yes we can
A lot of people are saying "Yes we did" today, and we did indeed. I couldn't be happier about President Obama. The whole world is sighing in relief, and rightfully so. I hope this shows that America isn't as stupid or evil as we have appeared the last 8 years. Change is coming, and we really need it. I have a renewed faith in America.
The presidential election was by far the most important one on the ballot. As I have said since the beginning, the greatest threat to gay rights this year was not Prop 8 in California, or Prop 2 in Florida, or the ones in Arizona and Arkansas. The greatest danger was that we'd have another Republican appointing members of the Supreme Court. But now the four liberal members can safely retire, and Obama will put good people on the court who will ultimately protect us. The four anti-gay propositions that passed yesterday are short term setbacks. But with the Supreme Court on our side, we will ultimately prevail.
Obviously I'm disappointed about Prop 8. I'm not depressed, since I'm so thrilled about Obama. But I wish it had gone differently. My initial reaction was to be angry at the demographics that voted against us. Old people, religious bigots, and the uneducated didn't really surprise me. But I'm not going to lie, it's pretty disappointing that on the very day when all of America celebrated the triumph of minorities over oppression, the minority group with the most to celebrate was the one that crushed us in the polls. Hypocritical, to say the least. All the news stories are about the victory of the civil rights movement. Really?! Tell that to the couples whose weddings were stopped in their tracks this morning because bigots succeeded in amending the constitution to deny equal protection to a minority group. Does that sound like the civil rights battle has been won?! But even though 70% of that minority group voted against us, 30% voted with us. And 48% of California voters were with us. And that's reason for hope. Thankfully, we have history on our side, and it's just a matter of time before justice prevails. I'm not worried. In fact, I'm hopeful.
I attended the rally in West Hollywood tonight. It started off small and tame; just a few thousand people listening to speakers. They'd closed off San Vicente between Santa Monica and Melrose. But when it ended, it spread out into the intersection at Santa Monica. Soon, the police had closed down the entire stretch of Santa Monica that was closed last week for Halloween: La Cienega to Doheny. The crowd spilled up San Vicente, and soon took over Sunset Blvd too. I just keep following along as we kept marching. People were pouring out of the restaurants and clubs to watch and cheer. All the car drivers were honking and high fiving us as we passed; some even got out of their cars to clap. Pretty soon the news helicopters got wind of what was going on, and started hovering over us. The paparazzi abandoned the star-studded restaurants and started taking pictures of us instead. The TV news stations sent out their vans. Just outside the Chateau Marmont the crowd surrounded a car, and I thought they must have found a Yes on 8 sticker and were heckling the driver. It turns out it was Lance Bass, who just happened to be driving by. When we got to the corner of Crescent Heights, many people in the crowd sat down in the middle of the intersection, but the drivers didn't seem to mind. History was being made. After I got home I learned that a big group continued east to the corner of Hollywood and Highland, where they shut down the intersection and clashed with police. A few were arrested. Thankfully I was in the group that headed back toward the gayborhood. I had met up with a friend, and then ran into the guy I had a date with last weekend, so we went to get dinner.
I can still hear the helicopters hovering above my place. The streets were still closed when I left, and it was like a big impromptu block party. There is a rally at the Mormon church tomorrow. Part of me says "BURN THAT SHIT TO THE GROUND!" But that's not the answer. We're better than that. I have great hope in the legal battle that has been started to overturn Prop 8. I'll probably talk about it more at some point. And if worse comes to worst, we just have to wait until the bigots die out and my generation takes over at the polls. Thankfully Washington joined Oregon yesterday in allowing physician-assisted suicide, so maybe we can speed that process up a bit. ;-)
In summary, tonight encouraged me. My hope is that this spontaneous march through Los Angeles tonight will go down as the Stonewall of my generation. I hope this was the night when we decided we'd had enough. We are done playing nice. Now we're really going to fight for it until we win.
Yes we can.
