Freedom, who's next?

Today, March 4th, 2009, oral arguments will be presented to the California Supreme Court against Proposition 8, which eliminated same-sex couples' right to marry by restricting the legal definition of marriage.

Proposition 8's passage was a political effort funded in large part by the Mormons, an event unparalleled in my knowledge of American history. Hasn't the church to date generally been a proponent of minority rights? Or has time just smoothed over the raw edges of history? Christlike? I know the Bible pretty well, and Jesus wouldn't be for this. What would Jesus do? I can't say, though I am pretty sure of some things he wouldn't do. He wouldn't tell people who to love. He might tell whoever was without sin to cast the first stone. (Actually, he did.)

This is a time we will tell our grandchildren about. We'll tell them with tears in our eyes. My tale will be of powerless futility, of rage against inhumanity, of frustration against an oppressor who endeavors to be Christlike, an oppressor who has forgotten love. And then I will shed tears for him, and for the tears he must shed with his tale. My tears will be shed without guilt. Regret, perhaps, that there is more I could have done. But not guilt.

So (returning to the title of this blog) who's next in line for freedom? We've given a measure of it to the colored folk (even though they're the result of unholy unions), Jews (horns and all), women (who bleed every month and don't die), and the poor (vote without owning land? pshah!). I wonder if they'll ever stop asking to be treated like white affluent folk with penises. It only seems to follow that next it should be fags and dykes. It's an American tradition that we progressively become less exclusive. If we're not careful, we'll be welcoming the tired, poor, huddled masses, wretched refuse, homeless, and tempest-tossed (just like that French green chick with the torch in New York's harbor). I'm hoping for personal reasons that it's sexual deviants and rabid boardgamers after that. (Don't worry, I'll blog about it sometime. Some of y'all already know the story.) In the words of a great American:

"The tradition in America is a progression of individual freedoms. Ya know what the tradition of America would say? Gay marriage is the next step in the progression. THAT's the tradition of America."

Jon Stewart; The Daily Show; November 13th, 2008

Deep, deep, down, ya know what this is about? Wide-eyed, unreasoning fear. We can't solve it, can't resolve it, can't take it away. Many of us will suffer or die as victims to this fear. We've got to acknowledge it, though we need not lay down and be trampled by it. We can't be happy about it, but we need not feel alone.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I'm mixed (just like most Americans). I have a significant amount of Native American blood. Sure, apart from the odd photo (the hair helps), no one ever thinks of me as other than white, but there's no doubt that I've got some teepees in the closet.