Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Proposition 8: The Anger and the Beauty













I didn't think they were going to win.

I believe this battle will be won at the ballot box, when attitudes change. And politicians stop being cowards.

But it still hurts me to see how disappointed my brothers and sisters are in California tonight.

And like every gay person in the world tonight it also makes me angry.

On the other hand I know we're going to win in the end. And I'm so proud of the way the Prop Hate fighters have battled the bigots. They didn't have the money the homophobes had.

But still they fought back so proud, so strong, so gentle...














And still are.

Sometimes I wish we weren't so gentle.

If I was loose in the streets of California tonight I probably would have got into trouble.

But I wouldn't ask my brothers and sisters in California to change a thing. Because their struggle for equality and respect is as beautiful as they are. And that's why they are going to WIN.

On the other hand that doesn't mean I won't be wearing this t-shirt tonight....




















In solidarity eh?

Oh yeah....one more thing. Although I'm really angry, and scarily butch, and REALLY ready to rumble.

May the Gay God help me.

I still LOVE this sappy video...

9 comments:

Buffy said...

We expected the ruling to be as it was, but it still hurt deeply when it came down. We were hoping against hope that things might be different. Even though our marriages are safe--for now--it's a rather hollow consolation.

rww said...

"And like every gay person in the world tonight it also makes me angry."

You, and a lot of "straight" people too.

At least they did not forcibly divorce anyone, which just points out they hypocrisy if the whole thing - gay marriage is OK in California if you were married between the right dates on the calendar.

Anonymous said...

I read the text of the original Proposition and it's no wonder why it failed.

-------
"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California."
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It's a statement rather than a question. The statement expects a positive response while a question expects a choice of replies.

If the question had been something like "Should marriage between two persons of the same sex be valid?", there could have been a different result.

The Prop. 8 text is equal to push-polling rather than being a true question to sound out the public pulse.

Shame on the framers of that question; we know from what standpoint they wrote it.

So much for California democracy. So much for American democracy.

Simon said...

Hi Buffy...yes it is hurtful. And it's depressing to see judges and politicians too scared to do the right thing. But the tide of history will sweep over California soon, and as I said in my post, the struggle of Californians and other Americans for rights we enjoy here in Canada is both painful and inspiring to watch. Especially since we know the ending... :)

Simon said...

hi rww....yes that's true. Thankfully we have many great straight people on our side.
Because these judges can be recalled by voters, they came down right in the middle.
Although I was pleased to see that the dissenting voice came from a Hispanic American judge. So much for stereotypes.
The bottom line remains that nothing will change until attitudes to, and when that happens victory will be won at the ballot box.
The question is how long will that take. Will it be one year or will it be ten?

Simon said...

Hi Torontonian...good research :)
But I still don't think it would have changed the result. The Prop 8supporters used all kinds of lies and fake threats to scare voters. But they were only playing to deeply held prejudices.
I used to think you could wave a magic wand over all that crap and it would just go away. But now I'm older and more pessimistic.
Humans are geniuses at finding ways to take their eyes off the real problems of this world...

Anonymous said...

Simon:

Why is it that the country that makes the most noise professing its Christianity and its Biblical roots in the foundation of their government is the nation so greatly riddled with the worst crimes in greater proportion to almost any other nation in the world?

And its northern neighbour is quiet and modest and very highly regarded in the rest of the civilised world. Northern neighbour doesn't make a fuss about Bible and God in daily life and the people are happy and the contentedness index is greater than its southern neighbour.

Maybe keeping is simple and respecting the differentness of others has something going for it,
n'est-ce pas?

Simon said...

Hi Torontonian...I've always believed that differentness is good, and that without it life would be so boring.
But those who would tell us how to live our lives don't seem to take that into account.
They want us all to be like them. AAAAARGH !! :)
I remain confident good sense will prevail in the end. The United States has a lot to learn from Canada.
But since it taking them so long to GET IT, and I'm impatient, sometimes I'm discouraged...

Anonymous said...

Voters are idiots, and it shows. The fact that people actually bought the lie-filled ads is sad.

It's nice that already married couples keep their marriage - it also sets up a good legal argument for unfairness, if legally same sex marriage is 'wrong' then they should have been stripped, so it gives the pro-gay side good ammo for the courts. Honestly though, it's like living in a slave state, with the lucky 'freed' slaves alongside you while you can't do a damn thing yourself.