We have Proposal 2 here in Michigan, which does substantially the same thing - it reads: "A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE
CONSTITUTION TO SPECIFY WHAT CAN BE RECOGNIZED AS A ‘MARRIAGE OR sIMILAR UNION’ FOR ANY PURPOSE. The proposal would amend the state constitution to provide that “the union of one man and one woman in marriage
shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.”
Mrs. Bob and I are against it on the grounds of: fairness, religion/moral sense, separation of church and state, non-discrimination, strict Constitutional conservatism, and public policy. Other than that, we think it’s a fine idea.
From what I read, it’s going to pass with a wide majority. Driving around, I’m starting to see “No on 2” signs on a few (very few) lawns. But, I don’t see *any * “Yes on 2” signs. I’m not naive enough to think that all the polls must be wrong; I figure that many of the people who plan to vote for it are embarassed to come out publicly as bigots.
In our own grand futile gesture - which as we all know, is the best kind of gesture to make - we’ve ordered a “No on 2” sign for our lawn.
My boss was telling me the other day about an old movie she saw with white actors in blackface. She went on for a minute about how unbelievable it is that there was ever a time where that kind of entertainment was considered perfectly OK.
I pointed out that years from now, people will be looking at the times in which we live now and thinking, “I can’t believe they thought that was OK” about crap that we do now.
We both decided that the big issue about our era that’s going to shock people oh, 60 years from now is that gay people couldn’t get married in 2004. That we all (well, not all) rushed to the polls to ensure it. And we both thought about how we (if we’re still around, which would make us really, really, really OLD) will basically be implicated in the whole thing by future generations, even though we supported gay marriage when we were young and spry. I don’t know about her, but I myself made it a point to get to the polls a couple of months ago just to vote against my state’s proposed ban on gay marriage (it passed anyway). Still, if I ever have great-grandkids (which will be difficult since I don’t plan to have kids, so there goes my ticket to family matriarchy), I’LL be the one to whom they will turn their sweet little faces and ask, “But WHY wouldn’t they let gay people get married?”
And I will say, "Because they were motherfucking goat-felching asswipes, Baby . . . now be a good girl and go get Granny her Soylent Green . . . "
I’d just like to take a moment and thank all of you who are going to vote against these horrible amendments. I find it disturbing and horrid that people are even trying to write this shit in.
Really? How does that work? How can there be a statewide issue that’s not on the ballot in the whole state?
Anyway, my parents (I think) and I will be three “no” votes on the Ohio amendment. For what it’s worth, both Ohio senators and I believe the governor as well (all Republicans) are opposed to this amendment, albeit for economic reasons. I don’t know if the amendment is expected to pass, but I’d feel ashamed of my state if it does.
Polls currently say it will in all states, though some are closer than others. My entire family (including my borderline homophobic brother) have or will be voting against the Kentucky amendment. That much touches me more than I think they realize.
P.S: In defense of my brother, he’s more homophobic in attitude than intent. He’s trying to understand things but he’s got a lot of hang-ups. I think one of them might be the fact that he was harassed in high school for being perceived as gay.
One sign of light on the horizon: I remember noticing earlier this year that the proposal to amend the North Carolina constitution to prohibit gay marriages (which are illegal in this state anyway) was defeated in the General Assembly.
That ain’t much – they’re still illegal here. But think about it for a minute: an amendment proposal to constitutionalize banning gay marriage was defeated. In a state legislature. In North Kakkalakky – home of Jesse Helms – he was at home, 1.5 miles from the Legislative Building, when it was voted down.
A baby step, to be sure. But a sign that dawn is in fact breaking.
I just wanted to chime in and say thanks to the OP for the first post. That’s the way I feel most of the time, and I can’t even put it into words that well.
That’s because they want us to be silent. They want us to “go away”. The hell with that!
I have to agree with the posters who talk about putting a human face on this issue. One on one, most folks agree that we deserve legal protection for our relationships. It’s the politicians and the right wing pundits who cannot seem to get their act together.
I guess someone needs to ask this question, and it might as well be me.
Leaving all references to religion out (as it should be), why is this provision such a bad thing? Why should anyone receive special treatment or favoritism or preferential treatment simply because they choose to engage in deviant sexual practices?
Because it means no laws can be enacted to defend against discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, service, etc.
In short, if I worked in Cincinnati then I could be fired for being gay. I would have no recourse, no course of action but to grab my stuff and get out the door. You can argue the principle of the matter, but Cincinnati already has a law on the books that protects based on gender, race, national origin, religion…
You don’t think anti-discrimination laws are necessary or effective? Fine. But there’s no reason to have a law and just exclude sexual orientation. These are not special rights, they’re basic rights that everyone else takes for granted. Well I wish I could, but I can’t. We’re talking Maslowe’s Hierarchy of needs here! I could be denied the very basic parts of Maslowe’s pyramid for no reason at all except someone thinks I’m a sinner.
Oh and “deviant” is hardly what I’d call my sexual practices. What would I call them? Utterly boring. A blowjob every now and again is hardly what I’d call putting myself in the minority. In the strictest denotative sense, my orientation is deviant in that it deviates from the norm. But its hardly a bad deviation, or even a good deviation in and of itself. It just is and it isn’t a valid reason for me to lose my job or housing.
{{{{{{{Priam}}}}}}}, kudos for the BEST rant I’ve ever read in the BBQ Pit. Tell it like it is!
Stuffy, best followup to a Pit rant I’ve ever read. Kudos to both of you.
Cuyahoga born and bred here. My parents are still living there. I’m going to tell them I think they ought to vote against it. Since Cuyahoga is the most Democratic and possibly the most liberal county in Ohio, they damn well better get a chance to vote it down.
In addition to what Priam said, the stuff you’re objecting to? Nobody’s asking for any of that. It’s a red herring that’s always thrown out by homophobes to miscast the push for equal rights as a push for special rights. It’s a deliberate misrepresentation of the debate, made to mislead those who are too well-intentioned to support overt bigotry, but too uninformed to understand exactly what’s at stake for gay and lesbian citizens.
Priam, I hope it works out for you. I had to read this:
three times to figure out exactly what it meant and I like to think I have good reading comprehension. I hate the way laws and referenda are written (and yes, I know there are reasons why they’re written that way) because often it makes it so difficult to tell exactly what one is supposed to vote on. Imagine what it’s like for somebody who hasn’t done their homework, walks into a polling place and is trying to sort out all the jargon and vote. It’s good that you’re working to educate people now.
I live in Michigan, too, and I wish I thought that people who plan to vote for that reprehensible piece of legislation thought of themselves as bigots.
Unfortunately, I suspect that the polls are right and Proposal 2 will probably pass with a wide margin. Not that I needed an additional reason to get the fuck out of this state.
Wow. I hate that you had the opportunity to be so upset by this, but I’m glad you wrote it so well. If you don’t mind, I’d like to invite everyone I know to read this.
See I’m mad, but I’m gonna fight that allegation. These aren’t troglodytes for the most part, or even particularly stupid people. Most of them are simply being exploited by those they have been raised to trust: their ministers and their elected officials. Naive they may be. Perhaps a tad bit reactionary. But they’re not bad folk in the main. I feel the need to defend these people because some of them are my neighbors, people I’ve come to appreciate over the years. They just never got the facts to understand, the view from the other side of the fence.