The presidential election was by far the most important one on the ballot. As I have said since the beginning, the greatest threat to gay rights this year was not Prop 8 in California, or Prop 2 in Florida, or the ones in Arizona and Arkansas. The greatest danger was that we'd have another Republican appointing members of the Supreme Court. But now the four liberal members can safely retire, and Obama will put good people on the court who will ultimately protect us. The four anti-gay propositions that passed yesterday are short term setbacks. But with the Supreme Court on our side, we will ultimately prevail.
Obviously I'm disappointed about Prop 8. I'm not depressed, since I'm so thrilled about Obama. But I wish it had gone differently. My initial reaction was to be angry at the demographics that voted against us. Old people, religious bigots, and the uneducated didn't really surprise me. But I'm not going to lie, it's pretty disappointing that on the very day when all of America celebrated the triumph of minorities over oppression, the minority group with the most to celebrate was the one that crushed us in the polls. Hypocritical, to say the least. All the news stories are about the victory of the civil rights movement. Really?! Tell that to the couples whose weddings were stopped in their tracks this morning because bigots succeeded in amending the constitution to deny equal protection to a minority group. Does that sound like the civil rights battle has been won?! But even though 70% of that minority group voted against us, 30% voted with us. And 48% of California voters were with us. And that's reason for hope. Thankfully, we have history on our side, and it's just a matter of time before justice prevails. I'm not worried. In fact, I'm hopeful.
I attended the rally in West Hollywood tonight. It started off small and tame; just a few thousand people listening to speakers. They'd closed off San Vicente between Santa Monica and Melrose. But when it ended, it spread out into the intersection at Santa Monica. Soon, the police had closed down the entire stretch of Santa Monica that was closed last week for Halloween: La Cienega to Doheny. The crowd spilled up San Vicente, and soon took over Sunset Blvd too. I just keep following along as we kept marching. People were pouring out of the restaurants and clubs to watch and cheer. All the car drivers were honking and high fiving us as we passed; some even got out of their cars to clap. Pretty soon the news helicopters got wind of what was going on, and started hovering over us. The paparazzi abandoned the star-studded restaurants and started taking pictures of us instead. The TV news stations sent out their vans. Just outside the Chateau Marmont the crowd surrounded a car, and I thought they must have found a Yes on 8 sticker and were heckling the driver. It turns out it was Lance Bass, who just happened to be driving by. When we got to the corner of Crescent Heights, many people in the crowd sat down in the middle of the intersection, but the drivers didn't seem to mind. History was being made. After I got home I learned that a big group continued east to the corner of Hollywood and Highland, where they shut down the intersection and clashed with police. A few were arrested. Thankfully I was in the group that headed back toward the gayborhood. I had met up with a friend, and then ran into the guy I had a date with last weekend, so we went to get dinner.
I can still hear the helicopters hovering above my place. The streets were still closed when I left, and it was like a big impromptu block party. There is a rally at the Mormon church tomorrow. Part of me says "BURN THAT SHIT TO THE GROUND!" But that's not the answer. We're better than that. I have great hope in the legal battle that has been started to overturn Prop 8. I'll probably talk about it more at some point. And if worse comes to worst, we just have to wait until the bigots die out and my generation takes over at the polls. Thankfully Washington joined Oregon yesterday in allowing physician-assisted suicide, so maybe we can speed that process up a bit. ;-)
In summary, tonight encouraged me. My hope is that this spontaneous march through Los Angeles tonight will go down as the Stonewall of my generation. I hope this was the night when we decided we'd had enough. We are done playing nice. Now we're really going to fight for it until we win.
Yes we can.
posted by Matt at 11:46 PM
24 Comments:
Matt I sent this letter to my friends, Anyone who cares to ca fee free to forward it on.
In my lifetime, I have never heard such a sigh of relief, around the world, because one man was able
to inspire Americans to make a difference. A mantra, might I add, that was once core to our country's success and well-being.
I voted for Obama. I also voted no on Amendment 2 here in Florida and we didn't win that one. I donated to the No on 8 campaign in California. It amazes me that that California's constitution has gone the same discriminatory route as so many others.
