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Happy and sad

Posted on November 13, 2008November 13, 2008 by Staff

By Lydia Lavelle

Election day 2008 was an historic day for all Americans. Last week, a Washington Post cartoon by Tom Toles depicted Barack Obama standing in front of a gigantic White House, his luggage strap over his shoulder. The top caption read, “We hold these truths to be self-evident – that all men are created equal,” and at the bottom were the words, “Ratified November 4, 2008.” What a powerful cartoon!

Unfortunately, for a number of Americans, all men (and women) are still not created equal. While one discriminatory barrier was being knocked over last week, others were being built.

On Election Day, voters in California passed Proposition 8, titled “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry,” by a 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent margin, despite the fact that in May the California Supreme Court ruled that limiting marriage to a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. Attorney Evon Wolfson, an opponent of Prop 8, summed up the central issue: “There is something wrong with putting the rights of a minority up to a majority vote.” Quite a paradox in this historic year.

Voters in Florida and Arkansas passed similar measures last week against same-sex marriage (joining more than 40 states with such bans, including North Carolina), but the significance of what happened in California cannot be overstated. While equal marriage rights still exist in Massachusetts and Connecticut, losing the California battle is discouraging because California has long been the vanguard. It is indicative of the “two steps forward, one step back” progress of this movement. Every step of the way, lesbians and gays are reminded that our rights are not yet self-evident as we continue to fight for anti-bullying protection, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” or, in the absence of marriage, to gain domestic partnership rights.

Another setback last week was that voters in Arkansas passed a ban on unmarried adoption – in essence, a vote to bar gay men and lesbians from adopting children. Florida is the only state with a harsher measure; theirs strictly prohibits adoption by gays and lesbians. It should be self-evident that it is wrong to legislate that gays and lesbians cannot be good parents.

Even in liberal Carrboro, where I write these words and acknowledge publicly that I have a female partner and family, equal rights issues get minimized. I recently argued (congenially) with Mayor Mark Chilton about his support for gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory, pointing out McCrory’s abysmal record pertaining to gays and lesbians, but to no avail. While I understood much of Mark’s reasoning, it was disappointing. If our fair-minded, LGBT-supportive mayor misses the importance and urgency of these issues, how long will it be before the need for equal rights for this minority group becomes self-evident to the majority?

Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese consoled the LBGT population last week with these words: “Everything we’ve learned points to one simple fact: people who know us are more likely to support our equality. In recent years, I’ve been delivering this positive message: ‘Tell your story. Share who you are … as our families become more familiar, support for us increases.’ And so, I too am encouraging all gay and lesbian persons to heed these words, in whatever way their life circumstances allow.

And now more than ever, we need our straight allies to help in our fight for equal rights. Ours will be a long, hard journey. Please join us. Sign up for emails from Equality NC (equalitync.org), keep abreast of current issues and lend your vocal and financial support to this effort.

I am encouraged by what I have read, heard and seen from President-elect Obama with regard to LGBT rights. We have the chance to make great strides on these issues in the next four years. But it will require all of us to pay attention, be aware and advocate for the rights of another minority. The need is self-evident.

Lydia Lavelle is the dean of student affairs at N.C.Central University School of Law and serves on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.

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