bittersweet
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
i was joyous.
i was, and am, optimistic.
a new page has turned.
an african american president, only 43 years after everyone was guaranteed the right to vote.
yet, still, with the gay marriage ban proposition passing in california and similar legislation passed in other states, it is readily apparent that america still has a way to go before everyone, the way god made them – black, white, disabled, gay - will be seen as, and treated as, equal.
obama does not support gay marriage, and it is perhaps due to him and his public statements on the subject (even though he supported the “No on 8″ campaign for its constitutionality, he still publicly stated he believes marriage is only between man and a woman) that these measures passed. millions of americans that voted for him also voted against gay marriage. so it was bittersweet to hear him say those words above, when at the same time rights were being taken from millions of americans. it’s amazing to me that a black man (and 70% of african american voters?) could support “separate but equal” rights for gay americans. we all know there is no such thing.
you can’t win them all at once, i guess, and so he’s right: this is only the beginning.
Filed in politics and news | Tagged with prop8 | Comments (5)5 Responses to “bittersweet”
Leave a Reply
In my heart I don’t believe that Obama supports “separate but equal” rights for gay Americans. I see his statements about gay marriage as entirely political statements, and feel that if he hadn’t made them, hadn’t taken that stance, he would have lost this election – the issue is *that* polarizing. Where would we be if McCain won? If Barack Obama is anything, he is a realist and a pragmatist, and that means taking progress step-by-step. Not that I wanted him to make that statement. Not that it didn’t deeply disappoint me. Not that I don’t wish we lived in another world where we could sweep all change in at once. For better or for worse, I see this as another sort of suffrage issue from the turn of the past century: getting the black vote before the woman’s vote (which again repeated itself in this election: getting our first black president, not our first female president). Obviously, our country is not yet in the place to see our lgbt sisters and brothers as equal, but I do believe we’ll get there. Like you (and Obama) said: this is only the beginning. I just don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that Obama can possibly hold all of this change at once, that he can outwardly embrace all of this at once: as much as I want to will it differently, it’s not how politics in our country works (though he’s clearly pushing the envelope on how politics does work, as well, which is pretty exciting).
Lots of good stuff to think about here. Here’s to keeping up our energy and pushing forward with all this change. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.
totally agreed, mary.
but good news:
“As the vote counting continued this morning, opponents of Prop. 8 filed a lawsuit directly with the state Supreme Court – whose May 15 ruling legalized same-sex marriage – asking the justices to overturn the measure.
The suit argued that Prop. 8 would change the California Constitution in such fundamental ways – taking important rights away from a minority group – that it amounted to a constitutional revision, which requires approval by the Legislature before being submitted to the voters. The case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lamda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
The same groups asked the court before the election to remove Prop. 8 from the ballot on those grounds. The justices refused, but left the door open for a post-election challenge.”
What is funny to me about this is that I being a Christian women with all that means is for gay marriage. To me it is outrageous that anyone is denied the sanctity of marriage. That many children are denied the opportunity of having everyone in their family with the same last name, and the security that marriage provides a child.
I believe that with the new president change will happen and not in the baby steps of the baby boomer age. This generation is not as easily swept under the rug. I think we are more demanding of our leaders and expect more.
I hate to say it, but the election results are sounding more about race than what Obama will do for the country. I’m not downplaying that it is unbelievable and amazing that we FINALLY overcame our prejudices and have taken a huge step towards equality in this country, but ALL I hear is about how we have elected a black man, a black man, a black man. Who cares if he’s purple, brown, green, black, orange or white??? He’s still just a man with some really big hurdles in his future. I’m split right down the middle about these results. I think it’s absolutely FANTASTIC that we as a country have made that step, but isn’t this more about what our leader will do for us ? I’m tired of hearing about his color. On top of that, how horrible would we be if McCain had won and we ran around chanting that a white man won????
agreed, and i hope the focus on race dies out as soon as possible. i can see now that any time Obama makes a move or something happens that people don’t like, it’s gonna be blamed on race/racial politics. it sucks, but hopefully at some point america will grow up and move on.