I guess we need a Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered version of Dr. Martin Luther King. It is my hope that our movement for equal rights and protection has soon reaches that critical mass that will propel such a person forward. Indeed, in the past 10 to 15 years, we thought we could take the battle to the courts and win. And while we have had limited success in that manner, we still have not changed the minds of a majority of Americans including some of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
Demographically, the attitudes have changed among younger voters and some day that will be to everyone's benefit. However, if history is a good teacher, we know that people under thirty are often overwhelmed by the members of Generation X and the Baby Boomers when it comes to policy making and voting. Even with Mr. Obama as president, we will still see a legislative catering to this segment of the population.
If we and those sympathetic to our rights struggle do not continue to make voices heard and positions known, another generation will pass before we can have action in our government on our behalf that is more than just pandering and appeasement. Do we really want to wait until our time is short in this life to obtain the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution? Any victory is, no matter how small, worth pursuing. But, I would so much prefer to hold a grand celebration of equality in the next few years, while in my 40's, than to wait until I am in my 60's. I would much rather say, at the age of 65, that I have been married for 25 years to my partner than for 5 years.
Mr. Obama has shown us what a true grass roots effort can accomplish with the right amount of perseverance, sacrifice and belief in a common goal. A year ago, I wrote an essay regarding this Presidential Election and why I thought it nearly impossible for a man of non Anglo-Saxon descent to win this election. I am so glad I was wrong. But even just a few months ago, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make that statement.
We need to take what we have learned and apply it to make sure our own lives are viewed by the same standards as we view others. We need to make sure the eyes of the law see us as they recognize others. We cannot allow ourselves to be second class citizens in this great nation. We need to put our fears aside and step out into the open to further propel this wave of change to every corner of the country.
We can do this, just as others have before us. The margins in many of the these votes are not insurmountable. But we can't sit quietly and wait for others to do it for us. 20 years ago, the California initiative would have had a much wider spread but not so today. We are so close that failure to continue to act cohesively would be a tragedy in so many ways.
I hope this letter and my thoughts spark each of use to take action that will leave little doubt in everyone's minds that we are serious and dedicated. That we as individuals, partners and families will pursue our rights until there is another sigh of relief around the world that America truly does stand for that which is written in our Constitution.
SIncerely,
Paul Young
If there's anyone to blame for the passage of 8, it's only ourselves. The Yes campaign was organized and disciplined. They had a structural advantage in that churches became de facto rallies and built-in organizational tools. The No campaign had a detached message and a poor strategy.
If we are ever going to be granted equal rights we need to stop living in the shadows and the closets. The Yes people didn't win because they were right but because they could scare people who don't know any better and demonize homosexuals. We need to stop hiding and start talking to our neighbors and co-workers. Show them that we are people who want to love and live just like them. Show them gay families that would be destroyed by this measure.
The Yes people made people afraid, we need to make people compassionate.
Jesus' core message was, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We need to hit on that. We need to let people know that homosexuality is not a choice. That we are not sexual deviants. That we are not immoral.
Additionally we need to organize across the state. One of the biggest failures of the No on 8 campaign was to focus on LA and SF. Going forward, I'm highly doubtful that the US Supreme Court will ever agree to hear a case on gay marriage. It's not really in their purview and the constitution is pretty clear that marriage laws are the domain of the state.
So we're going to need to repeal 8 the same way it got passed: at the ballot box. Except this time we need to not solely focus on LA and SF but also Bakersfield and Visalia and Fresno and Sacramento and Redding. We lost by 500,000 votes if we can increase our margins in the conservative parts of the state we can easily make up that difference.
So here's to 2010.
The Ancient Greeks always said, "...you can only expect compassion from the strong..."
It is naive to expect another minority to support you. They are busy fighting for their own share of the pie and are not going to concern themselves with your share.
How many times to do you see blacks and Latinos worrying about each other?
