Pointing finger at gays, lesbians for Kerry loss in election unfair
Andrea Lewis, KRT Campus
Issue date: 11/15/04 Section: ViewPoint
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As the conservative reality of the election sets in, many liberals are looking for someone to blame.
Unfortunately, many of their fingers are pointing at San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the nearly 4,000 same-sex couples whose weddings he sanctioned early this year.
Analysts on both sides of the political divide are stating that the images of thousands of blissful gay couples pouring into San Francisco's City Hall to say "I do" sent conservative voters to the polls in a frenzied dash to "protect the sanctity of marriage."
Eleven states - including key swing states like Ohio and Michigan - passed amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage during this election.
Even Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay Massachusetts Democrat, is convinced that the "spectacle weddings" in San Francisco hurt Democrats.
"The thing that agitated people were the mass weddings," Frank told The New York Times. "What it did was provoke a lot of fears."
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed with Frank. "I believe it did energize a very conservative vote," she said. "I think it gave them a position to rally around.
"I think that whole issue has been too much, too fast, too soon, and people aren't ready for it."
Social justice advocates have heard those words before.
From the time of the abolitionists to the suffragists, from the civil-rights era to the feminist movement and beyond, activists have been told to be patient. They have been told their demands for equality were moving too quickly. It should come as no surprise that gay and lesbian activists are hearing similar criticisms in the wake of President Bush's re-election.
As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963, "They are telling us over and over again that you're pushing things too fast, and so they're saying, 'Cool off.'
Well, the only answer that we can give to that is that we've cooled off all too long, and that is the danger. There's always the danger if you cool off too much that you will end up in a deep freeze."
Gays and lesbians have been relegated to the closet for too long and have every right to demand equality now.
Equality does not come to those who backpedal or muffle their demands for justice.
What's more, gays and lesbians should not be faulted for the hostile or bigoted reactions of their opponents.
To blame gays for the election results is like blaming Rosa Parks for the deaths of civil-rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
As Mayor Newsom put it, "If you think something is right, you have a moral obligation to act." He and all of those blissful same-sex couples should be applauded and celebrated, not vilified and feared.
(c) 2004, Andrea Lewis. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
Unfortunately, many of their fingers are pointing at San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the nearly 4,000 same-sex couples whose weddings he sanctioned early this year.
Analysts on both sides of the political divide are stating that the images of thousands of blissful gay couples pouring into San Francisco's City Hall to say "I do" sent conservative voters to the polls in a frenzied dash to "protect the sanctity of marriage."
Eleven states - including key swing states like Ohio and Michigan - passed amendments prohibiting same-sex marriage during this election.
Even Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay Massachusetts Democrat, is convinced that the "spectacle weddings" in San Francisco hurt Democrats.
"The thing that agitated people were the mass weddings," Frank told The New York Times. "What it did was provoke a lot of fears."
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed with Frank. "I believe it did energize a very conservative vote," she said. "I think it gave them a position to rally around.
"I think that whole issue has been too much, too fast, too soon, and people aren't ready for it."
Social justice advocates have heard those words before.
From the time of the abolitionists to the suffragists, from the civil-rights era to the feminist movement and beyond, activists have been told to be patient. They have been told their demands for equality were moving too quickly. It should come as no surprise that gay and lesbian activists are hearing similar criticisms in the wake of President Bush's re-election.
As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963, "They are telling us over and over again that you're pushing things too fast, and so they're saying, 'Cool off.'
Well, the only answer that we can give to that is that we've cooled off all too long, and that is the danger. There's always the danger if you cool off too much that you will end up in a deep freeze."
Gays and lesbians have been relegated to the closet for too long and have every right to demand equality now.
Equality does not come to those who backpedal or muffle their demands for justice.
What's more, gays and lesbians should not be faulted for the hostile or bigoted reactions of their opponents.
To blame gays for the election results is like blaming Rosa Parks for the deaths of civil-rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
As Mayor Newsom put it, "If you think something is right, you have a moral obligation to act." He and all of those blissful same-sex couples should be applauded and celebrated, not vilified and feared.
(c) 2004, Andrea Lewis. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services