Subscribe to Breaking NewsRuby-Sachs: Gay in 2008
Writing the year-end wrap-up today is hard and sad. Hard because this has been an incredibly eventful year for gay rights, sad because many of us, myself included, are so angry about Reverend Rick Warren, giving thanks for the wins might be harder than we would like. That said, here is a list of important successes and failures for the year:
The law of equality is evolving
The California Supreme Court found that excluding LGBT people from marriage was unconstitutional. It is hard to celebrate that win now, what with the passing of Proposition 8 in November, but we cannot forget how important the Court’s reasoning was in that case. The right to marry was rooted in the equal protection clause. That clause exists, not only in every State Constitution, but in the Federal Constitution. This reasoning will form the basis of many other progressive decisions to come.
That same court has also agreed to hear a review of Proposition 8. The attorney-general of California has called for the marriage ban to be stuck down.
A Florida court ruled that banning gay adoption was unconstitutional. The decision took steps to extend the equal protection law to a more robust protection of LGBT rights and commented that LGBT people should be granted the same level of protection as women and Black Americans.
Finally, New York Governor Paterson issued a directive guaranteeing recognition for same-sex marriages in his State. A challenge of this directive was brought in the district court and was dismissed.
This progress in the legal world has led to a high profile anti-gay campaign. We saw it during the election with Proposition 8 and many other anti-gay ballot initiatives and again with Rick Warren. But this backlash is part of the success too. We must be ready to deal with the most virulent homophobes when the sanctity of the exclusion of LGBT people is threatened. If there wasn’t some progress, there wouldn’t be a need for outrage. This shows us that the work in courts must now be echoed on the ground.
Barack Obama will be the next President
As upset as I am with Obama (more on that later), he has openly identified as a “fierce advocate” for LGBT rights. He has referred to LGBT people in all of his important speeches and has included LGBT individuals in his inauguration parade. He is not all that I had hoped for, but he is by far an improvement over the last President and is certainly the most progressive President on LGBT issues in U.S. history.
Part of this is the climate of the times – there are just more people comfortable with LGBT rights today than during the Clinton years. But part of it might just be his own commitment to improving equality in the United States.
From what we know now, he will likely not go to the wall for our community, but he will be a very sympathetic ear. My hope is that his administration will oversee the repeal of DOMA. It’s a long shot, but a possible success, especially in the lead up to the next election.
Reverend Rick Warren will speak at the inauguration
Yes, Barack Obama may do many important things for LGBT people and yes, an invocation is only a three minute prayer, but this choice indicates that homophobia is still an acceptable vice. Whereas years ago it was ok to fraternize with racists and anti-semites as long as they made noises about having friends who were Jews or Blacks, today it is ok to bring homophobes into the fold as long as they are progressive on other issues. This sends the message that promoting a lower class of citizens based on “lifestyle choices” is acceptable.
This is Obama’s fault, it is outrageous and it is a tremendous setback for the LGBT movement.
The United States failed to sign the UN non-binding statement on LGBT rights
This event is not so much a failure (notice the term “non-binding”) as an indication of how far there is to go for LGBT rights in the US. The statement said nothing about gay marriage, gay adoption even protections for gay people in the employment context. All it asked was for countries to eliminate the criminalization of LGBT people for acting on their sexual orientation. One line mentioned economic, social and cultural rights including the right to health, but it was part of a larger statement specifically focused on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In sum, this should have been a no brainer, even for the US.
I think the time when a statement like this can garner US support is very close. In fact, if the line about health care and economic rights was removed, I feel an Obama administration would support the statement.
The ups and downs of this year have been a bit tortuous. It is easy to focus on the losses, the backlash, the amendments and the inauguration. However, we need to remember that great progress is being made legally. Once the courts move to approve equal rights for LGBT people, I firmly believe that public opinion will follow. It is, in fact, the only way real progress for equality has been made in this country.
So donate to your local ACLU and Lambda Legal, keep an eye out for the Prop 8 challenge next year and the Iowa court ruling on gay marriage, talk to your conservative family members about gay rights while their mouths are too full to protest, and be sure to have a safe and happy holiday.
What she did not say was the Governor Patterson’s directive was regarding only gay marriage that are legal “outside” of New York State. in Mass and Conn. Neither the NY legislature nor has any court in NY State OK ed gay marriage for New York State.