What we need to do is develop a PAC that focuses on civil and individual rights, something that non gays could support and belong to without being gay...then you could focus on the fact that denying civil rights to one is denying civil rights to all...and the logic would give them no choice but to support gay marriage. Basically raither than focus on gay marriage = civil rights you change the math to be civil rights = gay marriage...
That is what the civil rights movement did in the 60's they covered the race issue with religion.
hey great post, cool to hear about the excitement over the election going on in the states, west coast etc.. I knew you'd be pleased about the election but not about the prop. I was sort of surprised myself considering big ole laid back out there california. oh yeah, i love the part about running into a former date and going for dinner. ha
later.
so much for change . . .
It's always sad that minorities have such short horizons and don't see the broader strategy.
Religious bigots have been the enemy for centuries: They were pro life, but approved slave trade and suppressing blacks; giving schoolkids access to fire arms.
So now they think they can unite against us, who supposedly endager their sanctity of marriage. Did we invent divorce? Were in their bible does it say that's ok? It also says it's ok to stone people to death.
The biggest hypocrit of them all in Rome prosecuted the guy who said the earth was round. If Copernicus had not fought on, America would not have been discovered, and there would only still be native Americans, who had not been infected with STD's. Maybe that would have been better, at least the environment would still be cleaner.
In '68 Martin Luther King was murdered, 40 years on there is a black president: in '78 Harvey Milk was murdered, shouldn't we fight on until in another 10 years we'll have Tom of Finland drawings on the walls of the oval office, or 2 happy dykes living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ?
Yes we can ! ! !
we only just started . . .
Great post Matt!
I sent it to ALL my friends.
In this time of change, the need to "out do" all the negative factions out there that are against any and all type of Queer civil rights is NOW! In my mind( which I know would in reality never happen) would be for each and every single Queer man and women to come out completely. As long as there are still many, many in the closet our struggle for equality will take forever. The notion of Queers in the closet, lets these bigots continue to prove there is something wrong with being homosexual. Something to hide. We know that this is not true.
Be proud, show your coworker you are proud, show everyone you know and love you are proud.
We can do this!
Matt,
My apologies for an earlier comment... I had read online that based on exit polling and early results, it looked like Prop 8 was going to be defeated. But then the results started looking dismal, and unfortunately it passed. I am sorry about that...
I should have waited before stating "congratulations." I hope you didn't take as meaning I was glad Prop 8 passed, because I am not. I am disappointed, and want you to know that.
I do, however, stand my my other words of advice... give your mom a hug, and thank her.
Actually, Matt, "Burn that shit to the ground" as you put it, isn't too far off the mark. We are NOT better than them, we are the same as them. As a former Christian I can tell you that they firmly believe they are doing the "Right" thing for God. You're not going to change that opinion, no matter how irrational, because religion isn't rational. That's the problem.
So, we as a community have to force the issue. Beat random straight people, burn down church buildings: let them know that there will be very earthly consequences to their bigotry...
But it passed with less of a margin than the 2000 proposition, and more people voted against prop 8 than voted for prop 2 in 2000.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-prop8prop22,0,6153805.htmlstory
Your hope + my anger and we can change this state and this nation. Yes we can!
fedup, that's ridiculous. If you don't think you're better than them, maybe you should join them.
because we certainly don't want you joining us.
Don't worry...I haven't joined you...I am a quiet gay man living a quiet gay life in a midwestern town. This may come as a complete shock to you, but, NO, we are not better than them. Just different.
If you want equal rights, you're going to have to take them...otherwise 20 years from now the next generation of dizzy drama queens will be sipping cosmopolitans and still wondering why "they" don't "give" us the right to marry.
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." ~Mary Anne Radmacher
I wish you would stop beating around the bush. "That minority" are the disgusting, stupid, uneducated black people who can't visualize anything other than the household their drug-addicted mother and gun-toting father raised them in. It's amazing to me that we even allow them the right to breed, much less vote on how others should live their lives. May the good people in California continue to fight the good fight and hopefully we'll be rid of "that minority" one day...
I'm a straight guy from Australia; I am very happy about Obama but sorry that equality of marriage wasn't extended to California. Don't give up hope, it will happen one day.
