Since 2004 during the Bush-Kerry campaign the United States of America has watched a host of marriage bans enacted by voters in various states across the country from Ohio to Florida. It is this period of six years from 2004 to 2010 that we have seen mountain's and valley's for the LGBT community and our Heterosexual allies across the country. Often we hear about the negative, hateful, and prejudiced rhetoric that surrounds the campaign of those anti-LGBT individuals actively working towards enacting an anti-Gay marriage amendment to their state constitution. But all too often what remains invisible to so many people is the intense pain, loss, and suffering that results from this prejudice and ultimately discrimination against LGBT people. Please follow me below the fold for some personal and social commentary regarding the fall out from anti-Gay campaigns for those they are directed at.
Does everyone remember the optimism and energy of pure joy we had at watching Senator Obama become President Obama? It felt like we were watching a wall or barrier to the African American community fall, and that significant social progress was just attained. I was crying and jumping for joy when they announced Ohio for Obama because it was then I knew he won. Then later they announced the results for proposition 8 in the state of California, and all of those emotions changed for me. Prop 8 took away the civil right to a civil marriage for LGBT citizens of the state of California by a mere vote of those people who showed up to vote that day.
I knew that in the United States of America that the good people of California would not take away the rights of their fellow citizens. I was so foolishly, even naively sure that such an odious and discriminatory measure would not be passed. That is why when news came back that it did narrowly pass my heart sank. Truth be told it caused me to be deeply depressed. I didn't talk to my friends or my family as much. I cried a lot and felt like I was being denied something so fundamental to who I was. It ended up causing me to gain about 50 pounds because I used food as a way to deal with all of the pain and sadness the passing of proposition 8 caused me.
The crazy thing about this is that I didn't even live in California, but I knew that if it could happen there the same could happen to LGBT people anywhere. It was a wake up call to all LGBT people in the United States. I struggled with depression for a long, long time. Then I finally realized that those who hate me are winning by making me like this. I started exercising and working towards being close to family and friends again. My mood improved, I lost the weight I had gained, and became mentally healthy as well as physically healthy once again. My point being that this anti-Gay camapaign so many people in this country are on have real consequences.
And now the LGBT community is watching a Conservative lawyer who defended George W. Bush argue against proposition 8 in a Federal court of law along with Liberal Marriage Equality supporter David Boies. I must admit that there seems to be a collective nervousness amongst us about this trial as we realize that not exactly empathetic SCOTUS will eventually hear this case. Thus, there is a great amount of worry and ambivalence amongst LGBT people because we do not want to see our rights continue to be denied, but we know we must continue the struggle looking forward to a day when the U.S. Constitution will be the document that attains us our freedom and equality.
The testimony during the proposition 8 trial has been fascinating thus far. In fact, health and mental well being of LGBT people has been directly spoken about at the trial. In fact, in a recent AP article Dr. Meyer stated this of anti-Gay prejudice and prop 8:
A Columbia University social scientist says California’s voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriages contributed to the social stigma that makes gay men and lesbians more susceptible to depression, suicide and substance abuse.
"People in our society have goals that are cherished by all people, that are part of the social convention," Meyer said. "We are all raised to think there are certain things we want to achieve in life, and this Proposition 8 says if you are gay or lesbian, you cannot achieve this particular goal."
Meyer said. "Having a second type of an institution that is clearly not the one that is designed for most people clearly is stigmatizing."
Earlier Thursday, an economist for the city of San Francisco testified that preventing gays from getting married costs the city millions of dollars a year in lost revenue and increased services.
Expert testimony is clear demonstrating how and why these ballot initiatives directly impact both the individual as well as the broader society in a negative manner. My personal example I shared with you above shows that the impact of these discriminatory actions are far reaching beyond just the state they are being debated in. LGBT people never have or ever will wish to place our civil rights on a ballot to be decided on by popular vote. Rather, it is the anti-Gay elements of our society who collect the signatures and place our very lives on a ballot.
The fact that these hateful and prejudiced individuals can have a host of experts tell them how much pain they are causing LGBT people and still have them do such things speaks volumes about their character. The human impact and cost of our very well being and sadly in some cases our lives is a travesty. None the less, it is vital to have these important truths on record in this trial because the pain and hardship brought about by the bigotry and hate filled words as well as rhetoric of those supporting these anti-Gay campaigns needs to be known and understood. The pain, stress, and in some cases mental illness this variety of hatred provokes is disturbing to say the least.
The discipline of Psychology itself has taken an interest in garnering greater understanding of just how this anti-Marriage Equality affects the overall emotional and psychological well being of LGBT people. For me, it caused a depression which lasted for quite a long time. For other people it can be worse as Dr. Meyer's testimony noted above in the cases of suicide. The American Psychological Association published an online article titled Anti Same-Sex Marriage Amendments Spark Psychological Distress among GLBT Adults and Their Families, According to New Research by Dr. Levitt, Dr. Rostosky, and et. al which notes:
"The results of this study demonstrate that living in a state that has just passed a marriage amendment is associated with higher levels of psychological stress for lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens," Rostosky said.
For instance, one interviewee said he became "petrified ...of being raped or roughed up or killed, you know, for doing nothing, basically. I worry about being picked out as a gay guy because my mannerisms are not entirely masculine." Another said the marriage amendment supporters were using the Bible "like a brick on us. They are beating us with it."
"Typically, we tend to think of anti-GLBT policies such as marriage bans and Proposition 8 as affecting only GLBT people. However, our research suggests that others in addition to GLBT people are also impacted by this legislation and sometimes quite negatively. For example, we learned that some family members experienced a form of secondary minority stress. Although many participants displayed resiliency and effective coping with this stress, some experienced strong negative consequences to their mental and physical health," said Jennifer Arm, M.S.
It is vital to note that LGBT people ourselves were not just directly impacted. Our friends and family were also greatly impacted due to them dealing with the emotions of seeing someone they care about being mistreeated and kept unequal by the broader society. They are harming many Heterosexual people too who care about their LGBT friends or family members. And yet as we saw with California in 2008 and Maine (and Washington) in 2009 they shamelessly continue their anti-LGBT agenda that attempts to get our rights on the ballot.
The psychological, emotional, and other such negative impacts of these hateful campaigns cannot be underestimated. Hopefully in the future a greater number of America citizens will become educated about LGBT people as well as the issues we face. Maybe then we will not be subjected to the relentless onslaught of hatred from those who would wish to dedicate their lives to ensuring we never attain full equality in this nation. To all of the LGBT people and our allies: please share your stories and feelings on these matters in the comments to help the DailyKos community understand the extent of problems this has caused for us as well as our friends and family.