2008 Election

W&W: Has CA’s Assault on Marriage Fallen Off the Gaydar?

By Maegan Carberry ⋅ October 8, 2008 ⋅   Email this post ⋅  Digg This ⋅  Share on Facebook ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

West Hollywood Deputy Mayor, Jake Stevens, joins Ted, Teresa and I to discuss reports that support for the Prop 8 anti-gay marriage measure appears to be surging in California. 

Teresa and I didn’t have time to weigh in on the show, but it infuriates me when Democratic candidates, including Obama and Biden, don’t step up to the plate on this issue. One of the things I admire most about Obama was that he showed courage in being against the Iraq war from the start when it was politically unpopular. It’s very upsetting that in an election that has brought inequality to the forefront of our national conversation, the senators are on the right side of the law but continue to acquiesce to semantics that enable gay Americans to be treated as second-class citizens. As Teresa notes in the program, it’s confusing for voters to hear, as they did in the Vice Presidential debate, or read on the candidate’s web sites that they do not support marriage rights. 

Obviously there are pressing issues (the economic collapse, the war in Iraq) that continue to upstage identity politics this election season, including with respect to race and gender. It’s fair and reasonable to argue that the focus should remain on them through November in order for progressives to take office and effect real change down the road. Still, this measure is blatant discrimination based on hate and it should not be tolerated. If our leaders aren’t going to make it an issue, the progressive people of California need to step up in these last few weeks and do so. What happens here will send a message to the country and the world. This is not some Sarah Palin-loving red state that the Democrats must drag to the finish line on Nov. 4, and it would be a travesty if the rights of gay Americans were to fall to the wayside as collateral damage in a war for middle-of-the-road voters.

Listen to the show here or use the Blog Talk Radio player: