There will be marriage equality in the near future

[Kievan Rus]

What happened yesterday in Maine and last year in California was clearly disheartening. Socially conservative bigots won out to deny GLBT persons their civil rights (which is to be expected; most social conservatives think only straight white Protestant males should have any rights at all, or at least should get preferential treatment).

The good news is they can't stop progress forever. Social conservatives throughout time have tried to stop progress before, and have lost every single time. A generation ago, social conservatives fought to ban interracial marriage and against civil rights for African-Americans, and lost. At around the same time, social conservatives fought against equality for women, and lost. A generation before that, social conservatives fought against women's suffrage, and lost. A generation and a half before that, social conservatives fought against the abolition of slavery and allowing African-Americans to vote, and lost.

According to poll numbers over the past number of years, support for gay marriage has risen steadily. If a gay marriage vote would have been held ten years ago, the numbers would have been far worse for our side. And every day, these bigoted social conservatives are losing ground. The Millienial Generation is the most tolerant generation in history, and support for gay rights amongst young people is very high. In a number of years, a larger number of said generation will have turned 18 and be old enough to vote, and will cast ballots for equality; enough to tip the balance in our favor.

I said it a year ago when Obama won the White House, and I still believe it today; social conservatism as we know it does not have a long future. From January 1981 to January 2009, social conservatives, or (much more often) conservatives from other branches of right-wing thought that pandered to them dominated the White House, the Congress and Supreme Court for long stretches of time. And yet, when George W. Bush boarded Air Force One for the final time last January, compared to when Ronald Reagan took the oath in 1981; support for gay rights had increased exponentially, and social conservatives won few if any battles in the culture wars, in fact, they lost ground nearly everywhere; it was a moral victory for them if they didn't lose ground on an issue. Women were still in the workplace, affirmative action still existed, abortion was still legal, public schools remained open, free speech still existed, so forth and so on. Equality for gays will win out in the near future. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen in short time.

[Laelth]

1. k&r for the truth. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Berry Cool]

2. Same here. And please try not to read this as another "just be patient" message.

What I think it's meant to say is, don't lose heart. It's not "never" going to happen just because it didn't happen now. That's not how history goes in these things. History is on the right side. I know that's a pain in the ass and it's unfair, and I wish there was anything one person could do to change it.

[gratefultobelib]

3. I agree. I wish it didn't have to take my generation dying out, but that appears to be the case.

[uppityperson]

4. Washington (state), R71 is still coming out Yes. It isn't a lot, but something

I hope it will change in the near future, hoping that, well, a whole lot of things.

[whoneedstickets]

5. Society Progresses one Funeral at a Time...

... with credit to Max Plank.