LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Talk |
by Bill Sievert |
Fending Off Manic Feelings Following the Election
I am experiencing manic feelings in the wake of November voting. As one who began promoting Barack Obama as a person of presidential timbre more than two years ago, I am exhilarated (and more than a little surprised) that he not only managed to scramble his way to his party's nomination but actually won the election despite so many smear campaigns against him. There is no question in my mind that President Obama will steer our country in a wise direction and that he deeply cares about all of our people, including GLBT citizens. Throughout the campaign, our President-elect was fearless in mentioning gay rights, and he did it again on election night during his typically eloquent victory speech in front of a huge crowd in Chicago's Grant Park. Tears welled in my eyes as, in the first minute, Obama spoke of building on the dream of the nation's founders to include "young and old; rich and poor; Democrat and Republican; black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled." Obama did not have to mention GLBT people on election night; he no longer needed our votes. But clearly our difficult status in American society remains on the President-elect's mind. And though he will have a frightful amount on his proverbial plate during his first term, I am hopeful that he will find time and energy to begin working to fulfill his campaign pledge to bring about equitable treatment for GLBT people by the federal governmentincluding domestic partnership rights. We will need his leadership, particularly in light of the ballot initiatives passed in several states on the very day of his election. It is those election results that have tempered our joy with twinges of sadness. In Florida and Arizona, constitutional amendments were passed limiting civil marriage to a male and a female. In Florida, the amendment went a step further forbidding the state from allowing any legal relationship "substantially equivalent" to marriage for unmarried people. The vague language threatens un-betrothed heterosexual as wall as GLBT couples. Then there was California, where voters actually took away the already legally established right of gay/lesbian couples to wed. Never before has a constitutional amendment been used to deny any group of Americans previously-existing rights. Because only the state legislature appears to have authority to instigate a revocation of rights, California's ballot measure may have been inherently unconstitutional; it already faces court challenges. To top off the down side of election night, Arkansas voted to deny gay people the right to adoptor even provide foster careto children. This is a cruel policy to include in a state's constitution. It is even crueler to children in need of loving parents than it is to gay people who yearn to provide loving care. So, how does the gay-rights movement handle such difficult setbacks? With patience, determination andone of our President-elect's favorite conceptshope. Let's start with patience. During the Democratic candidates' debate on LOGO TV last year, Hillary Clinton made a point that annoyed me at the time but merits repeating. When asked about her hesitancy to support gay marriage, she said that this "has not been a long term struggle yet." As much as we may be reluctant to admit it, social change comes slowly. It takes time to change attitudes, to grow support for even the most worthy cause. It has taken half a century for the civil rights movement to build to a point that an African-American could finally be elected president. By contrast, it has been less than a decade since the concept of gay marriage was first seen as a reasonable goal within our own community. Even today, many of us would be delighted to settle for federal domestic-partnership rights (including Social Security survivor benefits) comparable to those afforded by civil marriage. President Obama will work with us as we pursue the latter goal (which he sees as realistically attainable)though we need to use our best organizational skills to make sure our concerns aren't subjected to a far back burner at a time when a major grease fire has ignited at the front of the stove. As vacancies come up, Obama also is likely to appoint Supreme Court justices who are more respectful of our rightsbut that will take time, too. Beyond patience, we must continue to have the determination to educate and change the minds of our opponents including many in the black and Latino communities who still have conservative religion-based notions about homosexuality and who voted against us this year even as they supported Obama's progressive platform. It is a curious footnote to this year's historic election that increased minority voting may have been a significant factor in the passage of the gay marriage bans. According to CNN, 70 percent of black voters in California voted for the measure there, compared to approximately half of white voters. (In Florida, the ban succeeded by only two percent above the required 60 percent threshold.) The more confident and comfortable black and Latino gay Americans feel about coming out to their families and friends, the less resistance there will be to legal gay relationships. The rest of the GLBT community needs to support and encourage their effortsas well as rekindling our own. As many of us of all races and ages have discovered, when straight folks get to know us they tend to like, respect and support us. One person at a time, our opposition diminishes. Finally, to succeed we need hope. A negative attitude gains us little, but a little optimism can take us far. When our new President declared himself a nominee for the job back in the winter of 2007, he had little reason to believe he could go all the way. But with hopes set high, he used his intellect, his dedication to the causes he believes in, and his skill as a community organizer to build a huge network of supporters. We have a lot to learn from Barack Obama, and lesson number one is how to get the job done. Oops. Who would've thought? There are two biopics about Harvey Milk in the Hollywood works. The name of the Gus Van Sant film, which stars Sean Penn and was scheduled to open in major markets Thanksgiving weekend, is simply Milknot The Mayor of Castro Street as I stated incorrectly in the last issue of Letters. The latter title, it turns out, belongs to the other planned movie about the life and assassination of the now legendary San Francisco supervisor. Though The Mayor of Castro Street, to be directed by Brian Singer (The Usual Suspects), has been on the drawing board for several years, Gus Van Sant beat Singer to the punch, landing Penn as his lead along the way. With Milk generating Oscar talk, Singer may or may not go forward with The Mayor. Milk, by the way, was written by Dustin Lance Black of HBO's Big Love fame.Bill Sievert can be reached at billsievert@comcast.net. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 18, No. 15 November 21, 2008 |