by Kevin Sparrow

Editor’s Note: Before we tackle this week’s Mere Images, I think it would be a disservice not to acknowledge the elections that took place Tuesday night. While it was a proud day for Barack Obama and his supporters, for many around the country, a chill has settled in. Those who fought for change in the form of marriage equality in California, Arizona and Florida hit a wall when support for propositions defining marriage as between one man and one woman passed by slim margins. This fight has seen bright points—the decisions in California and Connecticut to begin honoring gay marriages—but these three steps backward only highlight a troubling theme. Many Americans are reaching out for hope, but some have just had our hands smacked away. An encouraging candidate alone will not suffice. As queer members of society, we are the only reliable source for momentum to rectify injustices done against us. We have to be willing to keep fighting for marriage rights without discouragement from these decisions. We have to go beyond asking or hoping these rights will be granted; these rights should unequivocally be granted to anyone regardless or orientation. The American framework has not yet seen this beyond a civil rights issue; it is a human rights issue. It is a deeply saddening occasion when a piece of legislature rends away a right everyone should have from birth, regardless of whom he or she loves later in life.

The internet is flooded with blogs about food, about gossip, even about cats with speech impediments. Political blogs are no exception to this trend, but Poplicks, written by Junichi Semitsu and Oliver Wang, stands out for its self-assured humor, relevance and insight. And for LGBT readers, the blog’s immeasurable support for marriage equality has opened up an avenue for discourse on the subject. Straight allies are a major component of ensuring marriage equality, and Poplicks’ November 5 post “On the Appalling Passage of Proposition 8” encourages this notion. Semitsu clarifies, “there is no viable legal argument that Prop. 8 conflicts with the U.S. Constitution or any federal law. Sadly, not one federal court has interpreted the Equal Protection Clause to require marriage equality for gays and lesbians.” An informed voice helps reveal those allies whose concerns over these propositions are equal to those of our own.

Wang delivers this sobering statistic: “the single-most community that came out for Prop 8 were African Americans – at 70%! – and the Latino community was also largely in favor of it too (~55-57%).” Any divisiveness shown by these numbers should not be used to generate a schism between ethnic communities and our own. Obviously, many LGBT individuals come from an ethnic minority background and have had a large role in the movement for our rights. Even recently, a healthy gathering of those against Proposition 8 was led by African-American preachers in California to counteract rallies by Yes on 8 proponents. As we fight, we need to be vigilant about creating allies rather than enemies. Semitsu provides encouragement by stating, “I remain optimistic… that we will eventually see full equality again in California. This will require a new smartly-worded initiative, a better-organized movement, more money, and only an incremental shift in public opinion.” The more support we as Americans offer between our various minority groups, the more real progress can be made toward breathing life into a declaration written so long ago but still waiting to be fully realized.