In the past couple weeks there have been major steps forward for equal rights advocates around the nation-namely Iowa and Vermont. We now have four states that grant full same-sex marriages: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont. The D.C. council also recently voted to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples in the nation’s capital who have married elsewhere. Other states recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriage are CO, MD, MN, NH, NJ, NY, RI and our very own ME (which has Equality Maine, among other organizations, working very hard to have complete same-sex marriage granted here).
Since Prop 8 passed in California, there has been a lot of turmoil in their state’s political atmosphere. There is a huge battle there (.and everywhere else) between equal rights and anti-gay activists. The National Organization for Marriage, which advocated for the repeal of same-sex marriage in California, has spent a supposed $1.5 million on airing their very anti-gay-marriage advertisement (eight times a day) in states that appear to be considering same-sex rights. These include New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and unsurprisingly, California.
The ad shows several people standing underneath dark skies, claiming that a storm is coming–“the storm” being acceptance of same-sex marriage, which will supposedly infringe on everybody’s freedom and rights (how, they don’t say). But LGBTQ people are lacking in freedom and rights all over the place. “United we stand” are words with a meaning that has been lost upon many; at this point we are pretty divided, and fighting is maintaining our fall.
There is a lot of controversy about NOM’s attempt to promote such an anti-gay message. Not only is its hate and bigotry questionable, but so is its credibility. Audition tapes for the ad were leaked and put on YouTube, and it was discovered that the so-called concerned citizens in it are actually actors. HRC spokesman, Brad Luna, claims “this ad is full of outrageous falsehoods-and they didn’t even come out of the mouths of real people.”
Although this ad does not speak of any progress in equality, its existence alone is proof enough that the more conservative are feeling threatened.
The marriage debate seems to be a thriving topic at the moment, but equal rights look like they might be slowly emerging. Although there are always going to be hateful attempts to counteract anti-discrimination movements, the U.S. looks like it might be moving in a more accepting direction, with more people who were apathetic realizing that this is no meaningless battle. The heat of this issue begs to ask some important questions — What is freedom? What is love? What is hate and how far should religion enter into the constitution? Where is the separation between church and state? Where is America going to end up on this issue? Constantly separated?
Some of us would like to know, how long is it going to be before we are all recognized as equal beings? When will same-sex marriage be acceptable enough so that it doesn’t have to flood every other headline? And where will anti-gay activists draw the line?