Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

While the outcome of the election was disappointing, it was not unexpected. Yes, I was dearly hoping that Bush would get voted out, but I was also aware that it would be a very close race. What did surprise me was what issues nudged the votes in his favour.

This election was not won on foreign policy, the economy, homeland security, or the war in Iraq. This election was won primarily on "moral values"... namely, abortion and same-sex marriage (SSM).

Eleven states had anti-SSM propositions on the ballot that day. Every single one passed, including Michigan. While I am unsure about the details concerning the laws in other states, the passing of Proposition Two in Michigan is highly disheartening. I think that a lot of people voted for in under the mistaken impression that they were protecting marriage. I have a feeling that a lot of them did not realize that we already have laws that define marriage as only being a male-female union. I don't think that they knew that this proposition killed most, if not all, of the domestic partner benefits that we had managed to acquire.

However, despite all this, there is good news. In Massachusetts, all of the members of congress who opposed SSM were voted out. All of them. This means that, barring a constitutional amendment on a federal level (and I see little chance of that passing), SSM legislation is not in danger of being overturned there. After a while, the hubbub surrounding it will settle down. People will see that legalizing SSM will not cause the divorce rate to skyrocket or the sky to fall down atop of us. People will get used to the idea, and thus not have such a knee-jerk negative reaction when the issue is broached in the future.

Yes, we came on too fast and too strong with this. Yes, a backlash of this sort was to be expected. However, a lot of good also came from this. Massachusetts legalizing SSM was a big accomplishment, but that's not the whole of it.

I saw an amazing amount of support for gay rights in general. I saw people come out of the woodwork to support us, and I'm not talking about fellow GLBT people. I'm talking about straight people who didn't have to stand up with us. I'm referring to people who have gay friends, but never really thought about getting involved because gay rights are for gay people. I'm looking at the people who don't know any GLBT people, but stood up for us anyway, because they saw an injustice being perpetuated and did not want it to continue.

And because it needs to be said: thank you. Thank you to every heterosexual who stood along side us and raised your voice. You didn't have to do this. Your lives are not directly affected by our rights, or lack thereof. But you did it anyway, and I cannot fully express the gratitude that I feel.

For social change to occur, two things must happen. First, the minority group must stand up for themselves and push for equal rights. Second, members of the majority must give a compassionate pull to help them along. We cannot do this without you. Thanks to you, we have hope.

Thank you.