The next gay marriages are likely to be soon in New Jersey and then after New Jersey in the other 4 New England states. New York gay marriage is likely during the time New England is again picking up new gay marriage states next to Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Gay people are one of the first to scream discrimination.When in fact there is a lot of racism within our community.Look at the so called spokes people!As a african american woman I am first glad to see a man of my color in the white house.Will it take that long in the gay community AA male or female? Get real!Rick Warren so what? It’s a three minute prayer for God’s sake. What about all this gay couples getting married in Conn. and taking their dollars to city Hall Justice of the Peace instead of Gay Ministers? Ther are gay Ministers in Conn. Mass. and N.Y. It’s time to practice what you preach. Put your money where your mouth is (ooopppss). Sincerly Carolyn Askew
Carolyn – why do you call our gay leaders racist? What do you have to support that charge? I’m white, I limited out on my contributions to Barack Obama and I was so I happy tears ran down my face when he was elected. How would you feel if David Duke were at the inauguration? Have a little respect for yourself not only as a woman of color, but also as a gay person. I have not witnessed any of this gay racism I keep hearing about. I’ve lived in Los Angeles for a few years now and I’ve never seen it. I’ve seen black homophobia though, plenty of times, right here in Los Angeles. I’ve also seen black racism here too – black man – white woman – it’s not the white people who treat them with disrespect – it’s black women – and they are completely open about it. When I lived in the Midwest, there was plenty of racism _OUTSIDE_ the gay community. I’m tired of being called a racist because I’m gay and white.
Eddie, Please reread what I said. I said there is racism in our community and it is!I did not accuse gay leaders of racism. I just asked a question.How long is it going to take to see a person of color in leadership roles in our community?Iam 55 AA and lesbian. I have it all race and sex hatred. Question have to be asked.This is not a perfect whole. At least I do not think so. You may not be a racist but it does exist Eddie. One good thing about America is that right to vote. And if David Dukes was in the White House it would be because he was voted in! I have more pride than you will ever know sir. Like I said. I hope it does not take as long to see an AA out front in our community as it did to have an AA President.Stay Cali cool Eddie. Love Carolyn
Carolyn – I don’t know how long that will take. I know that in Los Angeles we have the largest gay and lesbian center in the country – very few African Americans come and volunteer, why, I don’t know that either. I also don’t know why most of the gay African Americans I know are in the closet. I know there is rampant homophobia in the African American community here in Los Angeles, at least to hear the AA gay people I know tell it. I think the solution to both of these issues is for more of our African American brothers and sisters to come out of the closet. Just my humble opinion. Will it be easy for them, no. I came out 24 years ago in rural Wisconsin at the age of 16, it wasn’t easy for me either. I have never seen any racism from any gay man I know, not one. It hurts me deeply when people say the gay community is racist, I don’t know why people say that.
Carolyn, please provide some evidence of gay leaders being racist. Until then, STFU.
The LGBT community is the most annoyingly politically correct group of people I’ve ever met. They are not racist. The reason there are no black gay leaders is because so many blacks are lazy homophobes. Being black myself, I have seen countless incidences of blacks being homophobic and transphobic, while none of white gays being “racist”. If black people want to be heard, they need to get off their lazy asses and make themselves heard. It is not acceptable for them to sit around and wait for everyone else to invite them in.
So stop whining and complaining about “racist white gays” and get off your ass and do something. While you’re at it, go back to school, because you have the writing style of a 5th grader and the reading comprehension of an 8-year-old. Eddie did not say “how would you feel if David Duke was president?”. He said “how would you feel if David Duke was invited to the president’s inauguration?”. So read properly and put down the crack pipe. Thanks.
Ruby-Sachs,
You deserve to be disappointed and frustrated after being so naive as to think Obama would actually be different from any other spineless politician. You wannabe liberals at the Huffington Post sure are a bunch of gullible sheep, aren’t you?
One can only hope you won’t be as mindless an Obamabot and vote for him again in 2012 after he does hardly anything for LGBT people in his first term.
Grow a spine and stop dragging the gay community down with you with your child-like credulity and innocence.
Live and learn, Eddie (and so many other gay men). A grown man has no business having tears rolling down his face at the election of ANY politician. Leave getting caught up in a starry-eyed moment for teenagers who don’t know about real life yet.
