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However, one battle is not
enough to decide who wins the war for equality. The danger of SCOTUS'
dismissal of Hollingsworth v.
Perry is in that the dismissal does not strike down other
anti-equality laws already in place in many conservative states, and those
conservative states that do not already have same-sex marriage bans will soon
start the process - there is no better way to rile up a social conservative
than making him look like a fool in the Supreme Court. The Republican
Party is now gunning for a fight - and they'll beat this dead horse to a pulp
to ensure their Bible-thumping ideology will be adhered to in as many states as
possible.
It is for this reason
that, as a good friend noted to me today, I am not nearly as excited as my
fellow liberals when it comes to SCOTUS' decisions today. Call me a
cynic, but I truly believe that the fight for marriage equality in all fifty states
is just about to get tougher. Conservatives do not take getting beat
easily, and they excel at mobilizing in support of a cause, no matter how
misguided that cause may be. It is the blessing of being a social
conservative - the lack of an informed social conservative base makes it very
easy to see complex issues in black-and-white.
What this all comes down
to is that we liberals are in for a long, hard slog to ensure that LBGTQ
individuals are treated as equals across all fifty states. DOMA's execution
is a big step in the right direction, but true equality can only be reached
when same-sex couples can be treated the same as heterosexual couples in the
eyes of the law - and I am not talking just about the right to marry.
In 27 states, a gay man can
be fired just for who he loves. In 10 states, gay individuals and couples
are not allowed to adopt, while 16 states are ambiguous as to whether they want
to allow LBGTQ individuals and couples to adopt. Across the United
States, LBGTQ individuals are degraded and humiliated in schools, the
workplace, and at home just because of who they love. How is that fair?
How does that fit into our immortal Declaration that "all men are
created equal?" How dare we, the self-declared paragon of freedom
and equality, be so heinously hypocritical as to demand one thing from other
countries on the international stage while simultaneously denying a large
portion of Americans the same rights? It is a tragedy, it is a travesty,
and it means that us, as progressives, have a long fight ahead of us, and,
while we may celebrate in our victory, we must understand that this victory is
small, and we cannot rest - no, we WILL not rest - until we ensure that all men
are truly equal.
I stand before you, my
fellow liberals, and the rest of America, and declare that I am, always have,
and forever will be, a soldier for the cause of equality for all, in the spirit
of that immortal Declaration that made us Americans, and I hope you will all
join me in the fight to ensure that our LBGTQ brethren, from Hawaii to Maine,
from Anchorage to El Paso, can stand with the rest of us as equals in the eyes
of the law.
That is all for today.
Class dismissed.
