« Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post »
04/11/2007
Cali gay marriage: TVC replies characteristically
Yesterday in California, the Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 7-3 (along party lines) to approve AB 43, Assemblyman Mark Leno's bill to bring same-sex marriage to the Golden State. So how did California's chief "pro-family" group respond to that news? Well, this from the Traditional Values Coalition's Benjamin Lopez:
“It is clear yet again that Democrats have jumped in bed with the radical homosexual community…and they are not using any protection,” Lopez said, who attended the hearing and gave testimony. “This vote makes it clear that it is Democrats in the Legislature that are determined to get homosexual marriage enacted any way they can and undermine Prop 22. It is Democrats that are pro-gay and anti-traditional family.”
Ah yes -- comparing the push to open up marriage to gays to unsafe sex. Has there ever been a juxtaposition more rational than that? They say "STDS and unwanted pregnancies," we say "fairness and equality." Tomato, tomahto.
But moving on from this likening of risky sex to a concept that would actually help reduce such behavior, Mr. Lopez goes on to say:
“If every supporter of this bill is confident that the people of California are in favor of same-sex marriage, as they boast and flaunt, why then don’t they take this issue directly to the voters just as we did with Prop 22?,” Lopez asked. “They won’t. They will not do so because they would lose and they know it. So, instead they must resort to liberal legislators and rogue judges to forcibly implement same-sex marriage on the people.”
Well, we don't know who Mr. Lopez is talking to when he asserts that gay activists are confident California citizens would vote for marriage equality. Most of us are not! In fact, just this week we heard Mark Leno respond to the news that Gov. Schwarzenegger is likely to veto his bill by saying:
"The governor's civil rights, as well as my own civil rights, shouldn't be placed before the voters," he said. "That's not how we make decisions regarding equal protection under the law for all citizens."
This has always been our argument. While we think California has made positive strides since Prop 22 was passed in 2000, we aren't wholly confident that Golden State residents would vote in favor of our rights. In fact, we're not wholly confident that ANY state would vote for same-sex marriage. But just as Mr. Leno asserts, these sorts of issues should not be left up to "the will of the people." The rights of a minority should, nay must, always be protected from the possible tyranny of a majority!
Whenever we try to have this issue put through a reasoned, studied debate via either the legislature or the courts, our opposition acts as if we are somehow acting out of school. They have fostered the idea that public opinion is the only proper vehicle to decide such matters, and that the public is an infallible decision-making body. History is littered with injustices that were emboldened by public opinion, yet ultimately overturned by legal analysis and reasoned discourse. This will be another one.
Pressing forward, Lopez goes on to say:
“We will be relentless in conveying to key legislators that California is not in favor of blatant homosexual marriages,” Lopez said. “After all, 101 out of 120 legislative districts voted for Prop 22. The people of California clearly do not subscribe to the twisted and out of step definition of marriage Leno and company seek to force on us. Besides, knowing the bill is dead on arrival should it reach the Governor, why would legislators fall on their sword for a bill that is going nowhere?!”
But see, the reason why this particular issue gets so twisted is because the social conservatives have been so adamant about positioning our push for equality as if it is some sort of militant hijacking of traditional norms. They call gay marriage "twisted and out of step." They say we are trying to do things like "force" gay marriage on the people. If progressive lawmakers hold a majority or present the most influential arguments, then they are automatically accused of being radicals who have commandeered the legislature for their own unsavory purposes. Pro-gay rights legislation is not portrayed by these social conservatives as policy with which they simply do not agree; it is presented as if its a missile headed straight for heterosexual, evangelical, conservative families. Theses kids have been amazingly good at staying on these messages, and it has confused many into looking at this issue in very unfair ways.
These sorts of tactics are incredibly telling to us. You have to question why, if these social conservatives believe in the legality and righteousness of their fight, do they have to resort to such tactics? And it's not as if they sometimes use such lines of argument and code words -- they are pretty much a rule! Could it be that they know full well that if they present the issues on a purely legal, constitutional, non-rhetoric -filled plane, that the course of this debate would change overnight? We think so!
Mr. Lopez questions why we would push for legislation that Gov. Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto. Well, that's very simple: Because our endeavors are the truly righteous ones, and we will not stop them because yet another politician has subscribed to flawed belief. If and when he vetoes such legislation, it gives us yet another opportunity to present the reasons why his decision was an incorrect one. So while Mr. Lopez says he will be "relentless in conveying to key legislators that California is not in favor of blatant homosexual marriages,” we will be equally relentless in telling everyone (a) why our marriages are no more "blatant" than any others (b) why public opinion is not the only criteria that needs to be considered, and (c) why our opposition has no true leg to stand on when you remove religious extremism and baseless attacks from the picture. And regardless of Arnold's intent, we won't consider support for this Cali legislation to be "falling on our sword for a bill that is going nowhere." We will consider it a refusal to succumb to the sword that has been wielded against our community for far too long!
TVC Lobbyist Condemns Committee’s Passage of Blatant Same-Sex Marriage Bill [TVC]
Technorati Tags: California, gay marriage, Mark Leno
Your thoughts
Amen! You're spot-on every point.
Posted by: Scott | Apr 11, 2007 7:40:19 PM
In the initial quote, Lopez says "anti-traditional family" like it's a BAD thing...
is this the same traditional family that tells girls to be quiet and play nice, and tells boys that the only emotion they are allowed to express is anger?? The same traditional family that is exclusively white, exclusively Evangelical, exclusively upper-middle class, and exclusively in step with the right wing? The same traditional family that ends in divorce more often than not?
How 'bout this: I want a HEALTHY family, not a traditional one!
Posted by: | Apr 12, 2007 8:24:23 PM
Talk to us
*Why are my comments not appearing? See the G-A-Y Comments Policy
