I was watching The Daily Show when Jon Stewart said Obama was elected the next President. I was left speechless when the good guys won. When a man who got into politics to make the world a better place actually became the President. Pretty surreal after these last eight years.
And I even cried a little when he said
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.Because, you know, it was a moment without cynicism, and we got that moment of truth again not after our cities were attacked, but because we have overcome our fears. Because we have managed to finally tell ourselves and the rest of the world that we were one.
But we're not.
What did we prove on Tuesday?
That America can't take a giant step forward without taking one backward? That in order to elevate ourselves we need a minority to step on?
I'm out of ideas. The people who voted to ban gay marriage will be judged by future generations. When they talk about those who voted to ban gay marriage, they will sigh and give the usual excuse, "He was a good man, but you know... He was a man of his time."
Joe Solmonese of Human Rights Campaign wrote an Op-Ed yesterday:
You can’t take this away from me: Proposition 8 broke our hearts, but it did not end our fight.Like many in our movement, I found myself in Southern California last weekend. There, I had the opportunity to speak with a man who said that Proposition 8 completely changed the way he saw his own neighborhood. Every “Yes on 8” sign was a slap. For this man, for me, for the 18,000 couples who married in California, to LGBT people and the people who love us, its passage was worse than a slap in the face. It was nothing short of heartbreaking.
But it is not the end. Fifty-two percent of the voters of California voted to deny us our equality on Tuesday, but they did not vote our families or the power of our love out of existence; they did not vote us away.
I am proud to live in this country. I am proud of the people who voted for intellect, leadership, and progress rather than fear-mongering and intolerance.
But these base emotions people rose up and ignored while voting for President were the ones that guided those who voted to take away basic human rights from others. Because they could. Yes, they could.
24 comments:
I too was touched by the story of 106 year old Ann Cooper. I am also glad that Obama in his speech talked about "gay and straight" coming together as one.
Maya Angelou, during the inauguration of Bill Clinton in January 1993 mentioned gays. A handful of years later the Clinton administration backed, pushed through, and signed into law the 'Defense of Marriage Act'. The fact that Obama said "gay and straight" frankly doesn't mean a damn thing.
I think the rehearsed joint proclamation by the two VP nominees during their debate gave the go ahead to people to vote for these propositions.
I found that very unsettling.
Yeah, as inspiring and fantastic as the Obama win was (moved me to tears in my office hear in the Southern Hemisphere), after that wore off a bit I was just angry about the anti-gay ballot measures. The worsts for me were my home state of Florida and the anti-gay adoption ban in Arkansas. I don't believe in the "logic" used to discriminate against gay marriage, but I know why some people vote against it. But it must be a violation of equal protection to prevent gays and lesbians from adopting. I mean the religious right wants to push adoption over abortion. Don't you think that it would make sense, under that argument, to let anyone adopt.
Dickheads.
Incredibly eloquent, People in the Sun. Incredibly eloquent.
SJ, he did talk about that, which gives me hope. But he also has the ability to make people hear what they want to hear in his speeches. He could have done more but chose to avoid the issue.
Woozie, but I have to trust him to a point and wait. After all, he's not even President yet. Once the country is on the path to economic stability and out of Iraq, people on the left will expect Obama to push the country to its full potential, which means equal rights for all.
Xbox, you know, while her statement was straightforward (which Republicans love. They're fans of straightforward hatred), Biden's statement left the door open for interpretation. While Biden and Obama oppose gay marriage, I do believe they will end up pushing for complete equality. I believe it will have to be by taking all the legal rights off marriage, while elevating the status of civil unions. The guy told me to hope, so I hope.
Freeman, I know. It's the same people who want to expand the military while they stop gay people from joining. They have no logic and reason other than hatred and fear.
Frosty, thank you. Great to hear that.
http://donklephant.com/2008/11/08/jon-stewart-on-prop-8-passage/
Irony.
First of all, let me say that the beginning of your post, well, really your whole post gave me goosebumps.
I have this "gay" argument with my 13 year old. Because everything that is annoying or stupid or unfair is "gay" to him. I told him that saying that about things is like saying "that's so Down's Syndrome" or "that's so paraplegic". I tell him, "You are demeaning and entire group of people and it's wrong." Now, I know that he has a little of the homophobia that comes when you are a 13 year old boy who has nothing but heterosexual feelings (or maybe he has homosexual feelings and that scares him a little, which I would be fine with, but I doubt), but I know that in his heart, he would never hurt or do something hurtful to another human being and he may need to grow out of this "gay" phase. That doesn't mean that I don't take every opportunity to correct him and explain how it's wrong.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I am proud of my country. I'm awed by how far we've come in less than half a century. But I would be blind if I didn't also notice how far we have yet to go.
@PITS - (hee hee hee)
I had to watch the video again twice now to try and pick out your interpretation of what Biden said.
Your optimism is admirable and I'd like to share it, but I have my doubts.
I believe we can still change it. I believe. I do.
