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Utah and SCOTUS


Trebs

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If you don't know, SCOTUS is shorthand for Supreme Court Of The United States. Utah officials had appealed the recent Federal Court rulings mandating that Utah process and recognize same-sex marriages, and pending appeal, requested a stay of the lower court rulings. This stay was denied first by the lower court, then by the 10th Circuit but this morning, SCOTUS granted the stay.

 

In my opinion, Utah (and a court challenge in Virginia that AFER is working on) may be the tipping point that forces SCOTUS to broaden their rulings from last year, and bring marriage equality to all 50 states. The Windsor DOMA decision and the overturning of Prop 8 were fantastic, but narrow. Utah officials may have made a mistake in pushing this appeal as it makes it more difficult for SCOTUS to ignore the broader constitutional questions, especially those of equal protection and "full faith and credit."

 

But aside from the legal - I know there are many who are blase about marriage equality in general. I still see arguments that the effort to win marriage equality has no bearing in their lives, and ENDA (employment non-discrimination) is where the fight should have been. I have to totally disagree.

 

First, efforts on ENDA have been made at the same time. More states (and localities) have been passing and enforcing their local versions of non-discrimination in employment and housing. On a national scale, the US Senate passed ENDA in November with 64 votes - every Democrat and 10 Republicans. It is being held up in the House by Speaker John Boehner, who won't even let it come up for a vote.

 

The other aspect of marriage equality and ENDA - I don't think that ENDA would have had the same strong support had it not been for marriage equality efforts. Marriage equality is flashy, it makes news and the imaging has been great. Every time a new state has started granting same-sex marriage licenses, the front page pictures have been of couples who have been together 10/20/30 or more years, finally getting married. The personal stories of how they didn't think it would change anything, until they heard the words and just realize the recognition, not only of their family and friends, but finally of their state - how that changed their outlook. This very public face has been constantly eroding the support of those who would demonize the LGBT community.

 

I've always been a romantic - my parents met, got married, had three children and remained married until the day my dad passed away. I knew children of divorced parents growing up - but I was fortunate to live in a traditional "nuclear" family. This was my expectation for myself, and one of the reasons why I've always been a strong marriage equality supporter. Even back in the early 90's when "Domestic Partnerships" were what were being promoted and passed, I grudgingly helped work on the effort all of the while insisting that it was a mistake, that full marriage should be what we should fight for.

 

And now - it's happening. 18 states and the District of Columbia... and soon to be nationwide. And I SO hope that we'll look back and say it was because of Utah. After what the LDS Church did in California, it would just be the fitting capstone on this fight!

 

 

PS Personal irony is that now that same-sex marriage is finally legal in California, and soon nationwide, I'm single with nothing on the horizon that looks to change that. Meh :/

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The more normal LGBT folks are seen to be, the less others fear them. I believe the expansion of equal marriage rights was a necessary step to full equality under the law; otherwise, ENDA would have been DRT (dead right there). As you say, it's flashy, and it appeals to peoples' hearts.

 

Aside from the riots of Stonewall, it seems every stride in equal rights has come about through working to overcome the demonization of LGBT. With every person of substance who has come out of the closet, every gay character written into a TV show, every piece of romantic same-sex fiction, we all realize more just how much we are all the same, and yet, how much diversity there is in being human.

 

I never had much of an opinion on LDS until Prop 8.Now, like you, I hope their anti-gay fervor creates the backlash to obtain the Supreme Court decision even Justice Scalia knows is inevitable.

 

Irony can be a beautiful thing.

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As someone who is 21, and about to enter the workforce full-time in the next couple months, ENDA is far more important to me than marriage equality. I have a long-time (for my age) boyfriend, but have no desire to get married. To me, marriage represents settling down, and getting into a boring, predictable, suburban routine that at such a young age I want no part of. In ten years it'll be different, but not right now. 

 

I plan on going into policing, which is a very hetero-normative, macho occupation where being gay isn't exactly a sought after trait in most police forces. So it would be nice to have that security of not having to fear being fired just for liking other guys. 

 

Like everything else in life, it all comes to down to prioritizing the equality fight based on who's funneling in the money to fund it. The gay rights movement is funded by wealthy, urban, older, white gay males who don't need job security because they are already financially and economically secure. They don't have to worry about job security. But they would like to be able to marry, so they donate to groups like the HRC, etc. with the condition that it is used to push their agenda at the expense of other priorities that matter more to other groups. ENDA, HIV-AIDS, and other issues in the gay community have been close to abandoned because those funding it have other priorities. 

 

Here's the thing. The older gays can throw as much money as they want at the problem, but it'll only do so much. The real campaign for changing people's perception of LGBT people is being done by the under 30 crowd just by being normal and well-integrated into mainstream society. We show we can fit in just like everybody else, and it's helped shed the outsider status that those generations before us bore. Of course there are other factors at play too, but I believe its the biggest part of it.

 

I'll take a passage of ENDA any day over a passage of a federal "marriage equality" bill any day. But that doesn't mean to say I'm not happy about the progress being made on the marriage front either. 

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I miss The Soapbox.

 

Matt, you're right. Changing people's perceptions is best done by just living your life in the open.

 

Marriage equality isn't about changing perceptions, but changing laws that penalize a certain group of people. It has only become possible since attitudes have begun to change. And attitudes have only begun to change because LGBT folks are living in the open, being normal and well-integrated into society.

 

ENDA is a great idea and ideal, but it's gonna be as tough to enforce as any anti-discrimination law.

 

Any progress made on any front in the struggle for equal rights is an improvement.

 

New attitudes have enabled new laws. New laws enable more open lives, without fear. More open lives enable evolved attitudes. I think we've all got the same destination in sight.

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