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11.04.09 - 9:06 AM
Next Time, She Said...
...of the stinging defeat of marriage equality in Maine. She wore a grimace, pained but blithe, like she had been here before. She and her partner have two kids - Like Any Other Family - and we had both just dropped our kids at school. She spoke with resignation of a race that had always been close, of the long slow arc of history, of a campaign that drew so many "exceptional" people, gay and straight. There was, appropriately, no mention of God. There was only the dogged road ahead.
"We'll get there," she grinned, clambering back on her bike. "Unless I get killed on this thing first."
21 Comments so far
Show AllThis vote wasn't "democracy," it was a sarcasm of democracy.
It was two wolves and a sheep voting over what's for dinner.
"We'll get there," she grinned, clambering back on her bike. "Unless I get killed on this thing first."
This lady showed the most intelligent attitude and made the wisest comment on this election. Follow her example and victory will follow.
Wow, a case where the legislature is actually AHEAD of the people on something.
Way to go, Maine, you lowered yourselves to the level of the Mormons, who are the ones who paid for this little bit of hypocrisy. You should NEVER listen to those from another state all the way across the country who want to shove THEIR agenda down your throat. Rest assured, they are now going home, having done their dirty work on your souls.
I will never understand WHY this is such a big deal for people. If YOU'RE not going to marry someone of the same sex, why should it matter to you if someone else does? What effect does it really have on you? I'm totally secure in knowing that if a guy tells me he wants to have sex with me that I'm not going to do it, and I'm just not threatened by it. In fact, the one time it DID happen, I wasn't threatened by it at all. Surprised, but not threatened. Because I'm secure enough in who I am to know that I am just not interested. And I don't see why it should be threatening to anyone else, either. It's just not your business if you're not involved in it, is it?
It's a real shame that Maine decided to stay in the dark and keep standing up for discrimination. Separate but equal was stricken down decades ago, maybe it's time that we move past the 1950's.
You just don't understand the threat of gay marriage.
You see the family values and the... Wait, I'll get it...
God and... Um, hold on, let me finish.
The children are... Uh.
In nature... Wait.
/sarcasm
In civilized countries, the majority are not allowed to vote on the removal of rights from the minority,
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
the GOP is the minority in the US Congress
Why is marriage equality even being voted on at all? We didn't vote on whether or not skin color can determine where you can sit on the bus. It's wrong to discriminate, even if the majority of voters want to.
Exactly.
Exactly. But it didn't come overnight either. It just kept coming till the inequity was resolved. This will too.
The inequity was resolved? Ask any African-American - their issues are not resolved. And our issues are not resolved. They're just further along the road than we are. I don't think any minorities (or women) we'll be seeing anything resolved in our lifetimes. The best we can hope for is slow, ameliorative progress. Which I think we're making. Remember how many referendums it took to get anti-discrimination laws in Maine? Wasn't it 3 times, with only a very small margin of victory the 3rd time? We've only had one on this issue so far. And 3 whole other states have marriage equality newly this year. DC, New York are both on the way. Plus, there's some silver lining in Washington to boot - we didn't even have that last year, so I mean if you ask me, we did better. If this was all it took to stop our progress, we wouldn't have Vermont, New Hampshire, or Iowa today. Progress marches on despite us.
And, on the flip side, remember, even after it's enacted, years after, it can still be taken away. That is, until the Supreme Court finally steps in and enforces Article IV and the 14th Amendment. Even after that, nothing prevents a national constitutional amendment. So even if we win all 50 states and the federal government, we're going to have to keep on fighting, just to hold on to them. It's not like it was really going to be over regardless. I hope other minorities are paying attention to that too - how secure are you in the 1964 Civil Rights Act? The 15th & 16th Amendments? Even the 14th? I mean, this just goes to show, all laws of men can be altered. No battle is ever 100% fought. This is why we have to stick together. We all act like these things are done and settled, but they never really are. Anyone with a cross and a bible can come along and muck up any amount of progress with just a dash of fear, lies, and circumstance.
We have 10% of the states so far. What we need is just a little more efficiency. A bit better of a win-to-loss ratio. Or maybe just more time. And I'll agree with you on that. And you know, maybe it would be good if this time, we channel the energy into something a little more productive than a self-flagellating protest. Why don't we do home renovations for the poor or something? They always seem to love it when the TV queens do that. Their votes count just as much, you know. It's hard to see a bunch of suburban drawlers complaining that we're building houses with flair in their general direction. Way more effective than stone-casting... Everyone hates playing into the stereotypes but, if you look at the experience of racial minorities and women in this country - well - what do you think they did? It's what works. Why not use it to our advantage?
Gay marriage has lost in every state (31 so far) where the measure has been brought to a vote of the electorate.
The people have spoken. Perhaps we need to divert our energy elsewhere withe better chances?
The people have spoken? Well then, perhaps the United States doesn't deserve anything better than what it has, a failed economy, a lame president, no health care, and red neck idiots who fuck their relatives and deprive Afro-Americans and other minorities of their rights. I said it after the defeat in California, and I say it now, fuck off, America, who needs you, and the Mormons and Catholics and fundamentalists can have you.
wait a minute George, didn't 70% plus of African Americans in CA vote no on gay marriage? And over 60% of Mexicans? Are they far right fundies? The African Americans that came out in record numbers to vote for Obama.
Maine is full of them? Oregon? Michigan? Michigan has a huge union vote. Can't be all the far right, knuckle dragger's fault
Yep.
Boycott Maine Lobster!
‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: all that have fins and scales, those in the water, in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10 ‘But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you,
God says so!
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
what if the lobster fishermen voted for gay marriage? Just go after the far right majority in Maine. No democrat or liberal would vote no on gay marriage.