There are surely a lot of Californians today who are viewing themselves as being oh so “sophisticated” and “forward thinking” because they were “open-minded” enough to cast their presidential ballot for an African-American candidate. They see themselves as being a vibrant part of the 21st century, standing on the winning side of an historic election that will change America.
And yet many of these same people voted for a constitutional amendment to remove rights of gays and lesbians by creating a permanent barrier that keeps the scary homosexuals at a second class status when it comes to the legal rights of marriage.
In contrast to the electoral map above showing the breakdown of counties with dark green for and light green against Proposition 8, here’s the equivalent map of counties supporting Obama and McCain. To the extent that these maps aren’t identically divided, we can basically identify pockets of bigotry disguised as enlightenment.
It is completely shameful that anyone would take pride in having helped elect Barack Obama, while at the same time helping to institutionalize discrimination that harkens back to the era of segregation!
If Proposition 8 holds up to legal challenges, which is far from certain, it will be extremely difficult to undo in a state that requires a two-thirds congressional majority for legislative constitutional amendments, and where gridlock is virtually ensured by the current districting practices.
However, I’m with Kos on the idea that the best way to respond to this odious proposition is to eliminate “marriage” as a legal construct altogether, and make all couples opt for a “civil union” in order to gain rights afforded by the state.
Then, we can let “marriage” be absolutely and completely between a couple and their God! Or their cult leader, or an ex-hippy circus clown, or their favorite mime, or whatever!
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