Why Protest Prop 8?

It would seem ironic and slightly pointless to hold a protest this Saturday to the passage of Proposition 8 in California here in Dallas, but it’s happening anyway. Why should it matter? After all Texas has already passed a discriminatory “Protection of Marriage” bill so what happens in California should be of little interest to us.

Well first off, let me get this out of the way, in my opinion the fight for gay marriage is the wrong fight. We would have a much easier time fighting for “equal rights” than the right to marry. If we actually had equal rights, marriage would be a given. So why is there so much resistance to “gay marriage”? A lot of straight people would agree with the LGBT community when it comes to having equal rights under the law. Most Americans have a sense of fairness that says everyone should be treated equally. When you throw the word “marriage” in the mix a couple of things happen.

First “marriage” is really a religious sacrament and therefore having the state involved in it crosses a clear line in the constitution separating church and state. If any thing the state should perform “civil unions” for everyone. Let people get a “marriage” in their church and leave the state out of it. The real sanctity of marriage is far more a moral and religious pledge than a legal one. For the purposes of the law, a civil union would assure couples the rights needed to conduct business under the law as a couple, including visitation rights, etc. The marriage would be a solemn church ceremony dedicating the union to God or however else people saw fit.

Secondly, when you mention “marriage” to most people it carries a secondary implication and that is sex. After a marriage comes the honeymoon and that means bedroom activities. For a lot of non-LGBT people that is the “ick” factor. Marriage equals sex and imagining gay or lesbian or any kind of sex but whatever they practice gives them the creeps. Quite frankly that is where a lot of the resistance comes from.

The whole canard about gay marriage destroying the sanctity of marriage is bogus. What it may destroy is the image of married sex in some people’s minds, but my having the right to marry my partner does nothing to your marriage except in a quasi-religious context. Again, another reason the government should be out of the marrying business.

Now aside from the marriage problem, the Prop 8 problem highlights a real deficit in the LGBT rights movement. We have not done enough to educate the public about discrimination against LGBT people and how that discrimination damages the fabric of society. That education will take more than marches and protests, it will take time and the building of alliances.

Politically the LGBT movement has done a lot to campaign for candidates on the national and local level who are friendly to our cause. What we have often ignored is the growing number of minority candidates are sympathetic and could be assets in our struggle. We can bring them on-board by showing our power and willingness to help their cause. As we do more to advance the cause of other minorities, we will be seen as partners in the overall struggle against discrimination.

Prop 8 was passed in California for several reasons. One was that most LGBT activists were busy trying to elect a president who would be more sympathetic to our cause. We assumed that people who voted for Obama would naturally vote against Prop 8. We were wrong. Also, the massive influx of money from outside the state, and particularly form the Mormon Church and its members in Utah was a big factor. Their funds changed the narrative of the battle from equal rights and marriage to “education”. Those last minute commercials featuring kids coming home and telling their parents that they learned in school it was “OK for princes to marry other princes”, made the issue seem like it was about kids and school. It was not, but again the lie worked. It scared enough people to vote against Prop 8 to save the children. Does anyone remember Anita Bryant?

Now we must pick up the pieces and forge ahead and that is why protesting here in Texas makes sense. Just as during the Civil Rights movement the public began to take the fight for the rights of African Americans seriously when they were awakened by the growing numbers of protestors in the streets, it is once again time to wake up America. Part of that awakening will be for our community as well. For too long many in the LGBT movement have become inactive or worse have worked actively to support candidates and causes that would deny our rights. I am talking to you, Log Cabin Republicans.

We need to take to the streets and let the country know that we are still here and we are still demanding full rights as citizens of the United States. We need to peacefully protest to assert ourselves and to let not only the people of Texas but of the whole country know that there is still a group of citizens who are actively being denied equal rights. The fight against Prop 8 needs to become a fight for full inclusion in our society.

Now as to the sanctity of marriage, how about we really protect that and outlaw divorce? Push for that and watch how fast the government gets out of the marriage business!