The Party for Socialism and Liberation, our presidential and vice presidential candidates Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear, and our state and local candidates, celebrate Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling voiding the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. It is an important legal victory for the LGBT community and all people who seek justice.
The Oct. 10 ruling reflects the strength and determination of the LGBT community and its allies. It also validates
 |
The Connecticut court ruling—the third state high-court ruling to affirm same-sex marriage rights—is not a function of an enlightened judiciary, but the product of decades of struggle. The modern LGBT liberation movement, marked by the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, has changed how the vast majority of people in the United States view the issue of same-sex love, families and the right to marry.
The long fight for LGBT equality has been the decisive factor in pushing back the anti-gay hatred that emanates from the boardrooms of corporate America, the pulpits of the Catholic and Evangelical churches, and other reactionary social institutions.
The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates both oppose same-sex marriage. Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin are both known for their bigoted and backward views against LGBT people. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and VP candidate Joseph Biden opportunistically pay lip service to LGBT struggles to win support from the community, but they have always bowed to reaction and come out against full equality. Neither capitalist party will do anything to forward the struggle for LGBT equality.
The La Riva/Puryear campaign repudiates the bigotry and pandering of the big-business candidates. Our campaign ardently supports and fights for LGBT rights and equality, including same-sex marriage. We have been in the streets with the LGBT movement demanding equality, and we will continue to fight it is won. Unlike the Democrats and Republicans, we would overturn the reactionary Defense of Marriage Act and demand full equality for all.
The PSL sees the Connecticut court ruling as an important step in the direction of forging greater unity between LGBT and straight working-class people. As long as the ruling class—the small group of bankers, corporate owners and investors—can pit workers against each other based on our differences, the only ones who benefit are those same bankers, corporate owners and investors.
The legal rulings since Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004 are not going unchallenged by the ruling class. Utilizing reactionary social organizations that promote homophobia, big-business interests have appealed to bigotry and fear to try to turn back the clock.
In California, an anti-gay marriage referendum, Proposition 8, is on the November ballot. If it passes, it would amend the California constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and overturn the legal ruling that granted same-sex marriage rights earlier this year. The PSL calls for all progressive-minded people to vote “No” on Prop. 8 on Nov. 4.
Regardless of the outcome of the elections and propositions, the struggle for LGBT equality and liberation will not go back into the closet. The legal right to live and love will not be decided by the courts, legislation or referendum, but in streets by the millions of LGBT people and supporters pushing forward the struggle for human liberation.
Vote “No” on Prop. 8! Marriage rights for all! Long live Stonewall!