Mr. Realist you prove just what I said. first you assume that I am lazy and a crack head. You don’t know me!There is racism in every group you disrespectful child. You don’t know what I have done or am doing in the communities AA or gay. I wish I could bring myself to call you a bunch of names just because I don’t like what you are saying. But ignorance is bliss, and I wish you to be blissfully happy. And by the way, why not give your write name Mr. Realist still in the closet! Respectfully Carolyn
Mr. Realist, You are negative, negative, negative. Who in God’s name hurt you so badly that you have to talk to people that way. People are mindless and have to grow spines in your opinion! You one nasty person. Any I don’t have time nor the expertise to deal with such a sick person. Will you please seek some help? Fondly Carolyn
To Carolyn Askew. To me Rick Warren’s appearance is both disgusting and surprising. I am a white gay man, not a racist, and not screaming.
Carolyn – you are absolutely correct that there is racism in some parts of the gay/lesbian community. We all have the opportunity to explicitly clarify our perspective on racism, i.e. that it should NOT happen and definitely should not be tolerated.
That being said, we also should NOT tolerate descrimination against homosexuals, EVEN that deriving from religious beliefs. The fact that one man gets to choose the words that our nation will direct toward the “god” of us all should cause us great chagrin. Rather, Obama should have requested a 3 minute moment of silence so that we all could praise god in our own manner.
This is America, where everyone SHOULD be treated equally. We all know that equality is not uniform yet, but that does not mean that we shouldn’t call out discrimination when we see itin ALL venues and in ALL groups: Gay, Black, White, Politians, Preachers, etc.
I’m not black, so I’m not offering the following as gospel, but I think I understand why many (I’m told by people in the know that Prop 8 got 57% of the black vote) black folks are opposed to gays and gay rights.
Being gay for men is often equated with being less manly, especially for gay men who may seem somewhat feminine. Now for the black community, during slavery and segregation, the southern whites, who are those most opposed to gay equality, did everything they could to make black men seem like less then men. Call them “boy”, and of course when they lynched blacks, they often castrated them as well. So you end up with a culture where the men are always trying to display or reinforce their manhood. And this results in their being opposed to any association with gay men in particular. And you can bet that it is worse for a black gay man then a white gay man in their culture because of this issue, so there are many black gay men who are so in the closet that they strike out against gay people, as a defense to being found out and ostracized by the males in their community.
Second, for the longest time, Blacks had next to nothing in this country. But they did have their churches. And often poor people are very conservative, desperately trying to preserve what little they have. And this gets reflected in their church culture, where conservative in general equates to opposition to gay people having rights, while the white people who fought for equality for blacks often came from reasonably well off, more liberal backgrounds, eg Jewish.
And the dehumanization of black men in particular (remember that black women as slaves and under segregation were often hired or as slaves given the repsonsibility of helping around the white folks children. A big measure of trust. But for black men, not a chance.
So it is, IMHO, just macho issues to the black community that make them more vociferous then many whites on the subject of equality for gays. And of course, in general, they often oppose equating gay equality with the “civil rights movement” for they feel that their path to the reasonable acceptance they now have would be at risk if they came out strongly for gay equality – who wants to be associated with a despised group, when you just yourself have gotten free of the despisement of the same group.
It is a terrible situation in general, but to make progress on it, we need to understand the roots of the emotions.
Carolyn, granted racism still exists and will always exist no matter how much we progress because people will always have their own personal points of view on things and unfortunately many people refuse to open up their minds and look at both sides of the story. I personally am for LGBT rights in all aspects in respect to being an American citizen. I feel that if I pay taxes and do my duty as a citizen of “the land of the free” that I should benefit from the same tax breaks and benefits that a heterosexual couple does. Why, because of my sexual preference should I be exempt from certain privileges. The fact of the matter is that as long as we continue to push and attempt to educate America we might get somewhere. But we have to continue to pursue those goals the right way and show America that those part of the LGBT community are just as “normal” as any other American in the United States.
It’s very unfortunate that so many people are so radical on an issue that they 1)cannot relate to, 2)are very ignorant on, and 3)don’t take the time to fully understand struggles that the LGBT community faces. These struggles (to me at least) were created because many people didn’t understand another way of living and just being and in turn chose to reject in instead of embracing it. It took how long for African Americans to vote?! Or even women! It’s very sad that other countries have matured as nations and created an equal system for all whereas here in the United States we can’t seem to get it right.
The world is full of many people with different mindsets and beliefs, you just have to wait it out and hope that by attempting to educate them you will get somewhere. Not all hope is lost, this year alone showed that the push for LGBT rights is a priority in many peoples eyes. Let us come together for a better nation where every American citizen is guaranteed equal rights.
I kept checking http://www.365gay.com EVERYDAY. The news is same and same for one week. How can we be motivated and energized more if this website does not keep updated with news?