Tuesday was a great day to be an American. After eight years being spent lead by a corrupt administration headed by a Commander in Chief who had become more of a bumbling sitcom character than an international leader, Americans finally got things right by electing Barack Obama. Finally, there was a U.S. election that wasn't officially decided weeks later in Florida. Finally, a leader who was elected whom the people can actually (hopefully) count on to follow through on the promises of change and hope. Finally, as Sherri Shepard from The View (who, of all people, had me close to tears yesterday) put it, African-Americans everywhere can tell their children that they truly can be anything they want to be in this world. Like I said, it was a truly great day to be an American.
Unless you're gay and living in California. In that case, you may have just had your marriage turned invalid.
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Overall, it hasn't exactly been a great week for the gays. First, on Monday Grey's Anatomy's Brooke Smith was fired from the show after ABC execs allegedly took a disliking to her lesbian character. While it seems unlikely that the normally gay-friendly network (home of gay faves such as Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters) would do such a thing, the fact that Greys' own Patrick Demspey admitted on Ellen yesterday that ABC tried to script his reaction to the firing for the show, something smells fishy (no lesbian pun intended).
Then Tuesday night arrives, and it turns out that not only California's Proposition 8 has passed (thus allowing a Constitutional amendment that would define marriage in Cali as between a man and a woman), but similar, rights-stripping ballot measures have also passed in Arizona, Florida and Arkansas. The only thing that hasn't made the whole week a total loss for Team Gay is that Lance Bass is still on Dancing with the Stars (and you know it's been a bad week when...)
What this means is that the Constitutional amendment will go forward for now, with lots more protesting along the way from both sides. In the meantime, while government officials has stated that the 18,000 marriages already conducted in Cali since it became legal in May will stay valid, it's left many questioning where the LGBT community stands. Ellen DeGeneres recently issued this statement, saying: "This morning, when it was clear that Proposition 8 had passed in California, I can't explain the feeling I had. I was saddened beyond belief. Here we just had a giant step towards equality and then on the very next day, we took a giant step away. I believe one day a 'ban on gay marriage' will sound totally ridiculous. In the meantime, I will continue to speak out for equality for all of us,".
So if it sounds so ridiculous, how did this happen, especially in arguably the most liberally-minded state in America? Apparently, the strength of countless celebrities, Barack Obama and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking out against Prop 8 were all not enough against the power of the religious right. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints moved members from Utah to California, and between them and various other groups, over $30 million was poured into ensuring a Yes on Prop 8. What looked like a formidable victory against the Proposition a few months ago, quickly escalated into a heated war between both sides. While celebrities such as Ellen, Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg made donations to help strike down 8, it was apparently futile against the Mormon church as well as the donations of many power-brokers from Newport Beach.
So now, gay Californians are back where they were back in April, only this time with the added disappointment of having been given their rights, and then having them taken away. While the fight regarding Prop 8 continues to wage on, I must ask, had the ballot measure actually failed, would this have made the LGBT community any more equal? Would its opponents not be doing what gay Californians are doing now, protesting and filing lawsuits? It just shows that while the law may be changed, the ideology of the United States can only be changed by continuing to do what we, like so many minorities, have done over the years: educate and inform to promote change for equal rights around the world. Maybe then everyone can be told they can be whatever they want when they grow up.
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