Today's Assigned Reading
Reading the article today, I was struck by the state of Marriage Equality (or Same-Sex Marriage, or Abomination, depending on your viewpoint) in the U.S.
When Massachusetts passed it, it was easy to dismiss it as radical Massachusetts liberalism. When a few more states followed, it started to get serious. For me it became permanent when Iowa approved it. Iowa brought the movement out of the left-leaning enclaves of California and the Northeast and established Marriage Equality in the center of the country.
Since April of 2009, when Iowa approved Marriage Equality, many other states have joined in, with Washington as the latest, and New Jersey knocking on the door. Soon it will be a majority position, and most likely only a matter of time now that Proposition 8 has been struck down in California.
Many of you feel very strongly on this matter for a number of different reasons. I personally am all for it, mainly since I don't see any logical, legal argument against it. Feel free to comment with your own reactions, but I'm not so focused on the merit of the issue right now. What I found interesting this morning was the age-old question of "How the hell did we end up here so quickly?"
I really think it comes back to the show Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. Debuting in 2003, it was a huge phenomenon. This is the first point where I can honestly recall gay culture being brought to the mainstream. Even more importantly, it wasn't walling gays off by themselves, it was visibly applying the standards of gay men to straight men, and reveling in the interaction. We can quite reasonably point to this show as the beginning of the "Metrosexual" movement that dominated much of the decade. Combined with the squeaky-clean boy-bands of the turn of the century, a radically different view of masculinity came into acceptance. The big change was that more traditional "manly" men were seen as just as valid as the "metrosexual", rather than being replaced. Before we new it, big-time rappers were sporting argyle sweater-vests and nerdy glasses.
With the popularity of Queer Eye, the resistance to Marriage Equality was doomed. As has been shown over and over in our history, the more exposure a subculture or idea has, no matter how radical, the quicker it becomes mainstreamed. Once everyday Americans were able to see gay culture (I understand LGBTQ(A?) and a host of other terms may be more vogue, but I will stick with gay culture for clarity) and enjoy it at its most outrageous, the middle began to be swayed.
There are many on the Conservative side who may never approve, but political reality in America has always been determined by the moderate center. Whichever pole can sway that central majority will have success. The rise of Queer Eye did something different, instead of influencing the center, it actually changed the reference point. Merely by accepting the show and all of the following ripples as normal, the whole country's view of center shifted to the left, making eventual approval of Marriage Equality practically a foregone conclusion.
So in the end, the tipping point for Marriage Equality was merely a matter of fine application of "zhoosh."
Very interesting view point. I must say, apart from television, the homosexual movement has been partly successful not just due to Hollywoods far far left agenda, which brough you Queer Eye, but from the mere fact that the gay and lesbian activists have been much more aggressive and have spent a lot more money than so called conservative right, which supports traditional family values and that also believes that every chid deserves a mother and a father. They have just simply fought harder. A lot harder.
ReplyDeleteAllthough homosexual marriage has only passed in 7 of 50 states, all seven being extremely liberal states. It will probably never pass in any of the red states and have a very hard time passing in even the swing states. I think many would be surprised to see that there arw a lot of middle of the road independents who do not support homosexual marriage. The real red flag being that even a very liberal state like California voted at 52% to have an amendmant banning homosexual marriage. Something that the homosexual activists tobswollow their adams apple over indeed.
I forsee a long drawn out process here I truely believe you are seeing the near end of the outbreak of state by state support. Possibly New Jersey and New Hampshire and after that, if those states even follow through, I am not sure.
It's a valid viewpoint. I can't really classify Iowa as an extremely liberal state, however, aside from the Marriage Equality.
DeleteAs far as there being only 7 states, this is true. The fact that civil unions granting rights equal (or near) to those of married couples are valid in another 12 states is telling. There seems to be a trend that states passing same-sex civil union laws tend to follow that up later with marriage laws.
I agree that I can't see the deep red states passing Marriage Equality laws any time soon, but 15 years ago I wouldn't have predicted 7 states with it, so I don't think "never" is generally a reasonable word in these terms. With many other nations passing Marriage Equality laws, pressure will be increasing domestically, especially with the open information available on the internet.
