Perhaps many of you are tired of this topic. I was tired yesterday , but as one of my fellow posters pointed out to me, its good to get this topic discussed and understood here. And then I woke early this morning (like 5:30 I think) with all these thoughts in my head and I felt a pressing need to type them out. I obviously don't speak for anyone but myself. None of this is new, since it was discussed so much yesterday but here it is all in one place.
- Though as I said, I am speaking for myself I do want to make this one generalization. Those of us who are upset are not puppets, manipulated by gay websites that tell us to be angry. Did everyone who was complaining about it read the entire brief. Perhaps and perhaps not. But that would be the case with any law brief. And that does not mean they did not understand the arguments the brief put forth. It was read by many of us and certainly read by the NCLR, the HRC, Lambda Legal, Glad and other gay groups who together created a press release to condemn it. If any of you have ever worked on a joint press release with multiple organizations you know it takes a lot of time and coordination and a lot of common ground but they felt it was important enough to speak as a group about that brief because they fear it will be harmful to the cause. That should tell you something.
- While there are definitely those who put forth a strong argument that Obama did not have to defend what they believe is an unconstitutional law (a law Obama says himself he doesn’t support ), from the posts yesterday I know this is not the major issue for many of us (and me included). The major issue is the WAY this brief was argued. The government had arguments with Jurisdiction and Standing for example. I have read comments from attorneys since then who believe that they could have written a strong and vigorous defense on these points and called for a narrow ruling. In fact, this defense would NOT have waived the constitutional arguments. Instead the government went with a variety of other discriminatory arguments, arguments we have heard before and by doing so gave them more authority. My understanding now is that despite what has been said here, they absolutely did NOT need to make these additional arguments at this time. There was no need for the kitchen sink response. Many gay groups wanted this case to go away because it was not the best case to push forward. But not this way.
- I think if you think about it for one moment you will understand why many of us cannot in fact celebrate this ruling as the wonderful magnificence of the rule of law. Okay and this is my frustration speaking– I don’t need you to explain to me the principle. I get it. But here is the other side of it. There is a new document in the world that will likely be used against us. If some of arguments get upheld in court, they will be used in other cases. There is even now in fact a brand new argument out there in the ozone about why our equal rights should not be given because it would cost the government more money. ("The constitutional propriety of Congress's decision to decline to extend federal benefits immediately to newly recognized types of marriages is bolstered by Congress's articulated interest in preserving the scarce resources of both the federal and State governments.") It hurts me that the Obama government was paying someone to spend time, inventing something brand new to beat us over the head with –.(a bizarre argument I have to say, since gay people are paying taxes for these marriage benefits as well.) I can say that NO high-minded legal principle dictated THIS particular brief, written in this particular way, with these arguments.
- But if you must take that position that its all really a good thing, and that that particular brief was necessary (Believe me I just shake my head at that) please do have the good grace not to break out the party hats about how exciting it is that the rule of law has returned to our country by using this particular example. You are celebrating something which may later be used to injure many people’s rights and lives. It hurts me when it comes from this community. Save your celebration for when a good law is upheld, like the law against torture. This law creates bad things in the world and this brief enabled it. It deserves no praise.
- Finally there is the issue of timing. Obama and Congress have a tremendous amount on their plates. Certainly more than in any other period in my lifetime. And I have NEVER been a one issue voter. But it is time that they all move forward on this issue. I know. Just 5 months. Well remember gay people have been waiting years – lifetimes – and this brief makes me feel like we are not just waiting, but actually going backwards. Difficult as his job is, I voted for a multi-tasker and a Congress who can help him with this. Even giving me a baby step will mean something. The longer bad ideas like the brief are out there (and you can stand with me I hope and say, this brief contains bad ideas about equality) the worse it will be. There will unfortunately always be security issues, wars, and major national issues that will appear to be so much more important than gay marriage issues. There will always be the fact that "the politics aren’t right at the moment" I won’t argue against the idea that there are incredibly pressing and important issues facing the president. But, I can guarantee you that if we sit and wait for the perfect moment, we will wait forever because there will always be something "more important". I think in some people’s minds, marriage sounds trivial, but I know you here know that its not about the ceremony, the catering and the big party. At DailyKos you know by now that this affects gay people on a daily basis – it affects how we live our lives, how we pay our bills, how we move forward in sickness and in health and how we die. It involves 1000s of automatic rights. Every day newly married gay people are missing out on rights they should have. I hope you can agree that no one should be told their rights are really not that important in the scheme of things by the people who have those rights themselves. And if gay folks act ourselves like good soldiers and say yes, they are not as important, my belief is we do damage to ourselves..
I am grieving a bit this weekend. I think its because I felt blindsided by this on Friday - because I really believe in the idea that we have are living in a changed political climate. Again, I speak for myself here and hopefully I didn’t give too much an impression of speaking for anyone else. I have been very frustrated with some of the conversations I have had here this weekend but I do continue to come in good faith to talk it out with you and hope you will do the same with me. Because it is important.