Are you bummed...

[inqueery]

...about Prop 8? Here is a very well written Reuters article on the issue that I think is a worthwhile read. Progress has been made, admittedly not as much as we'd like but things still march forward...

"It is fair at this point to write the obituary on gay issues being used in major candidate campaigns as a wedge issue" to fracture support,

Comments

[luxzia]

I am bummed. I voted, but not enough did against it.

All I can think is that the fight goes on, and hope it eventually won't be a fight, but rather most people will realize that it is a denial of people's fundamental rights that they themselves have.

But I think you're right that the time of it being a 'wedge' issue is over.

[inqueery]

Certainly is not a victory - but just not being a wedge issue, really, is great progress IMHO.

[rjb5]

To me, I think the most encouraging thing I saw about the Prop 8 was the exit polling showing vote by age group. The 18-35 bracket was 2 to 1 against the amendment; the >65 bracket was about 65/35 (IIRC) for it. So, those voters will die off soon enough, and although it's tough to swallow right now, I know that momentum is going in the right direction, despite occasional setbacks, and that at some point not too far in the future, it won't be an issue any more. And maybe, just maybe, by then I might have someone special so it might make a direct difference to me :)

[inqueery]

Oh yes the exit polling is QUITE interesting. This is a reality that I don't think is lost on the religious conservatives ... they know their time is waning which is why there is such a flurry of activity now.

Chuckles, agreed, ya who knows, by the time enough of them die off, I might actually find a BF... snickers.

Perhaps Premature

[walterwz]

I see the Prop 8 setback as evidence that fag bashing is the one remaining arrow in the conservative quiver. Every other Rove tactic failed or backfired.

Unfortunately this issue did manage to mobilize the base. I would much prefer they retire to their bomb shelters, clutch their guns and their children, wait for the rapture and despair.

I really do not have any evidence for this but every other political setback has been due to apathy.

Ultimately the final victory here is inevitable.

Re: Perhaps Premature

[inqueery]

Well Obama mobilized the one base of people who are still massively against us ... minorities(black/hispanic). That's a rift in the democratic party that needs to be healed ... but yes "queers" probably always are going to be a bit on the trodden upon side of things since we are a small minority.

Re: Real Political Necessities

[walterwz]

Are gay people and our families really such a small minority in California? I really do not know. The ability to amend the state constitution by initiative petition is really pretty stupid. I am really disheartened because gay people with any functional political sense are really hard to find. By and large they tend to be as single issue stupid as any right wing right to lifer.

[yagtex]

I am very bummed. Not so much about the marriage issue, but about the fact that Americans are willing to shut out certain citizens still. That America really does not believe in equal rights.

[inqueery]

Listening to the "how much progress we've made" statements when Obama won the White House, still can't help feel a bit hollow when Prop 8 passes. And doubly so when minorities are the ones who passed prop 8 by wide margins.

[anandaphoenix]

Admittedly, I'm saddened, but articles like that remain good reads. I'm a practiced cynic when it comes to politics, and I have little belief in the goodness of people in massive groups, but, I also believe the gay rights community to be incredibly stubborn.

At the very least I can say that this fight is far from over.