What we have here is, failure to communicate. That’s right, friends.
Poof, up in smoke went gays’ right to marry. A majority of Californians voted to overturn localized measures allowing gays to marry, snatching a right from homosexuals that they had just begun to enjoy. This is as fine an example as I’ve ever seen of what the founders called “the violence of the majority,” or majority tyranny. A majority of people cannot be allowed to take from the rights of minorities as they please if we are to foster a healthy republic, those long dead would say. Those too long alive, the elderly, turned out in droves to outlaw gay marriage in California. In Arkansas, gays can no longer adopt children. To say the least, these are giant steps backwards for the gay rights movement. Pundits are crowing about how higher black turnout was the deciding factor – and terrifyingly, that may be true. 70% of African-Americans voted for the ban in California, as compared with a minority of Whites and a slim majority of Hispanics.
Surely, this isn’t the end of the gay rights movement. Right, they’ll continue on as always, hold protests, make demands, and perhaps they should. But is this the best approach? Acceptance of gays has taken a remarkable turn from the 1992 survey which showed a majority of US Congressmen believed homosexuality to be immoral. But how has it come about? Protests? Rallies? Or through more subtle means? It’s up to them to decide the best approach, and they can treat this as a defeat, which it certainly is, or they can treat it as an opportunity, which I believe it could be. For one, clearly gays need to reach out to minority communities, especially blacks. Gay and Gay-friendly minorities should lead the effort. Most homosexuals realize that holding protests outside black churches would probably be counterproductive. Likewise, mass protests across the country will result in little, if any, change. The effort has to be subtle, through entertainment, support groups, soft diplomacy, alongside court battles.
Republicans may already be divising strategies to uproot some minorities from the Democratic party, on the basis of this issue alone. When 70% of a population, which is ever-so-important to the success of a political party, votes against a measure most Democrats and many Democratic officials are openly supportive or at least silently sympathetic to, you should hear alarm bells. There is no bravery in politics, to be sure, and you won’t see many high-level Democratic officials coming out in direct support of gay marriage until this segment of the population gets on board. You don’t have to get all, and you won’t, just get most. I assure you, however farfetched it may seem, Republicans are paying attention, and for good reason. They don’t necessarily have to gain the support of African Americans, all they have to do is cause a schism.
Hang in there, and dare to hope.
