Ray Mathoda: The tyranny of the majority

On May 15th, 2008 the California Supreme Court made a historic decision. They ruled that it was a violation of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution to not afford gay couples the right to marry – almost exactly the same ruling they had made in 1948 on inter-racial marriage (which was at the time not allowed in California). Between June 16th (the day gay wedding licenses started being issued) and November 4th, approximately 18,000 couples got married in California.

The evangelical right was having none of the above. They knew that if gay marriages were allowed to continue in California (a major cultural force in the USA, and a state with the 7th largest economy in the world)…it was only a matter of time before they would become be allowed nationallly. After all, this exact sequence had occurred on the issue of inter-racial marriage. 19 years after the 1948 California ruling noted above, in 1967 the US Supreme Court (in a famous decision Loving v. Virginia) made the same ruling thereby eliminating all barriers to interracial marriage in the USA.

So on November 4th just as racial discrimination was dealt a massive and perhaps final blow with the election of the first African-American President of the USA, Californians voted by a 52.5% to 47.5% majority to take away this fundamental right to marry from gay couples in the state. Ironically, the same voters made the correct decision to expand animal rights in California.

Anger and sadness have enveloped millions in California since Proposition 8 passed last week…and this issue is by no means settled. Here are the thoughts of one prominent Los Angeles lesbian and mother who is in a 22 year committed relationship. I should also mention she is Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Policy for Los Angeles…working tirelessly to create more affordable housing for the poor and disadvantaged.ray

Yes we Can! Reflections on Gay Marriage in California

Helmi Hisserich, Deputy Mayor, Housing and Economic Development Policy

On November 4th, Gays and Lesbians were pushed to the back of the bus. The vote to change California's constitution to ban same sex marriage was an act of prejudice against a minority group and a vote for second class citizenship. It is a sad irony that happened on the same day
that America voted for our first African American President. But it is also a reminder that the fight against prejudice is long and painful.

For the past 173 days I have thought about the meaning of marriage almost every day. I am a lesbian who has been in a relationship for 22 years. My partner and I have been faithful to one another, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health for more than two decades, but we have never had a wedding. We have been registered domestic partners since the law first allowed it in 1998, but that is definitely not the same as marriage. On my paycheck, my taxpayer ID says "single".

On May 15th, 2008 when the moderate Republican Supreme Court said the California Constitution guaranteed the right of same sex couples to be married, a sense of acceptance and equality came over me that was so powerful it I felt it deep in my bones. My God, I do have the fundamental right to pursue happiness in marriage with the person I love. This is what it means to live in a free country, this is the meaning of equality. My gay and lesbian friends all talked about it, especially those of us who are in long term relationships. We all felt we were being protected and accorded dignity under the law. It felt amazing. Prejudice is funny that way, when it is removed you realize
how accustomed you have become to being treated with less respect you deserve.

The 173 days between the California Supreme Court decision and the November election were painful. For me, it felt like a walk to the gallows. I know good people who are awkward and uncomfortable about homosexuality. I knew the yes on 8 campaign was playing on peoples fears. It made me sick to think that people by referendum could vote to take my rights away. In California you can change the constitution with a simple majority vote, but you need a two third majority to raise sewer fees. What kind of justice is that?

On election night, I was at the Music Box theater in Hollywood, which was the rallying place for the No on Prop 8 campaign. When Barack Obama was elected president, the place went wild. People were cheering and crying. We all understood the importance of this election. Many of us had worked on the Obama campaign as well as the No on 8 Campaign; donating time and money to bring about change. For an hour we felt jubilant beyond measure. But then the reality hit that our friends and neighbors had voted to eliminate our constitutional right to marry. The happiness faded.

The day after the election, my daughter came home from 6th grade and told me kids were saying gays and lesbians are disgusting. She said she felt like people hated our family without knowing us. That is what prejudice is, I told her, judging people without knowing them. But 50 years ago a black person and a white person could not get married, and today someone from an interracial family was elected the president. She asked if we could change the constitution back to what it was. At first my though wandered to the difficult struggle we face to gain acceptance, but as I looked at down at her shining face in her blue community organizer t-shirt, the future became very clear - "Yes we Can".

Ray Mathoda

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The tyranny of the majority

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