No civil rights movement has ever failed (though most are still ongoing)
Politically, this has been a mixed week. Yesterday, the D.C. Council voted overwhelmingly to approve same-sex marriage in that city, a victory I'm proud of, even though I wasn't as involved in its making as I'd like to have been (D.C. is close, but not that close).
This was no thanks to Marion Barry, of course. Or Bishop Jackson, who, I note, now wants to take it to court-isn't it funny, how suddenly a court decision isn't "legislating from the bench" when it takes away someone's rights rather than protecting them? But the important thing is that it did pass that hurdle, in part because of the courageous votes of council members like Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5), who was willing to do his job at a moment when that happened not to be a very comfortable thing to do, and do right by his constituents-all of his constituents. As in, including the ones with the least protection."I represent a ward that is torn down the middle on this issue," Thomas said. "But as a legislator, I cannot allow my personal . . . or religious life to allow for the disenfranchisement of any individual in the District."
The Washington Post, 1 December 2009
Thank you, Mr. Thomas. It is appreciated.
New York, on the other hand, is not having a very good day.
After making it through the state Assembly, a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in New York was killed by the state Senate 38 to 24.
So I'm glad you feel that marriage is now protected, New Yorkers. Now that the insidious fags have been put in their place and know that the majority of their elected representatives in the senate don't think they're quite human enough to make real families, you can get on with the business of cheating on your wives; cheating on your husbands; abandoning your kids; verbally and physically and sexually assaulting your spouses; verbally and physically and sexually assaulting your kids; passing along traditional patterns of sexism and/or racism and/or classism by means of nice, traditional programming; drinking behind closed doors; divorcing; divorcing and refusing to make child support payments; and disowning relatives who come out as gay or convert to another religion or just plain piss you off, safely. I mean, it's a really good thing that organizations like NOM put their funds toward defeating gay marriage and not combating domestic violence, or anything. Because God knows-it must be true; He told Rick Warren!-that marriage is about the union of one man and one woman, and not about love, respect, having enough emotional security to be able to tolerate other couples being different from you, supporting your chosen partner, making a life together (facilitated by being able to do things like get family insurance coverage without a constant and invasive uphill battle, or be treated like the adult and tax-paying citizen you are), or supporting any kids you may have or adopt to the best of your ability. Whew. Thank God. That was a close one.
I never got around to writing about the Maine decision. But I remember waking up that morning, immediately firing up the computer, checking the results, and feeling my gorge rising when the first thing that hit my eyes was a crowd of people partying because they were able to use their majority power to strip away rights and basic social recognition from someone else.
Let's repeat that: social recognition. Note that "recognition" is not the same thing as "approbation." The fact that Britney Spears is able, if she wishes, to get legally married for less than 55 hours if she so chooses does not mean that her government or society at large approves of it. It means that government and society understand that they don't have to approve of it, because Ms. Spears is, like it or not, a tax-paying citizen and an adult competent to form contracts. And let's face it, if it's legal to marry Britney Spears, it should be legal to marry practically anybody.
I'm sure that there are groups of people in New York who are partying right now just like the folks in Maine a few weeks back. Well, I can't stop you. But I'd like to be clear: That's evil. It might not be the very worst evil in the world, but if there is such a thing, rejoicing that you successfully treated other people as less than people just because you could meets the definition. Maybe the people partying aren't entirely bad, have some good things going for them. Most people do. But I certainly hate that part of them. We're not supposed to say that; we're supposed to be about love and taking the high road. Alas, I'm not that good a person. If you think that you have the right, God-given or otherwise, to try your damnedest to dismantle someone else's family because of their sexual orientation, then I hate you, you personally. And if I die and it turns out that you were right that there is a God who's gendered male and He thinks queer love is a sin, then fuck your God, too, because I want nothing to do with Him.
All of these things, of course, are comparatively petty when you consider the shit going down in Uganda and other countries that criminalize homosexuality.
But I literally don't even have words for that right now, so I'm just going to end this post with New York Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, who today voted in favor of recognizing gay marriage in her state and argued for her decision eloquently, lucidly, and respectfully.
Thank you, Senator.
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