Haywood, I saw that. And like I said above, I think Obama should have talked about it more in the context of civil rights. He ignored it to make sure he got elected, which means now it's his responsibility to fix it.
Shelli, thank you. To be fair to your son, when I were about that age, I read an article about homosexuality in a teen magazine, which said about one in 30 kids becomes/discovers he's gay (I don't remember the language they used there), which also means "Someone in your class is probably gay." Reading it, I just thought about all the kids in my class and tried to think who was gay. And I prayed it wasn't going to be me.
Xbox, we've got nothing to hope but hope itself. Or something like that.
Aimee, I'm just trying to think of the possibilities beyond the legal challenges. The man campaigned on the idea of common ground, but I can't find any here.
Oh! I got so caught up in being overjoyed at the presidential results that I sort of forgot anything else was going on the country! :-( Well, we got one right at any rate. And just to agree with Frosty, very nice/eloquent post. :-)
I think it's fair to feel ecstatic about the future, especially considering what we've been through in the last eight years and what we could have faced had McCain won. And initially my post-election post, which reflected my feelings accurately, consisted of just a few "Holly shit! Fucking Fuck! I can't believe it actually happened!"
But it's been a few days, and Palin is back in Alaska, and it's time to look around at the new America and admit we're still far from that shining city on the hill.
Yeah, yeah... We're far, but we're closer than we were a week ago. :-)
I think that if we fight against homophobia, we may not win the war, but we will take a few down with us. This proposition 8 vote makes me embarrassed as it is seen as a Christian attack, and there are those of us who are Christian (well, of a sort--I also study the yogic path) and support gay marriage.
This country is nuts. Are you hearing the propoganda about Obama? People liken him to Hitler. Hitler??? Because he wrote a book? I am just so freaked out at how people think.
It's hard not to feel ecstatic at least momentarily.
I was watching Comedy Central too as soon as he took Ohio I turned from the regular news outlets to John Stewart.
The proposition 8, I am sorry I didn't pay more attention to it as I for some reason thought, despite the money the Mormons were pouring in, and the disinformation, that it couldn't possibly pass.
Jill, of course, but you have to understand that after these 8 years it's hard to stop complaining.
Enemy, the Hitler thing is being thrown around everywhere. I wouldn't call it strictly an Obama thing (or a Republican thing. Bush has been compared to Hitler many times, especially by the "9/11 was an inside job" people).
I also think the proposition 8 is embarrassing. The people and the churches that fought to keep slavery and then segregation will be remembered forever as the dark voices that tried to keep the US from reaching it's potential. The fact these people now can't see this as a civil rights issue is sad, but I believe they're fighting a losing battle on the wrong side of history.
Cooper, I didn't believe it either. It couldn't happen in California, right? But like Dan Savage said on Colbert two days ago, the good thing is that those who voted for it are older, and they will soon be dead.
I followed the Proposition 8 all night on election night, and I don't even live in CA. It was a wash of feelings, watching the first black man accept the office, but seeing CA drown thousands of others out of their own basic rights. I want to write under the family pictures of people who voted for Prop 8, "Nice pic of your family...too bad you voted to ban the right to make this legal for people everywhere." I was pissed! Anyway, I'd been waiting for your election piece, and was impressed, as always.
Ok, so I'm a few weeks late on this one, but I still wanted to say this was a great post. :-)
le sigh...
Sarah, thanks. I appreciate that. I hope things change now that it's going to court, but if not, at least it's a reminder that history sometimes takes a step back and we just need to keep on pushing for what's right.
Jeff, hey, thanks.
Durante, look at you, visiting and commenting! Welcome back. And I thought now that you graduated you stopped caring about us lowly proletariat!
What an excellent post. I'm so glad you stopped by my blog!
More than anything, I am happy to see the worst president in history to finally be gone - good riddance to George W. Bush.
Don't get me wrong, I really like Obama, but as with all members of the two main political parties, none have offered a plan to fix the true underlying problem with our economics, the unnecessary and corrupted federal reserve - a criminal racket of the most extreme.
Gay marriage? It's should never even be an issue with government. On social issues, I am beyond liberal. Hell, I think all drugs should be decriminalized in favor of treatment. I believe in individual rights...period.
I also believe the government is far too big and powerful. The federal income tax should be eliminated and the government reduced in size by 75%. In other words, the government's job is to defend America and they should require little money - and none from the people's pockets. It is robbery. I say bring all the troops home from every place on earth and stop meddling and policing everything.
I do wish Obama were a libertarian; however, I'm quite sure he will handle international tensions and wars with much more tact than Bush. I hope Obama does a good job and is much more centrist than left. I will support him and his election will go a long way to creating equality among minorities. I love the idea that any young black, Asian, Spanish or any other race knows they can grow up to be president - that is so far the best part of Obama's election.
Have a great day, and I really enjoyed this article:)
Preston, thank you. Me too.
Bobby, thank you. I think that even though we're on different (but not opposing) sides of a large political spectrum, we both want the same end result (even if we don't agree on the way to get there).
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