It Can’t Be Stopped
Providence
Phoenix.com, July 11—17, 2003
http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/p_and_j/documents/03013176.asp
Phillipe and Jorge’s Cool, Cool World
Your superior correspondents were thinking last week,
what if the landmark Supreme Court decision of 1954, Brown v. Board of
Education, never happened? Maintaining that “ separate but equal “ was
un-American (not to mention bullshit) breathed life into a slowly building
civil rights movement, leading to the Montgomery bus boycott and finally
exploding in the early ‘60s with demands for justice. We still have a ways
to go, but those among us who remember legal segregation have a strong sense
of how much has been accomplished.
Now comes a Supreme Court decision striking down
anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional. For Superior Nation, this could well be
our Brown v. Board of Education. Antonin Scalia certainly understands this or
why else would he write such a reactionary and ill-advised dissent, railing
about the “ homosexual agenda “ (which, if the phrase means anything,
merely amounts to equal rights for everyone, regardless of sexual
orientation).
Meanwhile, in the Great White North, our Canadian
neighbors seem to have clearly seen the light and are moving ahead with
legalized gay marriage. Equality and fairness is on the way in North America,
and as any student of history will tell you, it will not be stopped. Bill
Frist and his right-wing cohorts, clamoring for a Constitutional amendment to
narrowly define marriage, are doomed to be on the losing end of this one. We
always thought that the only kind of Constitutional amendment worth
considering is one that expands the definition of freedom.
Although we live in a time when fear seems to be
ascendant, fear is ultimately a loser. That’s because deep down inside, the
people of the United States, when forced to choose between playing to our
fears and petty biases, or standing up for fairness and equality, will finally
take the right path.
Since Stonewall and Harvey Milk, ACT UP and Queer Nation,
we’ve been openly talking superior behavior. Hearts and minds have been
changed, and people are smartening up. P&J have been pleasantly surprised
at how quickly things are moving now. How many people do you know who think
that “ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “ makes any sense at all? How many people
do you know who think “ The Defense of Marriage Act “ has anything to do
with the defense of marriage?
Yes, there’s still a struggle ahead, but the walls are
falling and maybe it will only be 10 years from now when all but the most
extreme reactionaries among us will wonder how we had these laws and
wrongheaded social views about sexual orientation. It’s coming and it
can’t be stopped.
[The rest is unrelated. -Bob]
Send beach blanket bingo and Pulitzer-grade tips to p&j@phx.com.
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