Nothing pleasing or pleasant (or really unexpected) to report from yesterday’s election news, but most unsettling was the decision by Maine voters to repeal gay marriage. James Kwak at The Baseline Scenario, however, posts on some reasons for cautious optimism, nevertheless.
For someone who takes the 1970s and the 1980s as the frame of reference, the shift in opinion vis-a-vis gay marriage over the past ten years has indeed been surprising and welcome. With progress, however, comes disappointment; but then again, I’ve come to think of disappointment as a part of the genetic code of our federal system of governance. In any event, I’d also be interested in knowing not only the source of shifts in public opinion, but within the gay community itself – if I’m not mistaken, commitment among gays and lesbians to such a ‘bourgeois’ ideal as marriage was hardly uncontroversial or widespread, even as recently as twenty years ago. I should read Tina Fetner’s book, which may have some answers.
As I understand it, one resolution of the back-and-forth about “bourgeois ideals” like marriage led to the reframing of the issue as one of civil rights, and the re-terming (? re-terminalization?) of the issue as one of “marriage equity” not “gay marriage.” I know I far prefer the former.
Hey Jenn –
Yeah, I prefer framing the issue as one of ‘marriage equity’ over ‘gay marriage,’ too. But I’m not sure how much explanatory mileage we get from this. The interesting issue for me is precisely the demise (?) of the 1970s/80s/early 90s style of ‘difference’ politics (which was hardly limited to the gay movement, of course) celebrating diversity of identity and lifestyle choice to one which emphasizes equity. It’s a matter of weight rather than strict dichotomies, of course, but still consequential nevertheless.