05 November 2008

The more things change, the more they stay the same

This has been an interesting twenty-four hours. As I posted earlier, I never thought I would live to see the day when a black man moved in "upstairs" at the White House. Even though I went to bed and slept for a couple of hours, I am still in partial shock and total exhilaration over the win of Mr. Obama. Truly, race is no longer and issue for fifty-two percent of the American voters -- particularly those who are young, white and college educated.

I also learnt that self-righteous pseudo Christians believe that chickens are entitled to more civil rights than gay, lesbian and bisexual citizens. I have to admit that I am absolutely stunned by this realisation. The same people who voted to remove civil rights to citizens voted to give chickens a more "humane" existence than some humans deserve.

These religionists say that their votes were not an attack on gay people, but just restoring thousands of years of tradition. I agree: it is no more an attack on GLBT people than the Jim Crow Laws were an attack on black people. Those laws were not enacted against black people -- they were just restoring thousands of years of tradition.

These people and their sinful logic make God vomit. Or, to use a phrase popular in the fundamentalist world "they are a stench in God's nostrils."

This election taught me something else. In California it is absolutely possible to buy an election. All a group needs to do is raise enough money and they can enshrine anything in the California constitution. I should not be shocked by that, though; Mr. Schwartzenegger came to power because one man decided to guy the governorship -- he failed and the Austrian won.

It appears that Proposition Eight may pass, but it is still to close to call. What I am going to say is of no comfort to the same-gender couples who have married legally, or to the GLBT community as a whole, but it is how I see things. The issue is not over, and justice will prevail within five years.
A same-gender couple will sue (could be a class action suit)

California's attorney general has already said he will defend the couples

The case will be heard by a court that has already proven to be justice minded

The case will be appealed to the US Supreme Court who will either refuse to hear it, and the amendment will be overturned, or the court will hear it. By that time, the Court will have a different makeup, thanks to president-elect Obama, and they will rule in favour of civil rights for all citizens.
In the United States, it has consistently been the courts that have defended civil rights against the "will of the people." It was the courts that ended biracial marriage; segregation; separate but equal; and it will be the courts that end this injustice. If we had to rely on the electorate to do the right thing, we'd still have legal slavery. Wayward, what do you think?

My friends, and beloved brothers and sisters, almost fifty percent of the voters of California say that marriage is a fundamental right and should not be denied to anyone. Think what that means -- how far we have come in a few years. Think of it! One of every two people are on "our side." We shall overcome; deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome.

Back to the initiative process in California, I think I'll start a petition to make it illegal to be a Mormon in the State of California? Want to sign it? I bet the Romans and the fundamentalists, who have been sleeping with the Mormons for the past few months, will line up to sign.