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As far as the election triumph, it's occurring to me that my perspective went through a total shift in the last 72 hours.
I realized that my emotional involvement in this election was simple: I just wanted the Democrats to win one, after all these years.
And yes we DID win a Presidential race! And yes we DID get a Congressional majority. And yes we DID show the world that the country's finally wised up to the need for a president who believes in democracy, who believes in fighting global warming and working for universal health care, who will try to undo the last eight years of stupidity, who has a head on his shoulders, who has compassion, who has savvy.
And right now it's all of a sudden that shift from WE MUST WIN THIS ELECTION OR ELSE (which for me, and for many Democrats I know it WAS), from "I need to know that this is not the country of bigots and evangelists and war opportunists; I need to know that this is my America too," to a whole new set of hopes and fears for an Obama administration.
( the sheer joy of finally winning an election! )
And re: Prop 8; over here it's been a vitriolic money-throwing fight all summer -- really all year. Vote For Equality calls me almost every day asking me to volunteer/phone bank/contribute, and they called me again yesterday, ready to mobilize and picket against the assholes who voted to "protect" "marriage" from... whatever marriage's natural enemy is (I think it's Vegas. Can we insert a constitutional amendment to ban wedding chapels and drunk teenagers and most of southern Nevada?). Still whirling from the national election, I told them I couldn't help right now but would get back on board shortly. Yeah, I know it sucks. I am a gay person in California. My sister is an even gayer person in California. But it's just; as much as I hate bigotry and legitimately don't understand (I mean, really, really don't understand) what the word "marriage" is so afraid of, and why OTHER words don't get constitutional amendments protecting them, and how our big gay founding fathers are tossing and turning together in their graves at the humiliation -- I fail to consider it a dealbreaker. I mean, first off, I trust California and its commitment not to surrender to one stupid vote, but secondly -- it's marriage. It's an elective, unlike global warming and the economy and health care, which are life-sustaining issues. The semantic difference between marriage and civil unions is an important one in the fight for equality and the end of bigotry against gay people (which is of course in itself a crucially important fight and one -- like a black president -- which is way, way past its time) but I am so much more worried about why I can't afford my medication or a car or how many years we have until the next ice age or whether my parents have enough money to get through their retirement.
I promise, promise to get back into the gay marriage fight again soon. But this week, it's a hit I'm willing to take for the team. The fact that prop 4 was overturned (that's parental notification for abortions) was actually even more important to me.
I think I'm prioritizing practical matters over ideological ones in this election, after the eight years of damage we've received.
Anyway, this post is more for me than for you, for later when we're feeling ideologically hopeful in an Obama administration and can speak out for our civil rights in a forum where there's a greater chance we'll be heard...
Today, two days after the election and 75 days till Inauguration, I'm just happy there's a greater chance we'll survive the next four years healthy enough to fight for our rights at all.
I realized that my emotional involvement in this election was simple: I just wanted the Democrats to win one, after all these years.
And yes we DID win a Presidential race! And yes we DID get a Congressional majority. And yes we DID show the world that the country's finally wised up to the need for a president who believes in democracy, who believes in fighting global warming and working for universal health care, who will try to undo the last eight years of stupidity, who has a head on his shoulders, who has compassion, who has savvy.
And right now it's all of a sudden that shift from WE MUST WIN THIS ELECTION OR ELSE (which for me, and for many Democrats I know it WAS), from "I need to know that this is not the country of bigots and evangelists and war opportunists; I need to know that this is my America too," to a whole new set of hopes and fears for an Obama administration.
( the sheer joy of finally winning an election! )
And re: Prop 8; over here it's been a vitriolic money-throwing fight all summer -- really all year. Vote For Equality calls me almost every day asking me to volunteer/phone bank/contribute, and they called me again yesterday, ready to mobilize and picket against the assholes who voted to "protect" "marriage" from... whatever marriage's natural enemy is (I think it's Vegas. Can we insert a constitutional amendment to ban wedding chapels and drunk teenagers and most of southern Nevada?). Still whirling from the national election, I told them I couldn't help right now but would get back on board shortly. Yeah, I know it sucks. I am a gay person in California. My sister is an even gayer person in California. But it's just; as much as I hate bigotry and legitimately don't understand (I mean, really, really don't understand) what the word "marriage" is so afraid of, and why OTHER words don't get constitutional amendments protecting them, and how our big gay founding fathers are tossing and turning together in their graves at the humiliation -- I fail to consider it a dealbreaker. I mean, first off, I trust California and its commitment not to surrender to one stupid vote, but secondly -- it's marriage. It's an elective, unlike global warming and the economy and health care, which are life-sustaining issues. The semantic difference between marriage and civil unions is an important one in the fight for equality and the end of bigotry against gay people (which is of course in itself a crucially important fight and one -- like a black president -- which is way, way past its time) but I am so much more worried about why I can't afford my medication or a car or how many years we have until the next ice age or whether my parents have enough money to get through their retirement.
I promise, promise to get back into the gay marriage fight again soon. But this week, it's a hit I'm willing to take for the team. The fact that prop 4 was overturned (that's parental notification for abortions) was actually even more important to me.
I think I'm prioritizing practical matters over ideological ones in this election, after the eight years of damage we've received.
Anyway, this post is more for me than for you, for later when we're feeling ideologically hopeful in an Obama administration and can speak out for our civil rights in a forum where there's a greater chance we'll be heard...
Today, two days after the election and 75 days till Inauguration, I'm just happy there's a greater chance we'll survive the next four years healthy enough to fight for our rights at all.
