Maine–I love you so much, how can your love be so conditional?
Yesterday’s election was a crushing defeat in the the battle for civil rights and equality. While Maine had recently become one of the few states to allow gay marriage, voters rejected the law and proved that we still live in an oppressive and puritanical society.
It completely baffles me how someone could be so bigoted and disrespectful of others. Why would it be so important for anyone to deny another person the same rights that they enjoy? I believe it stands to reason that there would not be a single homosexual who would reject this law (except perhaps self-loathing closet gays who are unhappy because they have been taught to be ashamed, some of whom probably did cast a vote against themselves) so therefore we can say that 99% of the rejectors are heterosexuals. IT DOESNT EVEN AFFECT THEM AT ALL! It is an institution and privilege that they will still enjoy regardless of whether a gay couple is allowed to also enjoy it. How can they consider themselves more worthy? If homosexuality were considered a race (and what’s the difference really?) everyone who voted for that law would be a RACIST.
It is FREEDOM.
LONG LIVE LOVE!
I love this post. I am so frustrated about Maine, as well. It baffles me that so many people deny this right to others. I truly hope that someday we will look back on this time and think how absurd it was that our country wouldn’t allow gay marriage. Someday……
UGH.
I believe that someday those who would vote against gay marriage will be hugely outnumbered and ostracized in our society. Yes, there are probably a few people who would still vote to reject interracial marriage, but at least everyone else understands that is not an acceptable position in any way, whereas 50 years ago, it was considered a “debatable” issue. What is truly frightening about this is the propaganda Mainers were hit with, suggesting that their kids would be subjected to some sort of gay brainwashing in school and that if they didn’t overturn this law, homosexuality might become “normal” or “tolerated”. Organizations are actually paying huge sums of money to promote fear and hatred but I still can’t understand what they think they are gaining from this. I guess they truly believe that with enough vitriol, they can eliminate homosexuality from human nature. Obviously they are ignorant fools and Time will shame them…
If you look at the hard data on these (31 of 31 times gay marriage has been defeated when placed on the ballot), it’s old people who are voting against it. Old people also constitute the largest voting bloc, so it’s not surprising. It’s only a matter of time until that generation dies off and gay marriage starts getting passed. These people grew up in a vastly different era, and obviously most of them don’t really see things in the same light we do. The real shame is that younger voters continue to NOT vote – otherwise things might be changing more quickly.
I hope you are right. While old folks are generally more out of touch on this issue they still outvote the younger generation and consequently their ideals are upheld. In a way they can’t be blamed for being ignorant because that is the world they grew up and still live in. Unfortunately, they are still “educating” their children and maintaining the status quo. But there are also some progressive people in the old guard who are fighting to promote human rights.
To be honest I don’t exactly see it as young v. old. It annoyed me when the media blamed the California ban on African-Americans who came out to vote for Obama. It may be true that they favored the ban in general but it’s not like 100% of them voted against it. We could probably make the argument that it was the potheads in Maine who turned out to overwhelmingly legalize medical marijuana. The bottom line is that the majority of voters said no to gay marriage which still puts us in the minority, despite the fact that I am absolutely certain that gay marriage benefits EVERYONE. I have faith that one day we will be vindicated and our society will grow to accept and tolerate and even celebrate our differences.