I'm sorry you lost your battle on prop 8. As you know, we also lost that battle here in Florida. Hopefully, with more time things will change for the better.
You know while I wish the proposition would have won I also realize that we got a little closer this time. I also realize that no matter what laws are passed there will always be those who do not accept us and feel superior to us. I live in Kentucky and you should hear some of the dumb things white people can say about Barack Obama who is obviously their superior in every way...but they will not accept that.
I do believe that our struggle has made us stronger and better...I have been out since 1978 and married to my partner for 25 years. I do not care what the world thinks because I know what I think and eventually the world will come around to my way of thinking....
As my 18 year old nephew likes to say, "...you are soo gay!" I just look at him and say, "...you got a problem with that?" At which he justs laughs and says "No...."
Thats our future if we keep up the struggle......
Matt
Lots of love from NZ. Great spirit! Keep up the good work.
Jeremy
The Mormon church funneled tens of millions of dollars, most from out-of-state donors into the “Yes on 8” campaign. This is a church whose followers were forcibly expelled from two states (Missouri and Illinois) for their religious beliefs. This is a church whose founding leader was assassinated. This is a church that physically moved itself to the edge of known civilization to seek religious freedom; freedom from the fear, hate and bigotry encountered in their daily lives.
Who heard the Mormon church the loudest in California? Here is the exit poll breakdown by race:
White (63%)
Yes 49%
No 51%
African-American (10%)
Yes 70%
No 30%
Latino (18%)
Yes 53%
No 47%
Asian (6%)
Yes 49%
No 51%
Other (3%)
Yes 51%
No 49%
Oh, the irony continues. On a historic night, after helping elect the first black president of the United States of America, after accomplishing what nearly every older-generation black man and woman said would not be accomplished during their lifetime because of the lingering personal belief that true equality has not transcended the color of one’s skin, this group of Americans turned their backs and denied a basic, fundamental right to another group of individuals. This is the same group of individuals that less than 60 years ago, told us that separate is not equal, that marginalization equals oppression, that even though we may look different, we are not different, that we are all the same. Today they told me, that because of who I am, who I love, that I am different, and that because I am different on these grounds, I deserve less.
For most of us, we have the strength and conviction to live with this outcome, to continue on with our daily lives, while maintaining the drive and passion to fight for equal rights. In most respect, our lives are not different today. But the continued marginalization of the GLBT community will have a devastating impact on many individuals, namely those who struggle to come out in the context of a society that says being gay makes you different and less deserving. Imagine being a closeted gay kid and seeing your parents at a “yes on 8” rally. To think that your parents are “protecting” and shielding you from the group of individuals that you actually belong to. . . or even worse, imaging being a straight kid and observing the same behavior. What sentiment does it convey to these children, how will these children react to their gay peers? With no doubt, suicide rates among gay teenagers will continue to be high, hate crimes will continue to occur. It is the people who struggle with self-identity, the people who believe that they are alone and isolated, that need to know that they are not alone, that there is help, that there are people who care and love them based on the simple premise of their shared humanity.
On a lighter note - you may be interested to know that in the UK, we've have a little laugh at the YES WE CAN slogan... that's because it's been the saying of a cartoon character for many years. The character is Bob The Builder - "can we fix it?... yes we can!"
:-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glMAUQPplEk
Very fine......
I thank you for your compassionate words. I am trying to find my own way through all of the emotions I have over Prop 8. Your words helped clear some of my fog. I am angry, but I don't think the tactics of ACT-UP will work in this situation. Creating an enemy out of the Mormon church won't change their minds. They will just feel prosecuted and justified.
I do not know what the next step will be. I imagine, as with all grass-roots movements, the accumulated tactics of education, peaceful marches, and financial pressure will win the day. Love will win out.
I hope you don't categorise the actions of African-Americans as the disposition of Black people everywhere. I, a black South African, come from a country that recently legalised same-sex marriages. With little protest- in a pre-dominantly 'Black' and christian society. So clearly, African Americans are a special case...
--M
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