Proposition 8, the ballot measure banning the right of same-sex couples to marry, narrowly passed on Nov. 4. Millions of voters turned out to reaffirm that marriage is a civil right for all people. But more voters disagreed.
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Activists poured their lives into the fight against Prop. 8, but the right-wing was able to spread fear and lies about gay people and the right to marry. This was not a surprise. A strong fight-back campaign against these lies did not materialize.
Now, the right-wingers claim that “the people have spoken,” but that is untrue. Tens of millions of dollars were poured into the campaign of bigotry to ban same-sex marriage. Institutions like the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church and the Republican Party put everything they had into helping Prop. 8 pass. They wanted to push the LGBT movement back into the closet. And the Democratic Party stayed criminally silent on the issue.
Proposition voting, like all voting under capitalism, is rigged to favor the causes and candidates with multi-million dollar backing. Prop. 8 was no different. This is one of the reasons why “the people haven’t spoken” and, in fact, can never truly speak freely within the capitalist elections.
But this temporary setback for the LGBT movement has galvanized mass outrage within the community and its allies. In the days after Nov. 4, a mass LGBT uprising in Los Angeles and across the U.S. has emerged to demand full equality now. The energy and anger of so many people has been unleashed. And this is a good thing.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets. Last weekend, over 20,000 people marched in the largest pro-LGBT protest in L.A.’s history, organized by the ANSWER Coalition.
It was a multinational action, with LGBT people and allies coming from the Latino, African American, Asian and Arab communities, along with many whites.
The overwhelming message was “unity” best embodied by the popular chant “Gay, straight, Black, white—marriage is a civil right.”
Despite this, the right wing is making its best attempt at keeping the LGBT community divided from African Americans and immigrants. We can’t let this happen. No one should be scapegoated for the right wing’s hateful attack on LGBT people.
People of color, women and LGBT people all suffer discrimination of different types. Many LGBT people are women and people of color too.
The common thread is where the discrimination comes from. The true enemies of all working-class people are the wealthy institutions and their media mouthpieces that spread bigotry.
Let’s all join this civil rights movement that is growing day by day. The struggle for marriage equality will continue until it is won. And yes, we will win.
