Americans seem to get so much more riled up for situations where they can be against something rather than in support of an ideal. To put it another way, we are drinking the haterade. It's time to realize that a lack of effort equals inaction, and an inability to counter this "anti" fervor is tantamount to failure.
The number of individuals who actually support gay marriage, and how said people fit along the bandwidth of bigotry are factors decreasing in importance in the modern struggle to implement common sense and gay rights in our society. It has become an issue of who can yell the loudest, and it's plain foolish for progressives to think that leading up to one of these stupid ballot measures there won't be some town crier and his band of hooligans trailing closely behind.
I don't have enough information to criticize the effort of the pro-gay marriage supporters in Maine, or their execution and impact. It's fine if they thought it was only about Maine, but 2 seconds of thought would clearly reveal that's not how our contemporary media works. Possibly, they thought completely the opposite, and were unable to acutely focus on appealing to local voters. Either way, the right wing always seems to feel they are fighting a nationwide battle with widespread implications-even on the local level-and whether valid or not, it appears to be a consistently motivating factor for voters on cultural issues.
Perhaps the rest of us have an inability to think so grandiosely, a quality which is often unattractive and damaging. Yet with an utter refusal to frame the gay marriage debate in even somewhat truthful or logical terms, we will continue being at the mercy of the right wing. We may laugh when they say they're doing something bigger than themselves, but perhaps some focus beyond only self-serving issues might someday be useful to the rest of us. Zealots come in many shape and forms, and seem to be of increasing value come election day.
It's not about other countries laughing at us, it's not about the prejudices you hate or the ones you hang on to, it's not about it being cool to take a stance, or hating conservatives, supporting or opposing gay marriage for no particular reason, it's not about trying to be trendy, and it's not about your own marriage or concept thereof. It is a simple matter of human and civil rights.
I'd like to believe at some point in my lifetime this nation can move on to arguing about issues which actually have more than one valid side to them, issues with some texture and grey area which are more convoluted than the black and white topics shoved down our face every day.
Then I think, and I realize maybe that's not what it's about either. I'm an effort to dodge the conflict and difficulty associated with the gay marriage debate, and truly, the issue of homosexuality in America as a whole, I am losing any vision of a solution. Perhaps because I'm not on the fence about this, I just feel like it should end a certain way so we can move on. That's not only short-sighted, but ignorant as well. It isn't for the reason that my belief necessarily devalues the effort put forth by gay rights supporters, but rather because it overvalues the level of communication and understanding within our culture.
Myself, along with many other Americans, have to realize that these goals haven't been reached, and that expectation alone accomplishes very little, especially as long as there is at least one person on the other side of the aisle, screaming as loudly as they possibly can.
4 comments:
I'll be the first to say that I'm probably biased when they say this (not because I have that much faith in the judicial system, more because of proximity and familiarity) BUT, I think that the Supreme Court needs to grow a pair and rule that preventing someone from marrying a person because they are of the same gender is in violation of the Constitution, so any and all state laws that prohibit it should be struck down. Its pretty clear cut to me, the 14th Amendment says everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. If you're prohibiting a whole segment of the population from enjoying the same rights everyone else has, you're violating the 14th amendment.
I guess I just trust legislators and the average person less than I trust the Supreme Court.
also, I like this: http://trueslant.com/KashmirHill/2009/11/03/gay-rights-activists-outing-their-opponents-political-orientation/
I don't trust the average person either. Contrary to popular opinion there are actually some truly exceptional congressmen/women, unfortunately they're not running the Democratic Party.
You know more than me, so I'll take it as encouraging that you have faith in the Supreme Court, but to me the lineup seems absolutely dreadful. There are at least 3 members I would spill an italian ice on if I saw them.
I should have been clearer, I trust the institution of the Supreme Court, not some of the jokers we have in there now. I think if you look at the evolution of civil rights in this country, its often been the court that sets the pace and then society catches up. (Brown v. Board, Loving v. Virginia, Gideon v. Wainwright, Roe v. Wade, Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas) That's not to say the court hasn't screwed it up completely many times (Dred Scott v. Sanford, Korematsu v. US, Plessy v. Ferguson, Bowers v. Hardwick). The court just seems to get to the right answer before we can get to it through people who need to stay popular to keep their jobs. So definitely not a ringing endorsement of the court, but I guess I think they're the body that will get it done eventually.
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