Prop 8 Hate:
So I have mixed feelings about the response to Prop 8. I mean, obviously I hate Prop 8 and I think it is terrible and a giant step back. But shouldn’t all of these protests have happened BEFORE the election? I mean, the people of California have spoken, what exactly are these protests hoping to achieve? If it gets overturned by the state supreme court its not going to have anything to do with the protests. Its not like the polls lied, leading up to the election it looked really close so why are people surprised that it passed? Again, all this money and the energy should have happened before the election. And the blaming the whole think on black people really creeps me out. Plus, why are there protests in New York and Philly and Montana when this is a California measure that affects California citizens?
I personally feel that all this energy would be better spent trying to pass gay marriage laws in other states. New York is thisclose to having gay marriage be legal, it feels like if just the tiniest bit of pressure was put on our Gov he would pass any legislation that came his way. Obviously, Montana is far too conservative to have a gay marriage bill passed but hate crime and antidiscrimination bills still need to be passed and the libertarian live-and-let-live mentality (while often hypocritical) can be exploited.
Obviously I am not a lawyer or even an activist and maybe I am wrong and insensitive. Perhaps these rallies are a good way to build energy and momentum (instead of wasting it), to rally the base. But it the more tangible boycotting of organizations (theatres, restaurants) who gave money in support of prop 8 is more the kind of thing I can get behind.
Am I completely wrong?
I personally feel that all this energy would be better spent trying to pass gay marriage laws in other states. New York is thisclose to having gay marriage be legal, it feels like if just the tiniest bit of pressure was put on our Gov he would pass any legislation that came his way. Obviously, Montana is far too conservative to have a gay marriage bill passed but hate crime and antidiscrimination bills still need to be passed and the libertarian live-and-let-live mentality (while often hypocritical) can be exploited.
Obviously I am not a lawyer or even an activist and maybe I am wrong and insensitive. Perhaps these rallies are a good way to build energy and momentum (instead of wasting it), to rally the base. But it the more tangible boycotting of organizations (theatres, restaurants) who gave money in support of prop 8 is more the kind of thing I can get behind.
Am I completely wrong?
posted by Lark(e) at 3:07 PM
4 Comments:
Well, I think you might need to look at the big picture. Sure, the surge in gay rights activism was sparked by the passage of Prop 8, but the goals of the movement overall are not exclusively to overturn that proposition in that one state, nor is it exclusively to enable gay marriage in every state. After all, the fight for gay marriage and equal rights across the board has been going on for decades and decades.
In my opinion, the protests are less a reaction to one specific event, and more a part of this civil rights movement we're in the middle of, whose goal is to work towards a deep and substantial moral shift in America.
I think that protesting Mormon churches and organizations is the wrong move; it makes it seem like the focus is on various religions' definition of marriage, rather than the state's.
Honestly, I don't think that it should have been up for a vote at all. I don't think that civil liberties are up to a popular vote. I'm sure there are counties (and even states) where the majority would vote that black people can't marry white people, or Muslim's can't marry Christians, or Jews or whatever. But that wouldn't be tolerated.
I guess my feeling is that there is this sudden passion, which I inherently don't trust. Again, all this energy would have been better spent BEFORE the election. BUT I suppose that prop 8 is serving as a wakeup call that there is still a lot of work to be done and we shouldn't be complacent. That for every step forward we will take one back.
So I take it back. Go protests! Just don't forget about gay marriage when the next outrage comes along.
i think you need to remember that most people just like holding signs and yelling things. im not a mathematician or anything, but id guess around 85% of the protestors didnt even know what prop 8 was until it was passed, but now that they do, LETS GO PROTEST! get out that protest rat! woo!
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