Sullivan: Chill Out On Proposition 8

Andrew Sullivan on the gay anger over 8:

Calm down. We are not experiencing a massive, permanent backlash.
The
next generation overwhelmingly backs the right to marry, and there is no sign of
cultural reversal, even if we have suffered some electoral set-backs. If Obama
has taught us anything, it is to keep our eyes on the prize, and not always to
react impulsively to hatred, bigotry or simple ignorance by exaggerating its
power over us. We are winning. We lost this one, by an excruciatingly small
margin. But the whole point of this movement is education in support of
toleration. Even though we lost, we persuaded many of something they barely
thought about a short time ago. I am immensely touched by the support of
straight readers and all of you, gay and straight, who donated time and money to
the No On 8 campaign. We need to remember this as well. And the sight of a small
minority having basic equality stripped from them by a religiously-funded
majority is itself educational. It has already changed minds. One thing we need
to remember is dignity in defeat. That's how it becomes victory.

Some good points here, but I don't think that the gay community's expressions of anger are a bad thing. We have a right to be angry...and to turn our anger into mobilization toward productive strategies for change.

Jim

David Foster - Carol of the Bells

I need something to cheer me up after the anti-gay triumphs on election day. Just in time...it's the holidays! One radio station in Philadelphia is already playing non-stop holiday music. Here's one family's light display set to a great version of "Carol Of The Bells" by Daivd Foster. Hooray for the holidays!

Proposition 8: What The Gay Community Must Do Now

Yesterday was not a good day for me. I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach.

While so many people were celebrating the results of the election, many of us in the gay community were sickened and outraged at the outcome in California. Proposition 2, which protects farm animals from abuse, passed handily, while Proposition 8, which strips gay people of a fundamental right under the California constitution, also passed. It appears that farm animals have more rights in California than do gay people.

There's plenty of blame for this to go around starting with President-elect Obama, who stated his opposition to gay marriage in an interview with MTV just a few days before the election. African-Americans voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition 8. Obama could have spoken out forcefully to members of the Black community against Prop 8 but he did not. Then there's the governor of California, Mr. Schwarzenegger, who promised gays he'd be there for them in this battle but did nothing. Some criticism of the tactics of the "No On 8" campaign appears to be valid. Finally, I think the gay community nationwide failed to mobilize so as to counteract the activities of the Catholic Church and its supporters, and the Mormons.

On a day when history was made with the election of our first African-American president, another kind of history was also made in California. For the first time, the right of gay and lesbian couples to legally marry was stripped away from us. This is a black day for our nation. Gay people remain the only minority without legal protections, the only minority that it's OK to verbally bash, physically harm, to hate, and to take rights away from.

The anger in some quarters of the gay community is palpable. Hopefully, this will translate into a re-energizing within our community that is long overdue. The victories won by the religious right and other gay haters might very well embolden them to seek to further marginalize gay people in this country.

We must fight back. We must demand that politicians take principled stands on our behalf in exchange for our votes. We need to detach our fight for our civil rights from a reliance on politicians from any one political party. It's not too late to turn the tide on those who hate us but we must act on our own behalf. This is no time for complacency. There should be a renewed national gay rights mobilization. We must act now.

Jim

The End Of The Golden Age Of Gay Rights

Blogger Richard Rothstein:

America enters a new world on this day. But a golden age of gay
rights has died a quick death after a very short life. And as a gay
American I am once again faced with an almost daily decision: which mask do I
don as I head out into the heterosexual world?

As expected, Obama's base swept him into the White House while sweeping away gay rights, banning gay marriage in Arizona, Florida and California. The
question now becomes who will Obama ask for compromise? Will he honor the
wishes of his core African-American and Christian base or will he deliver on his
promise of full equality for all Americans?

No Time For The Gay Community To Celebrate

It appears as though it's a clean sweep for the anti-gay bigots. Marriage equality was defeated in Florida, Arizona, and probably in California. In Arkansas, the good citizens passed a ban on gay people adopting children. In California, the heavily Black and Hispanic populations of Los Angeles County actually voted in the majority in favor of Proposition 8 while voting for Obama. It's a black day for gay rights. As one writer put it on another blog:

Obama has become a powerful role-model for oppressed minorities in America.
He has set an example for African Americans in particular, whom exit poles
indicated as voting over 70% in favor of Proposition 8, on how to vote
homophobically while maintaining a clear conscience. In Obama's America,
non-whites have finally won acceptance into the highest reaches of mainstream
society, but queers remain firmly shut out.

I have no expectations that the plight of the gay community will improve under President Obama. I have no reason to have any such hope.

Jim

Weezer - Undone -- The Sweater Song

Music break...I love this song...can't believe it's 14 years old!

Jim

The Obama Gay Marriage Disappointment

Talking Points Memo is one of the most read and respected political blogs out there. The other day a pro-Proposition 8 ad started appearing on TPM. Needless to say, many TPM readers wrote in to portest the ad. Josh Marshall has responded citing his policy of not censoring ads for content, only for accuracy. This is why he did not take down the ad:

Obama says he opposes Prop 8. And he says he's for civil unions. But he has
also said clearly that he opposes same-sex marriage. This is the ambiguity the
creators of the ad were clearly playing on. The ad may imply and I think it is
misleading; but it doesn't say something that is clearly false. And so we
decided to keep it running.

So, there you have it in a nutshell. Obama is totally wrong for publicly stating his opposition to gay people getting married. They are already getting married in Mass., CA., and soon, Conn., and what this country needs is a leader prepared to stand for justice and marriage equality for all citizens including gay and lesbian Americans.

Jim

Divisive.

This should help!

No on 8: Parents

Hoping for the defeat of this anti-gay ballot initiative tomorrow!

Proposition 8 May Fail..And Nader (Again)

The latest polling seems to indicate that the anti-gay marriage ballot initiative in California may fail. Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwartzenegger are now being quoted in ads and telephone calls in opposition to 8. Let's hope that this piece of pure hatred is defeated on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Carl Bernstein is whining about Nader in an article over at Huffington, worried that Nader could hurt Obama. Carl needs to chill a bit. The last time I checked democracy means that everyone should have a chance to run including Ralph Nader. Something tells me that if Obama loses it will not be because of Ralph Nader, rather, the Bradley effect (racism.)

Jim