We've been here before
| By Robert Cruickshank, Courage Campaign - Nov 7th, 2008 at 12:05 pm PST |
| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |
The more I look at the passage of Prop 8 and the reaction to it - the outpouring of anger, the determination to not let this stand - the more I realize that we have been here before.In 1963 the state legislature passed the Rumford Fair Housing Act, outlawing racial discrimination in the sale or rental of property. Housing segregation was one of the main targets of the Civil Rights Movement and the Rumford Act was a major victory.
But it also provoked a conservative reaction. In 1964 the California Real Estate Association put Proposition 14 on the ballot, a constitutional amendment repealing the open housing law. A former actor named Ronald Reagan launched his political career serving as the spokesman for the campaign, especially in TV ads. Despite a major mobilization against Prop 14 - leading to, among other things, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement - Prop 14 passed by a 2-1 margin in November 1964.
It was a bitter blow to the California civil rights movement. The anger it provoked was so intense it led to the Watts Riots the following summer. But the main reaction among the California civil rights movement was to organize. By 1970 activists had forced the Democratic Party in CA and in DC to embrace open housing and enshrined it in law as soon as Prop 14 was overturned by the US Supreme Court.
Many Californians are asking us "what now?" The protests we have seen are the beginnings of a new civil rights movement - the *marriage equality movement* - but we need a grassroots movement to make this movement grow and succeed. And to do that we need a goal. A court case doesn't sustain activist energies - something the civil rights Movement, which was organized long before /Brown v. Board/ or /Reitman v. Mulkey/ and achieved its main successes by mounting the most effective and important grassroots movement in our history, understood quite well.
The goal, then, ought to be a repeal of Prop 8. We can and must do the groundwork, field organizing, and outreach to block by block reverse this defeat and show Californians the importance of restoring equal rights - exactly as the civil rights movement did 40 years ago.
The birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement -- the civil rights movement of the 21st Century -- is unfolding before our eyes.
Movements are visceral and popular, often borne of outrage and anger. What we are witnessing on the streets and online is a community of people who have come together to say: "These are our lives. This is our time. This is unacceptable." Organized from the bottom-up by thousands of ordinary people in the last 48 hours, this people-powered phenomenon is exponentially growing by the minute, online and offline.
This is our moment to stand strong together -- gay and straight -- and say that we refuse to accept a California where discrimination is enshrined in our state constitution. Please show your support by pledging to support our campaign to repeal Prop 8 and restore marriage equality to California.
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Remember not to be a couplist! A contracted family is defined as the arrangement of two or more adults who agree to a relationship. Its go nothing to do with sex and everything to do with relationships, benefits, and rights to decide for those family members when they can't due to illness or death.
This is about EVERYONE's rights.
Outside of that, I don't see same sex marriage in California... the voters have voted on this now at least twice and each time it has favored not allowing same sex marriage.
In other news the margin in 2008 was 4%. The margin in 2000 was 28% or so. That's a lot of progress in eight years, so I disagree that same-sex marriage via referendum is impossible.
I do agree however that a convincing argument to get people to vote for marriage equality is needed. I just think it should focus more on real couples and families, the struggles they've faced without marriage equality and how their lives would improve with it. It's easy to vote against something if you think they're going to invade your child's school, it's much harder to vote against real people with real families facing real problems. Something that was noticeably lacking from the No on 8 campaign's message.
"give people a reason to vote for it"???
Money! The root of these current Wars. It can move mountains off of the biggest of Problems.
I had suggested to others that we put a repeal of Prop 8 on a Ballot with what I call a "REPERATION of UNFAIR TAXES" Proposition.
It would "correct" the unfair taxes collected from those who are not married, or cannot get married. It would repay taxes to Singles, Gays and Divorcees because they support, with their tax dollars, "Married" institutions that these groups of People (and maybe others) don't get any benefits from. I.E. tax breaks, schools, etc.
This was called by our founding fathers: No taxation without representation.
The Dollar amount could be figured later, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it's $200 and there is no Proof needed to Prove Discrimination. (This could also serve as CA state Stimulus Plan in this bad economy. If the Feds can buy Votes, why not us? Remember when Bush campaigned in 2000 for the $50 rebate to each person if elected President?)
Some parts of It would be like the Jarvis Prop 13 thing... where it would be in effect for all times.
It would be a onetime "reparations" thing, with corrections to stop future "reparations" from being needed.
Among the "fixes" would be Repeal of Prop 8 and a Clause saying that the State Constitution cannot be changed by simple majority Vote after this Prop, but by Traditional Values as done with the US Constitution. (2/3rds Vote Passage)
I think People will vote for Money over Hate...
After all, "they" did vote for Lies over Reason in Prop 8.
Chris the H.
The birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement -- the civil rights movement of the 21st Century
I LIKE IT…!! We may have lost this battle, but the WAR will still go on.
I am ASTOUNDED that in California about 1.8M scared and frightened human beings felt inclinded to discriminate and take away the rights of other human beings…
And excuse me ‘User from LA’
Tax same sex marriages? This really came out of your mouth?
Remember when:
BUS: you can ride on it, but you’re BLACK so you can’t sit anywhere you want.
OH and it’s NOT because you’re a woman, an elder, or a human being just like the OTHER human beings on this bus!
NO: you’re BLACK so SIT in the back!!
And today:
MARRIAGE: you can be together, but you’re GAY so you can't get married.
OH and it’s NOT because you’re a man or a woman, young or old, or a human being just like the OTHER human beings getting married!
NO: you’re GAY, so NO WAY!!
ROBERT: I stand with you and all the others who will continue this Marriage Equality Movement: THE Civil Rights movement of the 21st Century
Another TOAST..!!
I do believe that funding for both sides was done by people and not churches. Yes, many of the contributors who gave to pass 8 were members of a church. However, 38 million dollars were donated to No on Prop 8 and 32 million dollars were donated in favor for it. Taxing churches because a difference of beliefs makes the government sound like an oppressive one. In fact isn't that how this continent was colonized in the first place? Didn't the pilgrims come here to have the freedom to live their religious beliefs? If you ask me, not respecting the majority vote is the a clear use of unconstitutional discrimination.
But...
The people usually come around, and then take an amazing sangfroid approach to change: If the sky doesn't immediately fall in (or the earth shake), everyone pretty much goes "OK, that wasn't so bad." With that in mind, I suspect that, had Prop 8 arrived next year, same-sex marriage would have been such a non-issue, it would not have passed.
It did, however, and now its time to repeal it. And, despite the anger and frustration (I hear you all, I feel you all) that's not going to accomplish much. It is time to buckle down and reach out to those people who voted yes and show them, in a way that they can understand and accept, that marriage equality is not threat to them and their families, but really something they can be proud of supporting, that their support is even a Christian act (which, truly it is) and a act of patriotism because it renews the American ideal of freedom, liberty, and, most importantly, equality.
The best part is, we don't need to convince all of those who supported Prop. 8. It won by about 5%, to repeal it we just need to convince about 10% to see the humanity, reasonableness and justice of marriage equity. That's doable.
It is also important, because, if we cannot convince them, if we cannot bring them over to our side, we will constantly be facing these battles to defend equity and fairness.
It has taken me a few days to come around to this, but Prop. 8 is an opportunity to permanently secure—through popular, democratic approval—rights for marriage equity. That's good news.
The question is how? The petition is a good start, peaceful, upbeat rallies and demonstrations are good, too. But the best approach is door-to-door, face-to-face discussions that aim to show opponents of same-sex marriage two things:
First, that marriage and families are not, and never have been, unchangeable institutions (either over time or from culture to culture) and that great marriages and great families don't fit into a single, cookie-cutter definition. (For example, it wasn't too long ago that all sorts of people insisted that interracial or interdenominational marriages were sinful.)
Second, that "marriage" is a word that has both religious and legal meanings, neither of which are linked. Accepting the legal constitutional definition of marriage does require any church to change its doctrines or practices.
That's how I see it, anyway. Now its time to roll-up the sleeves and get to work.
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1. Loving v. Virginia - the Supreme Court case that overturned bans on interracial marriages and miscegenation pretty explicitly lays out exactly why marriage is, in fact, a right.
2. I, for one, think that domestic partnership benefits should be(and I imagine to some extent are) extended to all kinds of people pairings that could use and deserve them. Not necessarily based on romantic or sexual entanglements but because there are many types of relationships that could benefit from these legal protections(IE elderly siblings who are responsible for each others well-being). However I imagine that myself and others who are in support of marriage equity would be all for expanding its benefits for all deserving people, and that those who supported 8(which I gather you did) would be opposed to such an affront on their 'traditional' values and see it as further evidence of the 'slippery slope' they constantly warn about that will result in people somehow being wed to their coffee tables. So I think that fight will likely be taken up at a later date, in the meantime I'll be pushing for the rights, privileges and benefits of marriage be extended to same-sex families who currently need and deserve them.
3. The LDS church (otherwise known pejoratively as 'mormons', as you insultingly refer to them while claiming 'we' target them) made a public statement encouraging its members to support Proposition 8. By involving itself in the political arena the church opened itself to political reprisal. Not that I support or condone the vandalism of their holy places but I find nothing wrong with public protests of their churches that are conducted peacefully and lawfully.
Finally, would you mind formatting your posts so they're at least legible? This nigh indecipherable block of text is an assault on my optical nerves.
Peace.