Rambly thoughts on Prop 8 and California
Hate to break it to you, but California is not the great promised land of equality and tolerance and love. There are teeny tiny pockets where this seems to be the case, but step outside those areas and you’re right back into the same crap you see everywhere else - it’s just sunnier. I’ve lived in California (this go-round) since late February 2007. The area where I live is within reasonable driving distance (30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic) of San Francisco. We’re considered part of the “Bay area” and have many people who commute into the city. We also have lots of people that don’t.
Our neighborhood, as I posted yesterday, is quite racially diverse. On just our little block we have an old first-generation German (?) immigrant couple, two Mexican families, a Chinese couple, an out lesbian county official, an Indian family, a very blue-collar white family, another white family with solar panels and a wind turbine, then Hubby and me. We don’t really talk politics - in part because of Daddy’s practice. Nobody had any yard signs out for the election and I didn’t notice any bumper stickers. Most of the people right around us aren’t even registered to vote (possibly because they’re not citizens).
Most of these people knew Daddy before he started transitioning. While some have expressed confusion at various times, most have fairly quickly moved to using his new name. The town where we live still has a “small town” feel to it. People know each other, many of these people grew up here. Daddy still sees many of the people that went to school with him.
Yet, when it comes right down to it, I know that most of these people are bigots. They’re “OK” with the people that they know (at least to their face) but anything beyond that is not OK - especially when it comes to the LGBTQ stuff. Hell, Daddy’s own sister didn’t come to our wedding - she and her husband chose to play/gamble in Reno instead. If you pay attention and step outside of the bubbles (which most visitors don’t) you can really see this.
For some reason, many (most?) people feel that they need an “other”, a “bad guy” if you will. This becomes their standard against which they can judge themselves. “I’m a good Christian because I’m not like them. I’m living the right life, they aren’t.”
The yes on 8 campaign was very intelligent. They knew the strengths / weaknesses of Californians and played right into them. Sure, they used the morality argument, but the campaign was mostly about protecting children and family. They also asserted (very wrongly of course) that this was a matter of religious freedom and freedom of speech. Somehow they convinced people that churches who chose not to perform gay marriages (I really hate that term) would lose their non-profit status.
So am I surprised that Prop 8 passed? Not in the least. Saddened, yes, but not surprised.
California leans Democrat, but from what I've seen that's only because of white guilt about helping out "the less-fortunate" combined with a rather ethnically diverse population that supports social programs. There's also the "green" factor.
On the other hand, we now have a President-elect who made a point of including sexuality diversity in his victory speech. While it was far from perfect, it is now out there explicitly.
Our neighborhood, as I posted yesterday, is quite racially diverse. On just our little block we have an old first-generation German (?) immigrant couple, two Mexican families, a Chinese couple, an out lesbian county official, an Indian family, a very blue-collar white family, another white family with solar panels and a wind turbine, then Hubby and me. We don’t really talk politics - in part because of Daddy’s practice. Nobody had any yard signs out for the election and I didn’t notice any bumper stickers. Most of the people right around us aren’t even registered to vote (possibly because they’re not citizens).
Most of these people knew Daddy before he started transitioning. While some have expressed confusion at various times, most have fairly quickly moved to using his new name. The town where we live still has a “small town” feel to it. People know each other, many of these people grew up here. Daddy still sees many of the people that went to school with him.
Yet, when it comes right down to it, I know that most of these people are bigots. They’re “OK” with the people that they know (at least to their face) but anything beyond that is not OK - especially when it comes to the LGBTQ stuff. Hell, Daddy’s own sister didn’t come to our wedding - she and her husband chose to play/gamble in Reno instead. If you pay attention and step outside of the bubbles (which most visitors don’t) you can really see this.
For some reason, many (most?) people feel that they need an “other”, a “bad guy” if you will. This becomes their standard against which they can judge themselves. “I’m a good Christian because I’m not like them. I’m living the right life, they aren’t.”
The yes on 8 campaign was very intelligent. They knew the strengths / weaknesses of Californians and played right into them. Sure, they used the morality argument, but the campaign was mostly about protecting children and family. They also asserted (very wrongly of course) that this was a matter of religious freedom and freedom of speech. Somehow they convinced people that churches who chose not to perform gay marriages (I really hate that term) would lose their non-profit status.
So am I surprised that Prop 8 passed? Not in the least. Saddened, yes, but not surprised.
California leans Democrat, but from what I've seen that's only because of white guilt about helping out "the less-fortunate" combined with a rather ethnically diverse population that supports social programs. There's also the "green" factor.
On the other hand, we now have a President-elect who made a point of including sexuality diversity in his victory speech. While it was far from perfect, it is now out there explicitly.