Ok, what happened for marriage equality in Maine sucked. There are too many reasons that it was awful that we lost Maine. And I do not want to diminish the loss that it was, however, I'm over it.
We have less than a year now before the mid-term elections and the one loss that we had has emboldened Republicans to start fear-mongering and Democrats to start letting important issues for the LGBT community to one-by-one slip under the bus.
I've seen this song and dance before. I know the tune. And this time I'm not going to sway to the beat. It's time to shut this (pity) party down before it starts. We have work to do.
In the wake of the loss in Maine we are starting to see a generally disturbing trend in issues relating to LGBT rights:
- Republicans are starting some saber-rattling over the ability that they somehow think that they have to over-turn the just passed marriage law in New Hampshire.
- Reports are coming out that several high up democrats are pushing the notion that the repeal of DADT isn't going to get dealt with in 2010.
- There is a completely inconsistent message the national media. The Washington Post reports that LGBT groups aren't going to be changing their strategies because of Maine. The New York Times says that they are.
Get it together people. We didn't loose everything we've worked for in one night. Let's have a brief recap of what happened:
LGBT Rights Ballot Measures: 2 passed to become law, 1 was repealed
LGBT Candidates: The VictoryFund had 49 of 79 endorsed candidates win. An additional 13 LGBT candidates also were elected.
Let me briefly address some of these issues and put my point of view on the national strategy on the line.
New Hampshire
This is simply fear-mongering. While New Hampshire may be geographically similarly situated to Maine, the political hurdles there are different than those in Maine. In order for a repeal to work here the following two strategies are being employed by Republicans:
1 - a traditional legislative repeal
2 - a constitutional amendment
To get a traditional legislative repeal through the House and Senate, the Senators and Representatives would have to switch their votes on a bill passed this season. Additionally the Governor, who fought the original bill only as far as including a religious-exemption clause, would have to sign the repeal. I see this as actually their easiest hurdle. It is the most plausible reality during this term.
In order for an amendment to pass, the anti-equality forces require 2/3 votes of both legislative bodies. Additionally it would require a 2/3 vote of the citizens of New Hampshire. Considering that New Hampshire residents will have had some time to start seeing the impact of equality on their lives, I'd be surprised if this would be possible. Especially since Maine only passed with 5%.
DADT
The statements coming from Democrats right now are simply a knee-jerk reaction of fear. They saw one loss in the gay rights arena (albeit the most high profile loss), and translated that instinctively to losses of democrats in a mid-season election (a la Clinton). Teh Gay are trying to sink the boat again!
Let me be the first to say that I find this profoundly wimpy. If they expect support, in primaries and donations, from LGBT citizens they are going to have to produce results. Which means fulfilling campaign promises. This also means I don't want the Dems to back down on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) - and I am hopeful that it will pass (this actually means more to me than DADT, but that's another diary).
National / State plans and where we go from here
I'm getting really tired of the chicken/egg situation that we have. I've heard both sides of the national vs. state by state arguments. There was screaming and yelling and pouting about the National Equality March when it happened. But it happened - and there were some very productive things that came out of it. While there was not direct lobbying of Congress, less tangible results came from training a new group of advocates.
What do we need to do? First of all, we cannot let fear in the face of a single loss allow us to cripple our resources. This is not the time for a pity party. Yes there will be blow-back from these ballot measures, and yes it will embolden Republicans to see gay marriage as a wedge. But that doesn't mean that it really is a wedge across most of the country. Voters in the Maine election made a decision on one issue - not a plethora of issues. If the Democrats can move some of their major promises, it won't matter what their stance is on gay marriage - people won't care. The mid-term is not about the LGBT community, and as kos pointed out - if you abandon the progressive principles that got you elected, then you'll be booted out. So yes, I need campaign promises to LGBT citizens to be fulfilled, but I also need campaign promises to the nation to be fulfilled.
I for one cannot stand to support 'more Dems' when they don't provide any results for me. As such, I will be donating to those Dems in New Hampshire and elsewhere who voted for marriage equality but may be in a toss-up district. We need to reward the people who helped us. We need to support and lobby for the passage of ENDA. Any co-sponsor of that bill will have my support, especially those who are in danger of a toss up election or a hard primary. I do think we need to start floating candidates that we can support in the tougher battle areas of the country as well. We need to not acquiesce that this election definitely means loosing to the Republicans. If we do that we've lost before we start.
In terms of how the LGBT community can move forward, I see two major issues. First - we need to keep marriage equality off the ballot box. I think most states are ready to treat neighbors equally in the work-place and in public spaces, but maybe not at home. What California and Maine prove is that there is still a large set of people who aren't ready to put their Bible down. They may not say they hate LGBT citizens, but they also aren't comfortable with us either. If we have to prove to them why we are worthy of marriage, then we are put on the defensive and are set up to loose. I think this is changing, but the reason the founders created the judiciary and a representative democracy was so this wouldn't have to be the way minorities got rights. I thoroughly agree with droggie6655321 that this is not the way to go.
Beyond that I do think, contrary to a number of large LGBT political figures, that the state-by-state strategy is still working. Rights of LGBT people are being expanded every year, even in places you wouldn't expect. Do I expect the federal government to take up every LGBT issue right now? No, I do not. So we need to work at the local level to continue filling in the holes left by the federal government. While this creates a patchwork of equality and fairness, it's still better than sitting and waiting for change at national level. If we can be a proactive community I think we can move mountains. Moreover, if we can be proactive, and engage our local communities, I think we will continue to change the hearts and minds of people who aren't yet comfortable with the LGBT community. We cannot hope to win by ourselves, so we must show others why we should have the rights that we need.
None of this can be done if we let our opponents scare us into thinking the past must repeat itself. We must not let the Democrats waiver, and we must hold their feet to the fire when it comes to their promises. But to do this we must show that we will support them. I refuse to let fear rule the day. And I refuse to let one loss take away the victories that we should celebrate. So buck up, we've got work to do.