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Feb. 7th, 2004 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheThe Massachusetts split decision ruled that civil unions consign same-sex couples to second-class status, and that marriage is the only way to go. But there is a danger of the courts leading society in a direction it is not ready to go. Gay rights is a civil rights issue, but there is a difference between sexual orientation and race. Affirmative action laws apply to African-Americans; they don't apply to gays and lesbians. Maybe someday society will come to an expanded view of gender and gay marriage will be affirmed, but that evolution should emerge from society, not from the courts.
Bad Timing
I say, But the law and the courts are part of society.
A White House statement called the gay marriage decision "deeply troubling." Sixteen states already are moving toward banning gay marriages and a constitutional amendment is being drafted in Congress. Even many progressives say this is not an issue for which they would go to the ramparts. "It's like fiftieth on my list of priorities," says a Democratic activist, who predicts that once Kerry secures the nomination, assuming he does, he'll have to do a "Sister Souljah" appearance in front of a gay group. Sister Souljah was a relatively unknown blues singer whom Bill Clinton rebuked for her racist, anti-white lyrics at an event organized by Jesse Jackson during the 1992 campaign. Caught off guard and offended by Clinton's lecture, Jackson distanced himself from the candidate—exactly the result Clinton needed to legitimize himself as a centrist who wasn't beholden to the party's liberal interest groups.
Bad Timing
I say, But the law and the courts are part of society.
A White House statement called the gay marriage decision "deeply troubling." Sixteen states already are moving toward banning gay marriages and a constitutional amendment is being drafted in Congress. Even many progressives say this is not an issue for which they would go to the ramparts. "It's like fiftieth on my list of priorities," says a Democratic activist, who predicts that once Kerry secures the nomination, assuming he does, he'll have to do a "Sister Souljah" appearance in front of a gay group. Sister Souljah was a relatively unknown blues singer whom Bill Clinton rebuked for her racist, anti-white lyrics at an event organized by Jesse Jackson during the 1992 campaign. Caught off guard and offended by Clinton's lecture, Jackson distanced himself from the candidate—exactly the result Clinton needed to legitimize himself as a centrist who wasn't beholden to the party's liberal interest groups.