Today, I’m proud of my state, which made a tentative step toward marriage equality, or should I say all-but-marriage equality. By passing R-71, Washington became the first state to allow something like gay marriage by a vote of the people.
I wish I could be as proud of Eastern Washington, which rejected R-71 county for county.
That said, can someone explain to me why the hell we’re allowing issues of civil rights to be decided by vote at all? If it were up to a vote, African-Americans still wouldn’t have civil rights. The courts were able to enact immensely unpopular civil rights rulings against popular opinion in the 60’s, and they did so because it was the right thing to do.
You just don’t put people’s rights to a vote. Should we have a vote over whether Latinos can own houses? Should people of Middle-Eastern descent be able to get plane tickets? Should left-handed people be allowed to drive? True, none of those things are ‘rights’ enshrined in the US Constitution, but denying them by law involves unequal treatment under the law. And I’ll bet that churches and other political organisations could spend enough money to raise doubts and fears in a credulous populace, just as they have with recent anti-gay legislation.
Eventually the tide will turn. I just hope that the haters can one day feel ashamed for their actions and opinions. And in the meantime, these kinds of votes should not be happening.
5 November 2009 at 3:18 am
It's nice to see progress on this issue, lets hope other states (and countries) follow suit. That said, the public perception of equality is just as important as the legal protection; having equal rights in law is a hollow victory if you are still second-class in the minds of the populace. I'd be interested to know what the causal flow is between the two.
5 November 2009 at 9:55 pm
It took until 1991 until a majority of Americans were pro-interracial marriage.
You just have to force equality on society through the legislature and courts, and wait for the assholes and bigots to catch-up or die off.
6 November 2009 at 1:43 am
Have you seen this?
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/252735/october-26-2009/the-word—don-t-ask-don-t-tell
It's how I first heard of R-71. 🙂