I don't understand the protests over Proposition 8.
I voted No on 8, and I'm bummed that it passed. But it did pass. So I would just ask those protesting, what exactly are you trying to accomplish? The vote was last week.
There's another election in 2 years. Wouldn't a better idea be to start doing outreach into communities that you may be able to win over to your side? Get the ball rolling. The other side never quits, you shouldn't either. Get a pro-gay marriage proposition onto the 2010 ballot. If it fails, well there's 2012, 2014, so and so on. That's one upside of the referendum process.
Prop 22 passed by over 20 points in 2000. Prop 8 won by only 4. Progress has been made. Focus you energy where it can make a difference. I gaurantee you, your protests are only preaching to the choir. Time to build some bridges.
You are on the right side of history. Don't let the bitterness of Prop 8 cloud that.
I see your point and have to agree, this is a time when the organizers of No on Prop 8 should be doing some self-assessment as to what went wrong. I think the protests are a way to keep people energized, to keep them from becoming despondent, to let them know that this fight isn't over. But it is not going to be enough. Certainly, I don't think the No on 8ers did enough outreach into the Black and Latino communities and were blindsided by the turnout of this group who are steeped in religious bias, not to mention the flood of money from the LDS church.
ReplyDeleteYes, gay marriage is an issue in which emotions run hot, but we *must* find a way to help those who point to the bible as their defense to understand why this is not a religious issue but rather an equal rights issue. This is a struggle that will not be won easily. It will be won, though. Just as women and blacks got the right to vote, so will gays be able to marry. As surely as bans on interracial marriage have been left behind on the dust heap of history, so will be the ban on gay marriage. It is just going to take more time and much more hard work.