Stop…Obama time

Stop…Obama time

Not only the first black president of the United States of America, last Tuesday Barack Obama also became its first president to specifically acknowledge gays in an acceptance speech, thanking Americans both straight and gay.

Four major pieces of pro-gay legislation should be passed within Obama’s first term.
First will be the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which will protect gays from hate crimes and discrimination in the workplace for the first time at a federal level. With a Democratic majority in both houses, transgendered protections removed from ENDA before the election will most likely be reinserted.

Later should come bills to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy responsible for the sacking of over twelve thousand gay military personnel over the last 15 years, and the Defense of Marriage Act that bans any kind of recognition of same-sex couples at a federal level.

The Democrats’ big win has also increased the number of openly gay members of the US congress with re-elected Democratic veterans Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin being joined by Jared Polis, a 33 year old internet millionaire from Colorado. A fourth may be possible if lesbian Deb Mill is chosen by the Democrats to fill a Congressional vacancy left by the promotion of Obama’s new chief of staff.

But it wasn’t all good news, with a ballot proposition banning newly legalised same-sex marriage in California passing there. A raft of court challenges is already underway, including suits by the City of San Francisco and the American Civil Liberties Union.

If any of these are successful and the ban overturned, gay marriage would remain legal until the next election -” which should be long enough to change public attitudes.

Despite winning the vote and spending nearly $40 million, the anti-gay marriage camp saw support for their cause drop nine points since California first voted on same-sex marriage eight years ago. Then it was 61 percent opposed -” now it’s only 52. If that trend continues, a majority of Californians could be pro-gay marriage in as little as three years.

And marriage rights campaigners now know where they have to focus their efforts after 70 percent of African American voters (more than any other group) voted for the ban.

Similar bans also passed in Florida and Arizona, while in Arkansas another initiative has banned adoption and fostering by both same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexuals.

But it’s not all bad news on the marriage front. On the back of strong Democrat showings at state elections, as many as five other states are likely to pass their own same-sex marriage laws in the next three years -” New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maryland and Rhode Island.

California-style court challenges are likely in others and same-sex marriage is also now safe in Connecticut after a vote there.

And the more same-sex marriage spreads across America, the greater the pressure will be for its legalisation here.

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6 responses to “Stop…Obama time”

  1. Yes Shiraz, or we could look to South Africa, or Canada, or Holland, or Belgium, or Norway, or Spain- all of which have full marriage equality.

    Personally I think civil unions should replace de facto for both gay and heterosexual couples, with de facto only assumed where couples have children but haven’t bothered to register their relationships.

    But the issue of equality for same sex couples doesn’t go away until we have marriage rights.

    Forcing different groups of people to eat at different restaurants or drink from separate water fountains is still wrong even if it’s the same water or the food is just as good.

    The same goes for our social institutions. If we stop at civil unions all we’ll have achieved is marking ourselves out as separate from the rest of human society for the rest of history.

  2. Okay so 7 out of the 50 United States have some form of recognition – whereas ALL Australian states recognise same-sex couples, and the argument has shifted from legal and financial equality to the formality of recognition – Registered Partnerships, Marriage or Civil Unions. Having read the column in SSO by the American lawyer on the parlous state of gay and lesbian rights movement in the United States, I don’t see why we should draw any inspiration from them. Better off looking towards the UK or even (gasp) across the ditch to New Zealand, countries that both have civil unions (and that ex Prime Minister with Lesbian hair)

  3. Shiraz- in addition to Vermont and New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Hawaii, the state of Washington and the District of Columbia also recognise same sex couples with civil unions or other forms of civil partnerships.

  4. Hi Shiraz, unfortunately you didn’t read it right.

    The only state to have existing same sex marriage laws overturned through a ballot initiative is California. This initiative may itself be overturned by the California Supreme Court in the weeks to come and in the meantime, gay and lesbian couples in the state are still protected through domestic partnerships.

    Florida and Arizona did not have same sex marriage laws, the bans there were preemptive- like the ban passed by the major parties federally here. These bans can also be reversed through court action or by lawmakers or through another ballot initiative.

    Same sex marriage is still legal in Connecticut and Massachusetts and in Rhode Island out of state same sex marriages are recognised, with in-state marriages soon to follow.

    Throughout the history of the United States, civil rights battles have been won through the courts and not through popular votes. The recent ballot initiative in California is a glaring exception, not the rule.

  5. From the New York Times November 12:

    “Massachusetts and Connecticut are now the only states allowing same-sex marriage. Vermont and New Hampshire also have civil unions. And California has domestic partnerships that provide many similar rights and privileges.”

    Please Andrew, we don’t need any more of these “victories”.

    All Australian states and now the Commonwealth recognise same-sex partnerships in a similar manner to de facto, and many states now have partnership registers. We are well ahead of the United States.

    (I say roll on civil unions!)

  6. If I read this right, except for one state, popular votes have overturned court sanctioned same-sex laws in every state, the latest being California.

    Far from spreading across America, wherever it appears, same-sex marriage is overturned by voters.