I know I'll probaly get a lot (and by a lot I mean so many that I can't possibly read them all in one sitting)of angry comments from gays/lesbians/bi/trans & friends/family/sympathysizers about this diary.
Well, bring 'em on. As a openly out gay man for most of my life, I'm used to fighting the good fight.
More below the yellow brick road.
A quick disclaimer: As noted, I am an openly gay man, living in Texas, which was one of the states that remained solidly RED. We couldn't even get rid of John Cornyn. But I digress.
I have been out, loud and proud since high school and the early 80's. I watched friends die of AIDS and eventually moved to San Francisco to immerse myself in the gay wonderland. And I'm now back in the Lone Star State, in a committed relationship. I'd love nothing more than to legally marry the man I love.
First, make no mistake: I was as crushed as anyone that this happened in the same breath as we ushered in a historical president. I do want gay men and women to have the same civil rights as everyone else. I get it, I get it.
But...we lost? So what? Shouldn't we be doing what we are urging the Republicans nationally to do, ie suck it up and take a good long look at yourself, your movement, and dig deep to discover why you didn't win. Sure, it is easy to scapegoat the blacks, the Mormons or insert your own scapegoat here but it is ultimately the fault of the "No on Prop 8" campaign/movement that they lost. One more vote, one more phone call, one more email blast, one more...whatever. They didn't "leave everything in the road," as the kossacks like to say.
So go back to the drawing board. Work smarter, work harder. Educate. Canvass. Organize. But, please, stop all the protests in front of the Mormon temples, and quit posting cry-baby diaries on here and throughout the blogosphere blaming blacks, Christian, Mormons, and Gavin Newsom. You're making yourselves, and by association, the rest of us look bad.
And while we're at it, let's think of the rights we HAVE gained, shall we? Does anyone remember Lawrence v. Texas? Hmmm. Go ahead and GOOGLE if you need to. I'll wait.
I think we should take the opportunity to celebrate the fact that we can express our physical love without the fear of being arrested. As a gay from Texas, I am so proud of the fact that Lawrence v. Texas came out of our Red State and overturned our own sodomy law paving the way for other states to follow.
Lawrence explicitly overruled Bowers, holding that it had viewed the liberty interest too narrowly. The majority held that intimate consensual sexual conduct was part of the liberty protected by substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. Lawrence has the effect of invalidating similar laws throughout the United States that purport to criminalize sodomy between consenting same-sex adults acting in private. It may also invalidate the application of sodomy laws to heterosexual sex based solely on morality concerns.
The case attracted much public attention, and a large number of amici curiae ("friends of the court") briefs were filed. Its outcome was celebrated by gay rights advocates, who hoped that further legal advances might result as a consequence. Libertarians also tended to support the ruling as a victory against "victimless crime" and favoring the upholding civil liberties.
Conversely, it was decried by social conservatives as an example of judicial activism.
Many proponents of same-sex marriage draw upon Lawrence in their Constitutional reasoning, [17] despite the fact that the High Court stated, "[The decision] does not involve whether the government must give formal recognition to any relationship that homosexual persons seek to enter." Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003). The concurring opinion of Justice O'Connor stated that "preserving the traditional institution of marriage" is indeed a "legitimate state interest" and that "other reasons exist to promote the institution of marriage beyond mere moral disapproval of an excluded group." Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) (O'Connor, J. concurring).
Sexual liberty proponents believe that Lawrence explicitly analogized same-sex sodomy and mixed-sex sodomy, and that Lawrence severed the link between constitutional protection of sexual conduct and whether the activity is procreative or takes place within the marital relationship or is traditionally protected by society, the logic of Lawrence casts considerable doubt on laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples, notwithstanding the not-so-subtle suggestions in both the majority opinion and in Justice O'Connor's concurrence that the court is not willing to listen to this argument, and that some of the justices (Kennedy and O'Connor specifically) would switch sides to vote with the dissenters in this case if the issue of gay marriage came before them. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) (O'Connor, J. concurring)
I am not saying that we should give up the "gay marriage fight" or the "civil rights fight" or "matters of the heart" as Mr. Olbermann so eloquently and rightly described it.
But can we not take a moment to quit attacking this group or that, quit placing blame, quit crying and throwing a collective temper-tantrum to acknowledge the huge advances we have made? Can we please stop behaving like Chicken Little, crying "The homophobic sky is falling?" and presuming that the big bad anti-gay boogey man is out to get us and clip our wings. Can we not thoughtfully and purposefully learn something from this loss? Shouldn't it force us to redouble our efforts for next time? Can we not look to Lawrence v. Texas as an example of right we have won, not so long ago, through intelligence and hard work none of which required us to protest in front of the Mormon Temple? Shouldn't we look to Barack Obama's campaign model of focus, determination, inclusion, discipline and plain old fashion hard work on the ground, as our path to victory next time?
UPDATE - Here is one of two of my favorite comments & my responses:
I feel your frustration (4+ / 0-)
Recommended by: SeanF, Shane Hensinger, Clarknt67, browneyes
I get it. I know gay men like you. Life shouldn't be about fighting the tough fight. It should be about cocktails at the bar, shopping at the mall, getting a facial, picking out new cologne, and going to see dinner theater. Now that gay men are getting up and arms and putting their energies behind important things like civil rights and social justice, it sure takes all the fun out of being gay, doesn't it?
by RfrancisR on Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 12:36:41 PM PST
do you really? (0+ / 0-)
Then you'd know that I have marched for rights in the streets of Texas. I have volunteered to help get HIV tests to people who need them. I have marched in the streets of SF against Bush and his war. So no, obviously you DO NO KNOW ME, just like our enemies, you find it easy and convenient to slap a stereotype on someone and move on. You don't know my life, so please kindly STFU. I work in non-profit and give of my time energy and money to help those who have less. I have registered new voters every year, regardless of the candidates. So say what you will, but you DO NOT KNOW ME and your pathetic stereotypes show your ignorance and sad disconnect.
So please don't presume that I've never put my energy into important things like civil rights and social justice. You are just plain wrong.
by fab 3 on Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 12:44:07 PM>
And now to the rational folks who heard me without their heads exploding:
He isn't saying stop fighting for equality (0+ / 0-)
he is arguing that we should plan more carefully than in the past.
What is the political objective of these protests?
How will they meet these objective?
If the protests were gay couples and families doing candle light vigils and showing that we have families too it would be brilliant but that isn't how its shaping up.
Instead we have a lot of venting going on and its not clear how that is going to be translated into anything helpful to achieve our ends.
We really do need some sort of public popular acceptance and that might be fair or not but that is how the game is played.
No judge is going to decide for us because we have angry protests and trash religious ceremonies, no legislator or citizen is going to be swayed. Instead we will give the right something to crow about.
by PeteGF on Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 01:00:54 PM PST