I had the beginning of a really incredible blog entry started last night as I watched the election results come in showing Obama's overwhelming win. Tears started to well up in my eyes.
I watched Senator John McCain's very classy, very graceful concession speech. I watched Fox News somehow jump on the Obama bandwagon and go from being the Conservative Right, to healing somewhere in the middle. They saw America speak and they recognized the change ahead. I then watched Obama give basically an acceptance speech to the thousands of people that already knew the outcome before the day had started. Change was at hand.
And then.
Well, and then, I saw the results starting to pour in for Proposition 8...the Proposition that legislates hate...making gay people second class citizens. When I first saw the numbers, Proposition 8 was passing 53-47. I stayed up way too late last night watching the percentage of precincts increase up to nearly 50%.
I've been sick the past two days, and although I should have been at home getting some rest, I've been at work because of my heavily weighted portion of the project's schedule. And, perhaps because I am a little out of it, the fire within me feels...well, it feels like shit.
I thought we stood not on the verge of change, but that we saw the sun set on a time of segregation...of separatism...of inequality. And, yet, we haven't.
Proposition 8 passed 52% - 48% (95% of precincts are reporting). And if you look at the breakdown of the exit polls, it wasn't the white people, or Asian people, nor most of the Latino people that voted for Proposition 8. What percentage of people voted in favor of Proposition 8?
Black people.
I thought they had a dream. I thought we all had a dream. I thought, they, out of all the colors of our skins, would understand this election more than any other.
I was wrong.
I won't be cliche and say that I'm not a racist...but I believe in equality for all, no matter the color of our skins, the inabilities we face, the sexual orientations we have, the genders we are, or any other item that makes each of us unique.
I voted for Obama, not because he is Black, not because he is from Illinois, nor because he is married and has children. I voted for him because I thought he was the right candidate to be in office.
California had the chance to not only lead the way of change, but stand proud and say, "We are all equal. We can all have a dream."
But we didn't. We said that it is ok to discriminate based on sexual orientation. That separate, but equal, is still OK.
And it wasn't just California, it was Arizona, Arkansas, and Florida, not to mention the numerous states that have already legislated against gay people and gay people seeking to adopt children or have children via either artificial means.
The one sliver of hope I have, though, is in the youth of our nation. Those under 30 were overwhelmingly against Proposition 8...the only age bracket with a majority of people against the proposition. And they are the ones that can finally take this nation forward.
So, today, we may still live in a land of separatism, but we stand strong with the hope that one day, all of our dreams may come true.
4 comments:
I think they voted against it because they didn't want judges making laws. If the legislature had stepped in and done its job, there would be no ban.
When the marriage amendment was on the ballot here in Kentucky (2004), there was no doubt that it would pass and it did, but what was surprising were the results here in Louisville. In the urban core, every precinct voted against the amendment with the exception of the heavily black west end. They went something like 90% against marriage equality and the black churches in Louisville, the only part of the state with a large minority population, worked overtime to vote to ban same sex marriage.
Fast forward to last year and the local school board voting on extending employment protection to teachers based upon sexual orientation and gender identity. The black churches once again went ballistic and came out in droves to try and stop it. One after another, church leaders who we had worked side by side with in so many other progressive causes, came forward to speak and told us all that we were going to hell in a hurry and that if this passed, we'd all be abusing kids and such.
Well, the board overwhelmingly ignored them and added the protections but it was a real eye opener for those of us in the Fairness Campaign who had spent many years helping those same churches.
They didn't vote against it because of any silly judges, that's what judges are supposed to do, interpret the constitution and legality of laws, they voted against it because of blatant homophobia. I'm not sure how we change this though. I remember that here in Louisville, after the school board vote, the black teachers who were working with us to get this passed, were so angry and pledged to educate.
It seems that in America, we still have a long ways to go. We're moving slowly past the racial angle but when it comes to the gays and such, well, it's still open season. Kara, you and I are the same age and probably about the time our generation begins to retire, things will change, but until this older generation dies off, second class citizens we are.
Maybe all is not lost. IIRC there was a ruling by the California Supremem Court back in June that said the equal rights protection in the state's constitution applies to gay/lesbians.
A proposition wouldn't be able to change the state constitution, wouldn't they have to re-write that first for the prop 8 to have any weight?
I'm sure a number of lawyers are already on the case and hopefully prop 8 will be found unconstitutional.
I voted for Obama based on his political views and not because of his race. I also voted no on prop 8. I was disappointed to see the results come in. I moved to California from the South because I thought it was a more diverse area and liberal area to live in. I hope that prop 8 is challenged in the California or U.S. Supreme Court and found to be unconstitutional.
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