Just hours ago President Obama signed into law the hate crimes bill, which is great news, given that it makes it a criminal offense to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
Today is also important because we’re only six days away from Maine voters going to the polls and voting on whether to approve or reject Question One, which wants to strip away the right LGBT Mainers currently have to marry.
Given that the question of whether or not we’ll have a Public Option continues to dominate most media, I wanted to offer up this little non-healthcare reform diary through Tuesday’s vote in Maine as a way to advocate for a big issue: marriage equality.
Silence gives consent
As a progressive, I want to tell you I’ve always spoken out in support of gay rights, but I haven’t. For years even when I supported marriage equality in my heart I remained silent. I didn’t think I was doing any harm because it wasn’t like I was speaking out against marriage equality--I just wasn’t advocating for it.
I was wrong. My silence was doing harm.
How so? When others spoke against marriage equality I didn’t understand the unintended damage my silence was causing due to this truth: silence gives consent.
Are you on the sidelines?
Regardless of why certain people are against marriage equality, the sad fact is that there are a lot of people that believe gays don't deserve equal rights. And to add insult to injury, many of these folks are not silent with their prejudice. Fortunately, many progressives have long been vocal in their advocacy of marriage equality and they’ve fought those who don’t want equality. These advocates had the clearest view that marriage equality is not as a gay issue—it’s a civil rights issue that affects us all.
But for every person advocating for marriage equality there have been many on the sidelines. If you've been on the sidelines in this cause or have friends or family members that are, isn't it time you got into this fight? Silence gives consent, so whenever we don't respond to people that express anti-marriage equality comments we're helping them.
If ever there was a time to speak out in support of equality, that time is now. There are critical issues we have to win, from Question One on Maine’s ballot this Tuesday that is trying to strip away marriage equality to the marriage equality bill in Washington D.C.; from the need to repeal both the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell."
I had the opportunity to go to Netroots Nation this summer in Pittsburgh where I met countless progressives on the forefront of our fight for marriage equality. After spending a few days at Netroots it was obvious this is not a group on the sidelines—this is a group of leading advocates doing more than their share fighting for marriage equality from Maine to California.