Leelanau Whippersnapper

After a tremendous victory for the Democratic party and Obama, change is indeed on the way to Washington.  Unfortunately some types of change were set back in this election cycle.  Gay Americans were defeated in a very important state this year.  California voted by a slim margin to write discrimination into their state constitution to prohibit gay marriage.  This is quite unfortunate for one of the most progressive states in the Union.  Earlier this year, their state Supreme Court ruled that prohibiting Gays from marrying violated their state constitution (a finding that quite a number of state supreme courts have found).  With that ruling, hundreds of thousands of gays and lesbians in California were granted marriage certificates.  With last nights election, those once valid marriages have become null and void.  This is a major set back for gay rights in this country.  Trends are set in California and this defeat sets back the gay rights movement a number of years.  At the same time, Arizona, and Florida both passed similar constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman (Michigan already has such an amendment).  Arkansas on the same note, outlawed single people (gays included) from being foster parents or adoptive parents.  Another election cycle done and people once again have been stripped of fundamental freedoms in this country.

I don’t weigh in very much on gay politics in this blog but it seems now that the only hope gays and lesbians will have to win the right to marry will boil down to what will be a very contentious Supreme Court decision which won’t likely happen for several years to come.  Some states have created equivalents to marriage without the name but alas for me, none of those states are close to Michigan and I’m not interested at this time in leaving the state (although the thought has crossed my mind on a number of occasions).  My biggest issue I guess is not that some people seem intent on marginalizing other people (I do that frequently on this blog) but that in respect to basic freedoms, we have so altered the fundamental documents that enshrine those freedoms to ALL people in this country.   State constitutions are so weighted down with amendments that both give and take away rights that they have lost much of their significance as documents of freedom and justice.  Not before the 20th century have constitutions stripped individuals of their rights but in the last 15 years many have done just that.  There are all kinds of arguments on this level, none of which I will get into here.  I’ll end it by saying that while this Democratic victory is significant and important, this country still has a long way to go before it realizes the fundamental principal of freedom to ALL.

I’ll likely live to see the day when gays and lesbians are finally allowed to marry the person they love, my parents won’t, most of the baby boomer generation won’t.  It’s important to note in this defeat in California, the under 35 group overwhelmingly voted against this divisive amendment and that has been the trend all over the country.  Younger people don’t and won’t tolerate discrimination in the way that older Americans do.  Things will change, it will just take time.

I don’t post much in the way of political punches on this blog but since it pertains to my life I had to post this. Even talking head Bill O’Reilly can’t get a cohesive answer out of the opponents for gay marriage equality. Good for him for pushing the dingle-berry on his show for a better answer. “Because” just isn’t good enough if you want to outright ban something or write it into the constitution. ESPECIALLY in California where gay marriage is now legal. It’s going to take one hell of an argument to persuade one of the most liberal states in the country to back down from the court’s ruling on this. Watch this video.