Democracy as a Matter of Convienience
- By Walter Johnson
- Published 11/9/2008
Walter Johnson
I'm a 28 year old computer programmer an web designer. Most of my interests revolve around computers and computer gaming and have been since I was 10 years old. I also love to learn new things. It has been those interests that have propelled me into earning my high school diploma and my bachelors in Computer Engineering from NC State University. Since then, I've been trying my best to better myself and my understanding of both my chosen profession and the world around me.
My last entry dealt with the importance of Proposition 8 as it affected other states. However, it seems that I left out some of the other effects by forgetting a key element--gay rights advocates. Leave it to the actual "people" to make the equation interesting.
As most of you may have heard by now, Proposition 8 passed the California vote with 52.3% of the state approving the ban on gay marriage. Shortly after, several complaints have been raised by several different groups opposing the ban. Most of them are people who took advantage of the California Supreme Court's ruling that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional under California's state law. And, of course, the ACLU is getting involved as well.
But what's really going to keep this story going, and by extension embarrass the same-sex advocate community, is the type of response this is getting by those who wanted to see Prop 8 defeated. According to the AP, Utah has become the recent target of Proposition 8 opponents. According to this story, gay rights advocates are trying to damage Utah's tourism industry because of the Mormon stance on gay marriage and their support for the proposition. Several protest rallies have been held at Utah and California events featuring Mormon leaders and Prop 8 supporters.
John Aravosis, editor of Americablog.com and gay-activist, was quoted by the AP saying, "At this point, the Californians are the victims and the Mormons are the persecutors," he said. "We had won this until they swept in. ... We need to send a message to Utah that they need to stop trying to inflict their way of life on every other state."
And this leads to the heart of this entry. If Proposition 8 had passed, Aravosis and people like him would be singing the praises of the enlightenment that had taken place in California. Instead, since the voters have disagreed with him, he's decided to take a victim/persecutor stand on the whole subject. In essence, he's looking for someone to blame and has found a potential target-the Mormon Church and the state it was founded in. This despite that the vote took place in a completely different state with completely different rules and completely different constituients.
And this likely will not be the only reaction to this story. While playing World of Warcraft, I've seen many people discuss this issue both before the election and afterwards. I was a little surprised to see this being discussed. But what really surprised me was the attitude of those who didn't "get their way" by seeing the success of the "No on Prop 8" campaign. Their flagship argument was that people who wanted to see a change voted for Barrak Obama. But these same people are hypocrites by voting for Prop 8. Once again, this is an example of Democracy as a matter of convience rather than a voice of the people.
I think that most people knew that the issue of gay marriage wasn't going to be put to bed by the Nov 2008 election. In fact, it's just a new beginning to a new chapter in the whole discussion. But the reactions are truly going to underline what the either side truly believes in--not only for the issue itself but also for the system of government that will ultimately answer these questions for us.
As most of you may have heard by now, Proposition 8 passed the California vote with 52.3% of the state approving the ban on gay marriage. Shortly after, several complaints have been raised by several different groups opposing the ban. Most of them are people who took advantage of the California Supreme Court's ruling that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional under California's state law. And, of course, the ACLU is getting involved as well.
But what's really going to keep this story going, and by extension embarrass the same-sex advocate community, is the type of response this is getting by those who wanted to see Prop 8 defeated. According to the AP, Utah has become the recent target of Proposition 8 opponents. According to this story, gay rights advocates are trying to damage Utah's tourism industry because of the Mormon stance on gay marriage and their support for the proposition. Several protest rallies have been held at Utah and California events featuring Mormon leaders and Prop 8 supporters.
John Aravosis, editor of Americablog.com and gay-activist, was quoted by the AP saying, "At this point, the Californians are the victims and the Mormons are the persecutors," he said. "We had won this until they swept in. ... We need to send a message to Utah that they need to stop trying to inflict their way of life on every other state."
And this leads to the heart of this entry. If Proposition 8 had passed, Aravosis and people like him would be singing the praises of the enlightenment that had taken place in California. Instead, since the voters have disagreed with him, he's decided to take a victim/persecutor stand on the whole subject. In essence, he's looking for someone to blame and has found a potential target-the Mormon Church and the state it was founded in. This despite that the vote took place in a completely different state with completely different rules and completely different constituients.
And this likely will not be the only reaction to this story. While playing World of Warcraft, I've seen many people discuss this issue both before the election and afterwards. I was a little surprised to see this being discussed. But what really surprised me was the attitude of those who didn't "get their way" by seeing the success of the "No on Prop 8" campaign. Their flagship argument was that people who wanted to see a change voted for Barrak Obama. But these same people are hypocrites by voting for Prop 8. Once again, this is an example of Democracy as a matter of convience rather than a voice of the people.
I think that most people knew that the issue of gay marriage wasn't going to be put to bed by the Nov 2008 election. In fact, it's just a new beginning to a new chapter in the whole discussion. But the reactions are truly going to underline what the either side truly believes in--not only for the issue itself but also for the system of government that will ultimately answer these questions for us.
