Gay Marriage and Elections and Name-Calling

and the Future

by J Klein , 11.04.2004 DMY Homepage E-mail this article Discuss in Forums Printer-Friendly Version Buy Fantastic Progressive Stickers, Buttons, Tees, and more! Get our semi-weekly newsletter to find out about our newest articles and get exclusive store discounts! Enter your e-mail here: MORE ARTICLES YOU'LL ENJOY: Short & Sweet Luke Angelo The Gospel According to Luke This Be Luke: The New Kid on the Block Tony Blair's Dilemma California: State of Emergency A Terminal Condition Lynching America Now This is REALLY Gay Lies About The Iraq War Arab Like Us It's Just Not One Problem President On celebrities and politics War and Other Disorders On celebrities and politics Fighting a War That's Already Been Lost Gentle Observations Before the Bombing Starts Where's The Accountability, Baby? Will Gun Packing Elephants Shoot Holes in the Big Apple? Win At Any Cost

On some level, this election hinged on Bush's people calling Kerry a fag-lover, and afterwards, Kerry losing a popularity contest on the playground.

First, let me get it out of the way: that's pathetic. What a bunch of homophobic, xenophobic, hateful, scared people we have in this country. And a bunch of them showed up specifically for this election, just cuz of the word "gay." (And "abortion," but that's another article.)

Now that I've said that, I think it was "our" own fault. While Gay Marriage shouldn't be an issue in 2004 in any first-world country, it is. And we know it. And while activists were pushing for gay marriage, Karl Rove was sitting with his gay porn mags, whacking off smugly, knowing that fundies would come to the polls in droves to "love thy neighbor" but "hate the sin" by voting against Kerry and therefore, homos.

I said this back when Gavin Newsom started giving out marriage licenses in San Francisco the year before the election, and I've said it since. We should be concentrating on Civil Unions, the legal rights associated with marriage, and seperating them from the religious elements of the contract that are embedded in our laws. I belive with all my heart that the fundies and homophobes wouldn't have been anywhere near as hateful and scared to come to the polls had the focus been on Civil Unions rather than the word "marriage."

There could be no "Defense of Civil Unions Act."

Sure, ideally everyone should be able to get married. But the more important things in the short run are the legal foundations and winning elections. (Although this lost election may not be all bad... tune in later for why).

In that vein, we are working on a new site, www.civilunionsnow.org (or com or net) which will be a place for STRAIGHT AND GAY couples to work together to get civil unions enacted.

We are encouraging STRAIGHT couples to demand the right to get civil unions seperate from the religious institutions of marriage that are embedded in law, and do what they want with their churches, synagogues, mosqes or what have you. But the premise is that Civil Unions should be there for everyone, are not just a "gay thing," and with straight couples demanding them for themselves, the process should go faster.

Tune in here or at www.civilunionsnow.org for more as it happens.