“They will not force us,
They will stop degrading us,
They will not control us,
We will be victorious.”
- Muse, from the song “Uprising”
“There is no such thing as part freedom.”
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
- Nelson Mandela
These statements sum up my thoughts on Prop 8. What has happened, what is happening, and what will happen.
Each day, I read the live blogging of the Prop 8 trial (
www.prop8trialtracker.com). For those who may not be as versed in the drama that is unfolding in San Francisco… lets recap.
****
In June 2008, Gay Marriage in the state of California was legalized. This was a result of a California Supreme Court decision saying that California could NOT deny Gays the right to marry under the equal protection amendment in their constitution.
Anti-Gay marriage groups were upset, and they forced a referendum on the subject. The referendum wanted to amend the state constitution to prohibit Gay Marriage. This is called “Proposition 8”
In November 2008, Proposition 8 passed 52%-48%
The Pro Gay Marriage groups launched several legal attacks on the newly minted Proposition 8. One lawsuit was dismissed, a second affirmed Proposition 8’s legality via the state side courts. It prevented further marriages from taking place… BUT kept the current marriages already performed to be legal. Most people knew this wouldn’t be the end. It just made things messier.
The third, and currently in the news is Perry vs. Schwarzenegger which is a direct challenge to the legality of Proposition 8 through the Federal courts.
All caught up? Good.
****
The Pro Gay Marriage side, got Theodore Olsen and David Boies. If these names don’t ring a bell, they should. They were the two lawyers fighting each other during the infamous Bush v. Gore in 2000 that ended the Florida Recount and ended the election in Bush’s favor. These are super weights in the field… One Conservative, one Liberal. They are good friends outside the courtroom. This is a concerted effort to show that this is not a partisan issue, this is an issue beyond that. In a sense, people who should be enemies are coming together.
Regardless of the result here with Perry, this case should be seen by the Supreme Court next session (2010-2011) They know that this will go before the supreme court, especially if Pro Gay marriage wins this round.
The argument Olen and Boies is that the GLBT community has the right to marry under the 14th Amendment.
(Quick Reference for friends who are drawing a blank, the 14th amendment is one of the “Civil War Amendments” that provides the following: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
In other words, No state can enforce a law that takes away privileges or rights of a citizen, Got it? Good, let’s move on.)
This is not a new argument. In 1996, a man named William N. Eskridge Jr. wrote a book called “The case for Gay Marriage” where he argued that the constitution already granted gay marriage upon the US, someone just needs to argue it correctly.
I had the “pleasure” of reading this book in college. It is a dreadful, and extremely dry book. Spoken in legalese and was high above my 19 year old mind. (this was before 9/11 after all) Professor Smolensky made our class (Political Philosophy: From Plato to Present) read it, and I remember the conversations. After a bit of translating from pure nerd/wonk into normal people speak, I was a voracious advocate of what Eskridge said. However… I said that it will take years, decades really even before this could be reality.
I read what is happening in a court in San Francisco, and I know this is a set piece, a rehearsal for the big event. Team Gay, and Team Prop 8 are setting up their arguments, not for today, not even for this case, but for the Supremes (the DC variety). The video taping, the broadcasting, the minutiae of this event will be forgotten when the two sides get their 30 minutes in front of the full court.
I often recall history. The patience, the strategy, and the perseverance others went through until equality was extended upon them. Women’s suffrage wasn’t won in a day, or a year, or a decade. It took over 70 years from Seneca Falls to Tennessee ratifying the 19th Amendment for women to achieve their goal. It took the African American community even longer to achieve full, free, un-tampered equality. The gay equality march has started (in earnest) in 1969, we are talking 41 years right now. We are on track, but it takes patience… weathering setbacks, and advancing on every level, Local, State, and Federal.
In 2003, the Supreme Court struck down an anti-sodomy law in Texas aimed at gay men. The verdict was 6-3. Today’s court, the score is likely 4-4-1. In 2003, Kennedy and O’Connor were the swings, now… only Kennedy remains as a swing, and has sided with the Conservatives more and more in recent sessions.
But there is hope. Olsen and Boies are using very pragmatic, constitutionally sound arguments. Strict constitutionalist like Scalia and Thomas may hear this out. However, given their dissenting opinions on Lawerence, I doubt it will happen. Scalia warned that Lawerence would open the door to this style of attack, and unfortunately he seems to be already set on his opinion.
So, as I sit here in my suburban Virginia apartment, where Virginia is not for gay lovers… I ponder the events in a courtroom 3,000 miles away, A nation 15,000 miles away (Nepal is extending all rights, including Marriage, to GLBT people, the first in Asia) and conversations in a small town in Illinois 10 years ago.
It brings up back to the quotes at the beginning.
The “Muse” in me is defiant, combative. I know that time and history is on our side. They will not force us into the closet, or force us to keep quiet. They will stop degrading us with their faux morality, and their constantly spitting on the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other amendments. They will not control how we live our lives, even if they have convinced others that we are not worthy of equality, and in the end, we will be victorious; we will beat down their resistance.
But… the Nelson Mandela in me prevents me .
Nelson Mandela was a laywer who initially was a follower on Ghandi’s Non-violent resistance, He later co founded a militant wing of a resistance movement in South Africa. In 1962, when he was captured sent to prison for life. He went back to his non violent means, but kept the fire. There is no “half Freedom” indeed. How he was able to win over sworn enemies, is where his second quote comes in, and therein lies our path to victory.
Steps are taken every day, whether it is here, or around the world. The act of coming out is a step, it begins to open minds in a very personal way. People who know you, to people who work with you, they are exposed to something different, you defying the stereotype. It also allows you to be yourself, which… is physiologically huge.
It’s true, not everyone is going to agree, and some people may treat you differently, but being gay and out takes a special person. It takes someone strong enough to withstand the looks, shaking of heads, and outright bigotry in comments and attitudes. Being gay has the benefits/challenge of being able to hide. To be able to blend in, to be invisible… and that… that is the greatest detriment to the gay community, it allows us to hide, and right now, in our point in our history, hiding is detrimental.
Being out isn’t simply enough though. The power of being out is limited. It is not the political powerhouse it once was in the 1970’s and 1980’s. With 13 year old kids coming out, while great at a local level, it becoming increasingly common and routine in 2010.
Our goal that we need to actively engage with those who hate us. Like Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid Government. We need to sit in the same room and talk. And while the battle rages through the ballot box, the Courtroom, we need to engage, in a positive way, with those who are religious, and rely strongly on our religious friends and allies for support.
I walk the line of Agnosticism and Atheism. However, as Mandela has said:
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
Mandela meant it literally; the Afrikaans had their own language. He always spoke in their language, and not in English when they met. He did it jovially, and always with a smile on his face. They had disagreements, but he never was pushed to anger. 27 years in Prison can do that to you, you become patient. He played on their field, and unbeknownst to them, they had ceded control to him.
“The will not control us”
Our course is clear: Learn their language, talk to them using faith, love, and their holy books, and we will have the advantage. It won’t be easy, but, we can’t simply come out, and have pride week anymore.