Wednesday, November 05, 2008
No one is free while others are oppressed.
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain
until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.
President Barack Obama:
What a night.
What a moment in history.
What a night.
What a moment in history.
Equal Rights for All:
Gone.
Gone.
To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr:
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by those
who perpetrate it but the silence over that by the people who don't."
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by those
who perpetrate it but the silence over that by the people who don't."
I woke up this morning and sobbed. My chest racked with sobs as I realized the enormity of the hypocrisy that happened in voting booths yesterday in California. Even though we celebrated with throngs of people last night in a victory of epic proportions, this morning held a different story. Dani and I held each other in bed, crying and mourning the reality that people who were inspired by and truly seemed to believe the phrase, "Yes we can!" voted in stunning numbers to say, "No you can't!" They banned the right to marry by passing Proposition 8. That right had already been decided by the state supreme court and people voted to eliminate it - thereby singling out one group of people for unequal treatment.
Both races show us that money can - and does - change the course of an election. I'm grateful for all the $5 and $50 donations to Barack Obama's campaign and I am so sad that the Mormons just had more money to spend in California than we did. Liberal and fair-minded people believed the negative and deceptive ads bought by the Mormons and the Catholics. California Democrats were busy and energized (and somewhat distracted toward) the Obama campaign and just didn't focus forces to get information out to people about Proposition 8. I am one of those people and I am not proud of it.
My great elation and hope at a new President and a Democratic majority in the Senate is marred by deep sadness for a battle that appears to be lost - a battle that will have terrible consequences in the years to come for equal rights under the law for all people.
The best article that reflects my sentiments so far is here. I am sure there will be further analysis. I can only hope that we will be able to challenge this proposition in court - not only for the sake of equality for all but also for our democracy itself. Believe me - if the emancipation proclamation or Brown vs. the Board of Education or any of the dozens of Supreme court cases that ultimately lead to equal rights for people of color had been put up to a popular vote just after each decision was made, we would not have elected Mr. Barack Obama last night.
Both races show us that money can - and does - change the course of an election. I'm grateful for all the $5 and $50 donations to Barack Obama's campaign and I am so sad that the Mormons just had more money to spend in California than we did. Liberal and fair-minded people believed the negative and deceptive ads bought by the Mormons and the Catholics. California Democrats were busy and energized (and somewhat distracted toward) the Obama campaign and just didn't focus forces to get information out to people about Proposition 8. I am one of those people and I am not proud of it.
My great elation and hope at a new President and a Democratic majority in the Senate is marred by deep sadness for a battle that appears to be lost - a battle that will have terrible consequences in the years to come for equal rights under the law for all people.
The best article that reflects my sentiments so far is here. I am sure there will be further analysis. I can only hope that we will be able to challenge this proposition in court - not only for the sake of equality for all but also for our democracy itself. Believe me - if the emancipation proclamation or Brown vs. the Board of Education or any of the dozens of Supreme court cases that ultimately lead to equal rights for people of color had been put up to a popular vote just after each decision was made, we would not have elected Mr. Barack Obama last night.
"Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. " - Thomas Jefferson
I personally blame myself for the loss of this battle. There was so much more I could have done. I should have written this letter and sent it three days ago. I regret that I didn't. Our house was egged, our car was egged, dozens of our "No on Prop 8" signs were stolen or defaced - from our own yard. During the course of this campaign, I was booed and given the finger on many occasions. I was called "sick" and "wrong", "faggot" and dyke" (2 out of 4- not bad). One woman told me that I might as well be allowed to marry a horse. People gave me many thumbs down, they waved their "Yes on 8" bumper stickers out of their car window in traffic. They hung up on me and they told me that they were afraid that gayness was going to become part of the school curriculum. I knew it was going to be close. And I wish I had done more. I wish you had done more.
My only hope is that we might be entering an age of possibility. We might be able, as a nation, to see that none of us is free until we all are free. I don't care if you call it marriage or civil union or domestic partnership, I have a dream that one day we will be able to become a family, not based on the gender of the person we love but on the commitment we share. When we can all have hospital visitation rights, when we can all easily commit our love and change our family names, when we can be covered as a family on insurance policies, when we can all share the responsibilities of parenthood and home ownership and social security benefits without having to jump through expensive legal hoops available to only some, then - and only then - will we be truly be free at last, free at last - thank the spirit of a people - free at last.
My only hope is that we might be entering an age of possibility. We might be able, as a nation, to see that none of us is free until we all are free. I don't care if you call it marriage or civil union or domestic partnership, I have a dream that one day we will be able to become a family, not based on the gender of the person we love but on the commitment we share. When we can all have hospital visitation rights, when we can all easily commit our love and change our family names, when we can be covered as a family on insurance policies, when we can all share the responsibilities of parenthood and home ownership and social security benefits without having to jump through expensive legal hoops available to only some, then - and only then - will we be truly be free at last, free at last - thank the spirit of a people - free at last.
Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
~Abraham Lincoln
~Abraham Lincoln
Where do you stand? How will you move forward?
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