Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Hope and disappointment

Today saw a step forward and a step back for gay rights. This morning, reading the Times, I saw a column by a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stating his belief that gay men and women can serve in the military and that the change--although he hedged on the timing--is inevitable.

Then, this afternoon, I learned that the Massachusetts legislature apparently has caved to political pressure and took a first step toward possibly banning gay marriage in the only state that has it at this time. "The amendment now requires the approval of at least 50 legislators in another vote in the 2007-8 session. Then it would be placed on the November 2008 ballot as a referendum question." I'm not sure the bigots would win today in Massachusetts. Hopefully they'll have an even harder time almost two years from now, assuming it makes it on the ballot. Oh, and in a truly laughable note regarding equal rights, the referendum, if it passed, would ban future gay marriages but preserve the existing ones. Go explain that!

Still, in one of the more promising states, this was a sad and disappointing event. Of course, if they could elect Mitt Romney, I probably shouldn't think it's all that stable of a place politically.

Despite this, I'm optimistic. It may take many years, but we'll win the war. We'll lose some battles along the way, but we'll win eventually.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mitt's probably going to run for president and then we'll all be screwed