As far as gay activists spending more money, I would like to see some numbers, because I see a lot of advertisement and lobbying coming from Conservative sources as well, particularly groups like Focus on the Family. I don't have any of those numbers, but I have some doubts as to gay activists outspending (at least significantly) conservatives.
I don't foresee it being an issue of states passing marriage equality laws for much longer. The Obama administration has stated that it is no longer defending DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and has already abolished Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The federal government is sending signals to the country that there is NO VALID REASON to treat the LGBTQ community as second-class citizens. Furthermore, given the Ninth Circuit's recent decision declaring California's Prop 8 unconstitutional, it is likely that the Supreme Court will soon be deciding on the issue of marriage equality. My prediction would be a 5-4 decision stating that not allowing gay couples to marry is a civil rights violation. I think the decision will be out of the individual states' hands very soon.
DeleteI think it goes back even farther - maybe 1998 when Will & Grace was so popular and brought gay culture in to many living rooms and brought a bit of levity and approachability what, to some, is a very sensitive subject. But what brought it to the forefront isn't all that important. What I'm continually shocked by is that this is still even a talking point!
ReplyDeleteThe marriage equality fight was fought in the 1960's once before. And it's disturbing to me a) how long that fight took and b) that this fight is taking so long after that path was paved! It was 1967 before it would be legal for me to marry my husband (who is black) in all of the 50 states. It still blows my mind to even think about that! My parents were alive. It really wasn't that long ago. Check the path state by state to legality here. And some of the arguments against making it legal (or not illegal, rather) were (scarily) similar to the arguments I hear today regarding gay marriage. What it really comes down to if you strip down the arguments to their base is the opponents think of these people - these humans - as less human than they are. And that's a scary thing to me.
And side note - even in NY that whole marriage thing really isn't equal in terms of taxes. Because there's no federal law you can't file as married for your federal taxes and so the NY tax dept has said that since you can't do it for federal you can't do it for state. So as far as taxes are concerned there is no marriage or union. Just one reason why leaving it up to states still doesn't actually get that equality thing that should exist for all people. Currently it's just "separate but equal."
DeleteA bunch of great comments on this guys, this is the kind of reasoned debate I was looking for!
ReplyDeleteRemember, it only becomes a civil issue if you can declare and prove with certainty that people are born homosexual, which there is no irrefutable evidence of this. I think all would agree being black, hispanic, white, male, female is all "normal" as defined by science. Being a homosexual in our species is not "normal" as defined by science. So, I ask.....is this REALLY a civil issue???
ReplyDeleteHow is it not a civil issue? Marriage carries with it a set of legal and tax privileges. If two people are living together in a relationship, what is the legal justification for denying it to them? I understand you have a religious objection to it, and you may well find it personally off-putting, but religious distinctions are by definition not a valid basis for denying someone privileges. And until the 14th amendment, being black, hispanic or female WAS considered unfit for equal protection. I don't see how you can say that it was reasonable to change the law to reflect the times then and not change it now. As far as scientific evidence, what irrefutable proof is there that it is NOT a biological cause? I would submit that denying someone rights requires far more rigorous a standard than allowing them rights.
DeleteAll civil marriages are, by definition, a civil issue. The complexity arises because the word marriage has two distinct meanings: one is what churches, synagogues, mosques, and any number of religious organizations call the religious ceremony they perform; the other is a civil contract between two consenting adults granting certain legal guarantees such as tax status, hospital visitation rights, rights of inheritance, and others. It's even called "civil marriage".
DeleteIn many ways, this isn't a sexual preference rights issue, but a gender rights issue. In most legal contexts, the answer to "Can I legally do x?" Should not be "What's your gender?" In this case, the example would be "Can I legally marry a man?"
It's interesting to take a look at the Gallup polls on acceptance of homosexuality in the U.S., broken down by age. The trends seem to indicate that we're moving in the right direction. The trouble is, there are plenty of relationships being harmed in the meantime.
ReplyDelete