast to coast. I take that for granted every day, but then something like the Prop 8 ruling hits me like a ton of bricks and i just get it. Im lucky. Not just lucky, im extremely lucky. I dont have to worry about things like adopting kids or visiting my loved one in the hospital because ill have those rights the second i sign the marriage license. At the same time, i weap for everyone who is not so lucky. It kills me to know my friends and idols and just other human beings in general are suffering because of what? An un-educated mind in the issues of LGBT people.

So i promise to be fearless for you, and in turn i hope you promise to be fearless for yourselves. Together, we have won the war.

 

Well stated Greg, as always. Like you I am lucky I live in a place where if and when I find someone I know I can get married. I feel very lucky. I hope someday everyone that wants to get married can do so.

All night I have been watching the news. The California Supreme Court did not vote specifically vote against gay marriage but voted that the citizens had the right to go to the poles and change the constitution. This makes me feel a little better but not a lot.

 

The Poles?! I knew it was those damned Polish!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

God. I can't believe it passed. I was in school at the time when it was meant to be announced and I spent so long looking on different websites to see if the court actually voted that way. I couldn't believe that they would do that.

God... I thought CA was liberal! I mean, I live near Berkeley and SF, so I guess that influenced the way I think of the whole state. But still.

Hopefully it'll be repealed in the next election. This is possible right?

 

thats not politically a bad idea right now protestors are beein arrested for not having much a clue about any which or what to do....

but if they do organise a mass rally and do litterally threaten for every lgbt person to leave the state the loss of tax should make them reconsider.

 

Well here in illinois, a group called Equality Illinois has been working hard to get a civil unions bill passed and its been voted on and will hopefully reach the Illinois house and senates later this week or early next week. It would be a step forward but its still not marriage and that is important to me. As with prop 8, I am extremely disappointed with the high courts decision, but people say it will be voted on again in 2010.

 

This was a sign I saw at the protest in Sacramento today.

 

Last I heard, there will be a for/against same-sex marriage proposition in 2010.

The court did not uphold discrimination. It upheld the the election outcome. Prop. 8 passed with a majority vote--a slight majority, but a majority nonetheless.

 

Civil unions are a start, but don't offer full benefits under the law, Connecticut had civil unions and the courts shot them down in favor of marriages. However, I'd take civil unions over nothing.

 

I would like to hear more about exactly what sort of power you mean to see if we are on the same page. In retrospect, I think the California same-sex marriage fiasco was largely a political ploy started by a predominantly Republican (6-1) Supreme Court to galvanize the socially conservative GOP base during an election year without alienating moderate voters. It served to subtly draw attention to that lurking spectre of the evil gays in people's minds, which has certainly brought the GOP votes in the past (and certainly continues into the present).

Now, it didn't work (woo!), and equal rights for gays aren't politically expedient anymore. If I recall correctly, and I don't quite have time to look, the original SC decision appealed specifically to equal rights as grounded in the California Constitution. So, taking their own logic, Prop 8 is indeed a constitutional revision as it abridges that part of their Constitution such that it does not apply to gays. However, in the case against Prop 8, it is no longer politically expedient to support equal rights as the election is over. In fact, the justices would have faced recall by the voters, so clearly they're going to back down.

It's just like with Obama. His promise to repeal DOMA has disappeared off his website, and his promise to repeal DADT has been replaced with a watered-down version. He doesn't actually care about gay rights; he'll harp about them to bring his promises of equality in line, but they're ultimately just a political tool to be dropped when implementation proves problematic.

It seems that gay rights have more than anything become a tool in the box of politician's tricks, most of whom are more or less indifferent to gay people. Yes, ultimately we will win out, but LGBT people and their rights will have to spend a good deal more time being tossed around the political playing field before the wave of equality washes over.

 

I realize that now. My first posting was out of frustration.