Last of the election posts, cross my heart

[shiredancer]

Wow, wasn't Tuesday night the most amazing night ever (in the history of politics in our lifetime, that is)? Or one of the best, anyway. YES, WE CAN! My heart is full to the brim with hope.

Here in California it was made bittersweet by the passage of Prop. 8, however. I'm heartsick that my supposedly liberal, open-minded state has passed a change to the *state constitution* to incorporate discrimination into it. It's... it's just... it's so heartbreaking. But petitions and appeals will follow, and in my heart I believe that if the time's not now, it will be, and in my lifetime too. It was so close, and at least that's heartening, to know how much closer it came than the last time it was on the ballot (2004, I think?).

Hmmm, that's a lot of heart going into this post.

Comments

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I was so disappointed to hear that Prop.8 got through. I really hope they repeal it soon. How on earth can people justify it?

[shiredancer.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Exactly. *cries*

[magician113.livejournal.com]

Bigotry sucks. I don't think the genie can be put back in the bottle for long on this -- Lawsuits are guaranteed to follow soon. When you look at how much money was spent to get this passed, and by a very slim margin, you can see that it's on shaky ground.

It's quite sad to think that a state constitution can be blown one way or the other by a simple majority, especially when that majority is a small number of voters relative to the population. Fortunately, we can look back in history to see that the bigots won't win forever. It's only a generation or two back when interracial marriage was against the law. Barack wouldn't have been born if that law had stood!

Meanwhile, hooray for Connecticut!

[shiredancer.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the solace and the good reminders!

And, erm, what was it that happened in Connecticut? *so focussed on CA, forgot to watch the others...*

[magician113.livejournal.com]

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that gays have the right to get married rather than to accept a civil union law. The final judgement will be entered next week and then the ceremonies can begin immediately. Massachusetts already performs gay marriages and has for a while. New Englanders do have a reputation for keeping their private lives *private*.

Here's a terrific article that appeared in one of our paper's online sites on Wednesday:
http://www.examiner.com/x-432-Wedding-Examiner~y2008m11d5-A-sad-day-for-gays-in-California-Arizona-and-Florida


There was also much post-election analysis about why the push was so strong for Prop 8 and many point directly to the Mormon Church throwing its resources at the elections in both California and Arizona, where a similar proposition banning gay marriages passed. A call to boycott Utah has begun on blogging sites. Lest you think "who cares about visiting Utah", this could be serious for them. The prestigeous (and wealthy) Sundance Film Festival is held there every year, and it's a big place for tourism, between the gorgeous parks and skiing. Here's the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_on_re_us/mormon_backlash_boycott_2;_ylt=AmZUny90SigVZUtKKs5TCCHLLJ94

I find it ludicrous that the Mormon church should pretty much admit that they were influencing the election yet whine that they are singled out for speaking their mind

Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? Oh if only our leaders really looked at that and started doing things like threatening their tax-exempt status over these transgressions. Alas, we may not have the power to do that, but we can spank them through economic boycotting, which I find amusingly ironic. It's a tactic the Christian Right has used anytime they don't like a movie or an opinion by any company who doesn't toe their line.

Courage, sisters and brothers.

[gillyp.livejournal.com]

It seems such a strange business - not just that people voted for it but that anyone thought it needed voting on. It just boggles the mind - especially when the bigots who pressed for this insanity are the ones usually so keen on their freedoms and keeping Government out of everything. I guess they only want to keep Government out of the things that are important to them.

That it passed on a vote is just... more than my feeble morning brane can deal with.

[magician113.livejournal.com]

especially when the bigots who pressed for this insanity are the ones usually so keen on their freedoms and keeping Government out of everything.

I've often been angered by that obvious duality of those who call themselves "conservatives". It used to be they called for less government intrusion. Now, it seems they want that for themselves in matters such as whether they own assault rifles, but not who their neighbors sleep with.

Sadly, although the money and power to spin the proposition their way was from conservative groups, they aren't the only ones who voted. The same people of color who turned out in droves to elect Barack Obama, namely blacks and hispanics, are traditionally anti-gay.

This fact was brought up Wednesday in a National Public Radio interview with a lesbian couple who worked for the Obama campaign in California. The bitter irony of energizing these groups to vote having the side effect of passing Prop 8 by a small margin was not lost on them. They were married during the brief time it was legal to do so and their status is now in limbo.

I, too, am shocked that something that should be so stable as a state's constitution is able to be redone with a simple majority vote. I guess they should just write the thing in pencil and have a big eraser handy.

[aslowhite.livejournal.com]

It's the next frontier. Like Obama said: We'll get there.

[shiredancer.livejournal.com]

Yes, we will! *hugs*