Archives » Monday, November 17, 2008
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Kurt Soller
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Nov 17, 2008 04:17 PM
This week in the magazine, David Jefferson takes another look at his recent marriage to his partner (which he wrote about previously) after the passage of California’s Proposition 8. In his new
story, Jefferson discusses how the amendment that defines marriage
between a man and a woman has turned him into an unlikely activist. “I
couldn't imagine that voters here on the liberal Left Coast would deem
our wedding a threat to "traditional" marriage,” Jefferson says of his
thoughts before the vote went through. “But we were living in a bubble.
We'd wrongly assumed that because most Americans no longer feel
entitled to call us ‘***’ to our faces, we had won acceptance.”
In short, Jefferson (and many other men and woman) around the country
didn’t expect Proposition 8 to pass, so it is interesting to look at
the comments and get a national pulse on the debate. To be sure, there
are many who nearly use the F-word Jefferson mentions, a phrase that is
conveniently deleted from NEWSWEEK comments for being offensive. But
without the expletives, many readers argue that it is obvious
Proposition 8 was going to pass, and that gay men and women suffer from a “perversion” the majority has spoken out against. Throughout the comments section, the chorus echoes “marriage is defined between a man and a woman - period.”
It is these kinds of comments that clear any mystery as to why
Proposition 8 passed. Nonetheless, they’re fuel to Jefferson’s other
point: for years, the gay community has been placid. Now, with the
passage of Proposition 8 and the ongoing rallies, there’s a reason to
get mad, a reason to stand up for individual rights. “The gay community certainly has become too comfortable, a bit soft even about direct conflict,” writes one reader. “I
would add that people in general have become far too trusting of the
right-wing Christians and their whole compassionate conservatism dodge.”
Even if you don’t include religion in this debate (which is difficult
considering how much money the Mormon Church spent in California for
“Yes on Prop 8” ads), others argue “Prop 8 is about a pursuit of happiness by being in a committed relationship.” And that’s something that people obviously care about. “I have to say I haven’t seen this kind of energy from the gay community for decades,” writes one reader, “This time they pissed us off. You don’t give rights and them take them away.”
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