November 15th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
After the soreness of losing on Prop 8, there has been an outpouring of emotion from around California and the country. Finally shaken from apathy, people have taken to the streets - literally! Now that the loudest shouting is over, it’s time to ask ourselves what went wrong, how we stumbled on what should have been easy ground, and how to take the first, next steps. While lawsuits have been filed and speeches made, it seems to me that we should take a long, hard look at ourselves, i.e. at the gay and/or progressive community.
How did we lose what nearly every poll showed to be a cake walk? Depending upon whom you ask, the answer can be as simple as, “people chose to hate” or as complicated as a demographico-political analysis. Some have been quick to blame the No on 8 campaign, staffed as it was by relative newcomers (I think none of our local operatives were over 22). Others have cynically taken on the African-American community, noting that they voted 7-3 in favor of Prop 8. Others still have mentioned role of the Mormon church or the lack of explicit support from the Governor, Hollywood and other factions, or the blatant lies and deceit spewed from the proponents of Prop 8.
While each of the above may have played a part in Prop 8’s passage, it seems to me that we are lacking a crucial element in this. Our own responsibility. We may believe rights to be intrinsic , but their attribution is always cause for struggle. After all, no one talks about rights that aren’t up for grabs. And up until this point, very few in the gay “community” (note liberal use of quote marks) have done much more than bitch and host cocktail parties. We haven’t gone door to door and talked to our neighbors, which the Mormons did. We haven’t made the case for marriage in public and private venues, which the opponents of equality so easily accomplish. We haven’t effectively campaigned for inclusion, but sat around and complained about exclusion - any of my students who have a rudimentary knowledge of discourse analysis understand the difference.
For the time being, we’re taking to the streets. Important for visibility, sure; I think we need to remind people that we’re here, we’re angry and we’re going to do something about it. But when the loudest voices settle down, when we go back to our routine, we need to find a way to reach out. We must talk to others and go outside the bubbles we live in: ghettoized metropolitan areas, isolationist suburban landscapes, progressive college towns, rural artistic exclaves. We also need to transcend the bubbles of our minds and genuinely seek dialogue with people. Contrary to what some protesters think, 52% of Californians didn’t choose hate or fascism (the comparison to Nazism is one that is overused and sophomoric, and offends me deeply). Sure - a small percentage of people are entrenched and hate filled, but most were mislead, deceived and simply underinformed. Most people don’t get it - we must change that. We must make our struggle their struggle; we must also take on other struggles and make them our own.
After all, if we believe in equality for all, in human rights and the dignity of our neighbors, we can’t stop at gay marriage. Indignity, exclusion and inequality know no boundary, shape or color - while we may be at the forefront right now, history tells us that someone else will be the target down the road. Our next steps should look something like the very first steps in all struggles - treating our neighbor the way we would want him or her to treat us.
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