Oh no you didn't! (Why it's not ok to support Prop 8, then hide behind the Constitution)

Cross-posted from the Feministing Community site:

For the record, I was determined not to write about Proposition 8 passing in California. (Because really, how many times and in how many ways can you say, "I hate you, 52% of California. I hate you. I hate you"?) But then I read the article in this past Wednesday's New York Times about Scott Eckern, the artistic director of the California Musical Theater. He resigned earlier this week after activists outed his $1,000 contribution to the Yes on 8 folks and several prominent gay men in theater complained -- including Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer ("Hairspray") who called Eckern to say that he would not let his work be performed in the theater.

Now Eckern, along with Frank Schubert, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage, the leading group behind the ballot measure, are defending their bigotry as a constitutional right and complaining that those who protest their actions are being intolerant. Per Schubert: "No matter your opinion on Prop. 8, we should all agree that it is wrong to intimidate or harass anyone for exercising their constitutional rights."

No sense of irony, straight guys. But hearing them play the you're-the-real-bigot-for-punishing-me-for-exercising-my-right-to-free-speech card just got on my last gay nerve. So here we are. I'm writing about Prop 8.

Of course Eckern deserves the anger and disdain of his peers -- just as if he had generously given to a movement that amended the California constitution to reinstate racial segregation, or strip Jews of the right to practice law, or forbid Mormons from holding public office, or intern all Muslims in camps for the duration of the "War on Terror." Actively fighting to remand a group of people to second-class citizenship, as Eckern did, is no mere matter of opinion or exercise in free speech: it's an assault on human dignity and human rights. And those of us who know the historical cost of silence damn well better speak up and let the Eckerns and Schuberts of this world know that their behavior is unacceptable -- and has consequences.

Because Eckern, who is married with children, is just not getting this on his own. He still thinks, per his statement of resignation, that he can simultaneously be "loving and supportive" of his lesbian sister (!) while refusing her the opportunity ever to have her union and her family be considered equal to his. He still thinks of himself as someone who does not "support any message or treatment of others that is hateful or instills fear."

But he is wrong. And oh to be a fly on the wall at the Eckern Thanksgiving table this year when his sister and her family arrive...

Comments

[profmo]

I like this statement by the author, '(Because really, how many times and in how many ways can you say, "I hate you, 52% of California. I hate you. I hate you"?) ' That is exactly what the homosexual community is doing, acting in hate toward the the people who disagree with them. Martin Luther King didn't do that. He didn't target specific individuals. However, his opponents targeted individuals. The homosexual community is attempting to make proponents of proposition 8 outcasts. They are attempting to instill fear in those who disagree with them. That is exactly what the proponents of Jim Craw did to those who opposed them. Shouldn't you be acting in love instead of hating the people who voted against same-sex marriage? Aren't you negating the democratic process by attempting to usurp the yes vote for proposition 8? I can understand fighting it in the courts, but targeting people and businesses because they disagree with you is acting in hate. You are trying to get people to vote against Prop 8 out of fear. You are saying, "people and businesses if you don't vote for same-sex marriage we are going to get you." That's hate.

[ggm68]

How cynical, too, for them to cry foul on those who would out and/or boycott a business for it's support of 8, when it was the Pro-8 people who were posting lists of No on 8 contributors on their website so that THEY could be blacklisted, AND they were sending threatening letters to those businesses. Get it through your heads, people! You're within your rights to oppose gay marriage, no matter how indefensible your position may be, but I'm within my rights to take my business elsewhere if you do.

[ouroborous]

Well, remaining neutral on Prop. 8 (even though I personally oppose it, although for different reasons than most people), another way to argue this is:

Yes, you have the right to support bigotry and intolerance and Proposition 8.
And, yes, we have the right to mock you, speak out against you, and refuse to work with you if you do so.

Where's the problem? Constitution works as intended.

[standforpeace]

Right on. Now these advocates of freedom of religion, conscience, speech, etc. want to dictate the way that gays and lesbians and their supporters exercise their own freedom of speech and conscience. But we're not having that this time. It's past time for those who know better to call this what it is -- discrimination and the denial of basic rights and human decency. I don't know if we have the power (yet) to stop you from engaging in this behavior but we do have the ability to drag you out into the light. And we will.

[Balancement]

Actions have consequences. "Equal" is not just a word in our Constitution.

Thank you, Nancy.