You know, I think Prop 8 is going to end up being the best rallying point for the gay community since Stonewall. It's causing gay public figures to become more outspoken, which, in some cases, is causing gay public figures to become more out.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
You know, it's the whole "undermines traditional marriage" thing. I have never been able to get a satisfactory explanation for that. As you know, some of my closest friends are a lesbian couple. They'be been married three years now and Craig and I haven't felt any need to get divorced yet. Clearly they are slackers!
Ugh. This whole thing makes me very sad. Especially since many other states will follow suit. The only way we are going to get the same rights is the way black did - at the supreme court level.
That more famous people are out is a good thing. But really, what we need are more of us going through law school! *grin*
Just as bad, but less overt, as Prop 8 is the initiated act passed in Arkansas this year. It bars all "nonmarried cohabiting couples" from fostering children who are wards of the state. This initiative was the direct result of state courts throwing out a rule of the state Dept. of Health and Human Services that barred gays from being foster parents. Because they knew it wouldn't pass constitutional muster just to bar gays, the Arkansas Family Council (the main backer of the initiative) wrote it so that only legally married couples could be foster parents, and since the state already had a law defining marriage as a man and a woman, bingo. They didn't seem to care that this means fewer homes will be available for our kids in need of foster care, naturally.
Dan Savage, author of the Savage Love column, had a nice op-ed about this in the New York Times last week; you can go to www.nyt.com and search his name and find it.
2 comments:
You know, it's the whole "undermines traditional marriage" thing. I have never been able to get a satisfactory explanation for that. As you know, some of my closest friends are a lesbian couple. They'be been married three years now and Craig and I haven't felt any need to get divorced yet. Clearly they are slackers!
Ugh. This whole thing makes me very sad. Especially since many other states will follow suit. The only way we are going to get the same rights is the way black did - at the supreme court level.
That more famous people are out is a good thing. But really, what we need are more of us going through law school! *grin*
Just as bad, but less overt, as Prop 8 is the initiated act passed in Arkansas this year. It bars all "nonmarried cohabiting couples" from fostering children who are wards of the state. This initiative was the direct result of state courts throwing out a rule of the state Dept. of Health and Human Services that barred gays from being foster parents. Because they knew it wouldn't pass constitutional muster just to bar gays, the Arkansas Family Council (the main backer of the initiative) wrote it so that only legally married couples could be foster parents, and since the state already had a law defining marriage as a man and a woman, bingo. They didn't seem to care that this means fewer homes will be available for our kids in need of foster care, naturally.
Dan Savage, author of the Savage Love column, had a nice op-ed about this in the New York Times last week; you can go to www.nyt.com and search his name and find it.
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