Whitburn Politics Tracker

CHEER UP!  WE’RE WINNING -

The arch of the Georgia Street Bridge was like a depressed frown at the entrance to Hillcrest last week as the LGBT community lamented its loss in another vote on marriage, this time in Maine.

Stampp Corbin asked in his GLTNN column whether it might be smarter to pursue civil unions instead of marriage: “I understand those who are committed to the word marriage and will accept nothing else in the meantime.  That’s exactly what they are getting, nothing. ”

Nicole Murray-Ramirez echoed Stampp’s concern in his post entitled “Would ‘civil unions’ have been a better strategy?”

Arlon Jay Staggs over at SDGLN argued for getting out of the marriage fight completely, writing that marriage equality activists “are actually ‘coffee-cup organizations’ of pissed-off nobodies who met at a Starbucks and gave themselves a cute name, all in reaction to Prop 8.”

Geez.  Someone get the medical marijuana.

Certainly, it is wise to ask tough questions and review strategy after a loss.  That said, a big-picture assessment of the marriage equality movement reveals a tremendous amount of progress in just the past five years:

• Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont currently marry gay and lesbian couples.
• California today has 18,000 married same sex couples who took their vows in 2008.
• New Hampshire begins same sex marriages on January 1.
• New York and Washington, D.C recognize same sex marriages performed elsewhere and may soon allow them to be performed there.

The many thousands of married gay and lesbian couples in our state and in our nation are the success stories of the marriage equality movement so far.

Even our “failures” show evidence of remarkable progress.  Not too long ago, if you had predicted that nearly half of Californians would vote for same sex marriage in 2008, you’d have been labeled a delusional grassroots nutjob.

Nine years ago, California voters approved Prop 22, banning same sex marriage, 61% to 39%.

But look: In 2008, California voters approved Prop 8, banning same sex marriage, 52% to 48%.

That’s a nine point swing in eight years.  Three more points to go.

Nationally, the average results of six U.S. polls from 2004-2005 found opposition to same sex marriage leading 62% to 33%.

But the average results of three national polls in 2009 finds opposition to same sex marriage leading 51% to 44%.

That’s an 11-point swing within 5 years.

Support for marriage in California and nationwide is rising at a rapid pace.  The only reason we’re making that kind of progress  is that we’re working so hard for it.

And of course we should be fighting for our right to marry.

Imagine if interracial couples had settled for civil unions or domestic partnerships because a majority of the public was opposed to marriage between black and white people.  How appalling would that be?

The marriage equality movement is young.  At first, we’re going to lose more than we win.  Pretty soon, we’ll start winning more than we lose.

Yes, we’re all a little battle-weary and grumpy.  It’s fine to vent after a loss.  But don’t forget to take a step back, look how far we’ve come, and be proud.

We’ve got more work to do.  And there are more losses to come.

But our movement’s heroes — who include Stampp, Nicole, Arlon and many others in our community — are the ones who keep working tirelessly to move the ball forward in the face of adversity.

Much as in 2000, the mood is depressed for the moment.

But go ahead.  Dare to believe that within the next several years, California voters will approve same sex marriage, and keep working toward that goal.

To you delusional grassroots nutjobs:  Thank you.  You are winning our equality.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 8:37 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.