Earlier today, I cheered. The Washington State Senate, by a one-vote margin, passed HB 2661, the so-called "gay civil rights bill." Twenty-nine years in the making, it failed in the State Senate last year by a single vote. An apparent change-of-heart by a moderate Puget Sound suburban Republican led to today's victory. With the State House of Representative's already overwhelming approval, Governor Gregoire has announced she'll sign the bill into law on Tuesday.
There are apparently celebrations all over the state tonight. Zach and I made a brief (five second) appearance at Seattle's, and abruptly left when we remembered that we don't have any "gay friends." We instead joined heteros at Zach's favorite Mexican restaurant in Belltown. I was in high spirits: following Gregoire's signature, gays will be protected from discrimination in regards to housing, employment, commerce, and insurance.
But, it's a bittersweet victory. It takes only a quick browse through the reactions of the general public to see that there are plenty of Anita Bryants out there - who think I've somehow chosen to be gay; who see it (at best) as an illness or (at worst) the epitome of immoral "behavior"; who think HB 2661 is a conspiracy to bring about backdoor gay marriage. That in of itself was a bit demoralizing.
But then, we hear that Iran and the U.S. have found their own reasons to get along suddenly.
To make matters slightly more complicated, the more vocal gay rights activists spent much of this week not lobbying solely for HB 2661, but also gleefully anticipating a decision from Washington State's Supreme Court striking down the state's own Defense of Marriage Act. I believe both sides of the debate, for better or for worse, anticipate DOMA dying. But, the real question is, what comes next? I fear too many of my fellow Seattlites think gays all over Washington will sign up to marry, no questions asked. During our five seconds at the celebratory party earlier tonight, in which I heard about five thousand utterances of "Gay marriage is only a few months away!", I felt like standing up on a soapbox and screaming at the top of my lungs, "My God! Don't you folks understand that the rest of Washington has said, time and again, no to gay marriage!? And that a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union of a man and woman only will not only pass by huge margins despite Seattle voting against it, but will also bring Republicans out in droves to either kick Maria Cantwell out of the Senate or Christine Gregoire out of Olympia?! It's just a matter of which year the amendment goes on the ballot! And, if we really offend them, a citizen's initiative will also seek to repeal HB 2661. Perhaps a more quiet approach would be better, eh? Sure, equal rights aren't a matter of public approval - but, baby steps, folks! Baby steps! We live in a state where a citizen's initiative could end it all overnight!"
Somehow, I think, had I mentioned such a pragmatic viewpoint (which was about as unpopular in that room as gay marriage is in Washington), I would've been crucified by an angry mob.
What a tangled web we weave.
Posted by James at January 27, 2006 11:19 PM