Crooks and Liars posted a humorous video called What about gay marriage? Satirizing many of those 50's informational films we had to watch in science class, the video pokes fun at the problems of gay marriage ("lesbians would rather solve their problems with a switchblade") and offers some solutions to prevent gays from marrying ("Make a loud noise. Try to make yourself appear larger so as to intimidate the gay"). Liberals can laugh at the obviously overblown stereotype this video presents. Unfortunately, the laughter rings hollow because, for many conservatives, this represents their views of reality.
Churches fear that they will be forced to marry gays against their will and against the will of their god. However, I know quite a few churches who can refuse to marry you if you refuse to raise your child Catholic, accept mandatory marriage counselling, or are of a different race than your spouse. Racism and sexism are much less acceptable than an alternative sexual orientation, yet churches can still refuse to marry based on all of these reasons. Would gay marriage change this? Of course not. Perhaps churches have bought into the image of the promiscuous gay who cannot possibly be trusted to adhere to the challenge of monogamy. Yet I have seen many heterosexual couples with exactly that problem, and they are actually encouraged to marry, as if a ceremony and a piece of paper would change anyone's nature.
The big problem with promoting gay marriage is overcoming stereotypes of gays. Gay males are seen as flamboyant, effeminate, and promiscuous. Lesbians are either seen as sex-crazed vixens who wouldn't mind fitting a man into a session between her and her hot girlfriend, or as butch dykes who would as soon cut off your testicles as look at you. In truth, the norm is much more.....well, normal. Most gays are not sex fiends. They aren't pedophiles. They aren't out to seduce your spouses. They're normal people, like you and I, who just want to be able to accept who they are.
The protests against Proposition 8 in California have started to change this image. Many of those marching in the streets are your neighbors and your cousins, your babysitter and your pharmacist. One of them might be your doctor, your boss or even your own child, someone who would never have tripped the "gay-dar". They aren't stereotypes, they're just people.
Many may be tempted to call this topic "old news", but it's important to continue to fight for gay rights. It was constant pushing that led to Roe v. Wade, the overturning of Dred Scott v. Sandford, women's suffrage, and Brown vs Board of Education. Gays may have suffered a defeat, but all of us working together to change public opinion will bring closer the day when gays can say those two words they long to say: "I do".