Complacency
Complacency
Ack. I made the mistake of thinking the beast of Proposition 8, the California ballot proposition outlawing same-sex marriage, was dead.But of course, just because the initial polls showed little support, supporters weren't going to simply give up, and the initial polls might have helped opponents get complacent (certainly did for me). I think one of the best, simple passages on it came from Google's statement:
However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.
(Google almost never takes any stance on social issues, so this was a big deal).
Unfortunately, I just heard over the weekend that proposition 8 is actually showing signs of passage this election. Even if it does pass, I'm not sure what the lasting effects would be ... if the rest of the country continues the trend towards full equality of same-sex marriages, what would stop a measure reverting this from being put on the ballot again and again and again?
At any rate, I chipped in over the weekend to help air some anti-proposition 8 commercials -- here's hoping it'll be enough. There'll be some lingering effects of this regardless ... I wonder if the Mormon Church's injection of themselves on this will affect their proselytizing? And if Obama refuses to come out and oppose it, it'll be a reflection on his campaign, too -- yes, it'd be a risk in a close election, but undue timidity would be a bad sign for being able to do much of anything worthwhile even if he were elected.
Ack. I made the mistake of thinking the beast of Proposition 8, the California ballot proposition outlawing same-sex marriage, was dead.But of course, just because the initial polls showed little support, supporters weren't going to simply give up, and the initial polls might have helped opponents get complacent (certainly did for me). I think one of the best, simple passages on it came from Google's statement:
However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.
(Google almost never takes any stance on social issues, so this was a big deal).
Unfortunately, I just heard over the weekend that proposition 8 is actually showing signs of passage this election. Even if it does pass, I'm not sure what the lasting effects would be ... if the rest of the country continues the trend towards full equality of same-sex marriages, what would stop a measure reverting this from being put on the ballot again and again and again?
At any rate, I chipped in over the weekend to help air some anti-proposition 8 commercials -- here's hoping it'll be enough. There'll be some lingering effects of this regardless ... I wonder if the Mormon Church's injection of themselves on this will affect their proselytizing? And if Obama refuses to come out and oppose it, it'll be a reflection on his campaign, too -- yes, it'd be a risk in a close election, but undue timidity would be a bad sign for being able to do much of anything worthwhile even if he were elected.