We’ve already heard the hints (including from Di-Fi) that gay-rights supporters helped bring down the election. Please, find other folks to blame. Yes, conservatives turned out in record numbers to vote for “values,” and yes, Republicans exploited the gay rights issues.
But two things. First, the younger electorate is overwhelmingly with us on this issue. Second, the Republicans will always find something to exploit. Look how they demolished the political career of Max Cleland. Not since Nixon have we seen such dirty tricks. Karl Rove makes Donald Segretti look like a saint.
Not only that, a lot of Democrats who personally support gay rights hung back on this issue, or even, in the case of Kerry, denied us three times. Did that convince the conservatives? Of course not. Did that galvanize the last 10% of voters who held back on Kerry because he was perceived as too opportunistic, too wooden, too (dare I say it) flip-floppy? These folks could have come out to vote for their values, but instead they stayed home. As robust as turnout was, even for Democrats, some people didn’t vote, and some of them were people whose votes we needed. (Turnout was down from 2000 in Alameda County, for example, if SFGate’s data is correct.)
If you think the electorate is truly one-minded on this issue, ask yourself how openly-gay Democrat Lupe Valdez won the race for sheriff. In Dallas. Yes, Dallas, in the heart of Bush country, now has a gay female Latina sheriff.
I would also call on other gay librarians with blogs to be more forthcoming about their own opinions and ideas (in whatever direction) on this issue. You won’t get stoned to death for speaking up. The closet’s a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace.
Posted on this day, other years:
- Free Range Beer, Powerpoint, Writing, and Suitcases - 2008
- Whoops! - 2007
- Del.icio.us link of the day for November 4th - 2007
- Ontology is Miscellaneous; SJSU LIS Student in NY Times - 2007
- The User is not only not Broken... - 2006
- The Prodigal SWAG! - 2005
- A Conference Booth, from the Other Side - 2005
- Michael Stephens' Blog Survey, and Away to CLA - 2005
BRAVO.
from an uppity bisexual editor
won’t play the blame game or shame, dame!
Oregon went for Kerry and yet they passed the anti-gay constitutional amendment. I think that speaks volumes about the supposedly “liberal” party.
First, Di-Fi is practically a Republican so I try not to listen to her. And second, I don’t see how anybody could with good conscience blame gay rights. It just shows that a ploy of hate got out more voters than a lackluster senator did. I can only hope that as time marches on that those young voters that supported the cause will turn into a majority.
Karen et. al.
These issues involve everyone, and all should speak out regardless of who shares your life, your home, or the other half of your bed. For at least three years, many of us (GLBTQ, straight, or none of the above) haven’t honestly spoken out when it was most needed. If you voted in this election, should you be proud? Yes. If all you did in the past three-four years to guard the fundamental principles of this country is to vote, should you be proud? Of course not.
In the past three years, members of one political party have stood up and screamed at the top of their lungs What They Believe. Most members of the other major party, if they stood up at all, have merely said, “No.” Morality is not limited to registered Republicans, but too few of us non-Republicans have stood up in the past and said “We are moral people. We support the principles of our nation. We think and believe that all people should be treated equally and with dignity. We know that we are a stronger nation because we embrace a variety of religious beliefs. We know that any two consenting adults have the right to be married in the eyes of the law. We will not allow this country to deny rights to 10-15% of the population. We will not allow the Constitution of this nation to be rewritten to exclude certain individuals. If you want to be married in the eyes of your version of God, get married in your version of God’s house – but that marriage is not legal in the eyes of the law until you are also married by a judge.”
Morality begins at home, with how you treat other creatures, and very importantly, how and where you spend your money. You cannot completely divorce your belief system from how you spend your money. I’m always asking: Would a moral person, or any self-proclaimed *Christian*, shop at a company where they underpay female workers, promote men over women, refuse health care benefits, open despise GLBTQ individuals, and account for 10% of all imports from the nation of China where they violently oppress Christianity? Obviously, I think not, but millions of self-proclaimed members of the *Saved* spend their money buying WWJD bracelets and tshirts manufactured in China.
Do you take public transit? Do you shop organic? Do you pay extra for your electricity, because that kind of electricity comes from sustainable energy resources? Do you refill your waterbottle, rather than purchasing a new plastic bottle of water each day to combat the grains of plastic showing up in beaches across the world? Do you walk out of your house of worship when they deny basic human rights to your friends, family, and coworkers? Do you shop local markets rather than the ubiquitous evil WalMorte?
“But life is expensive,” you say. “Things are cheaper there.” Cheaper at what cost? Did you really need the gigantic bag of chips, 5 new tshirts, and all of that plastic? Houses of worship also require money to stay afloat, so stop giving your money to humans who contort the messages of the Divine in order to discriminate.
Can you make this level of choice with everything you do? Very unlikely, but you can begin today and see where you get in 4 years. The United States is being left behind in education, technology, care of the environment, health care, and tolerance by dozens of other nations. Where will we be in four years? Exactly where we deserve to be if we, each and every one of us, do nothing.
If anyone wants to start pointing fingers for the state of this nation, we must each begin by blaming ourselves, We the People.
mmc