Few issues spark a right-wing firestorm
from bigots everywhere as much as the fight for same-sex marriage
rights, or any political motion towards guaranteeing equal treatment
under the law for same-sex couples.
In a surprise move, the Obama
administration announced on Feb. 23 that it will no longer oppose
legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act. This bigoted and
unconstitutional legislation, passed in 1996 under the Clinton
administration, established that states and the federal government
are not obliged to recognize marriage as anything but “a legal
union between one man and one woman.”
The flagrantly discriminatory DOMA,
which bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions
and passed easily with bipartisan support in Congress, was a slap in
the face to millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people
throughout the United States.
Currently, there are only five states
that have no statute or constitutional provision prohibiting same-sex
marriage. They are Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York
and Rhode Island.
While the ruling by the Obama
administration is an important step forward for LGBT rights, it falls
short of actually repealing or ending the discriminatory law. For
example, it would not force states to grant equal rights to LGBT
people. It is nevertheless a victory that will spark new and greater
militancy in the street-based fight for justice. It will also have a
positive impact on many struggles yet to come.
As could be expected, the announcement
provoked the usual loud, shrill and unrestrained chorus of hate and
intolerance from rightists around the country.
Reactionary bigot Newt Gingrich
immediately called for Obama’s impeachment. Sarah Palin described
the new policy as “appalling.” Right-wing zealots expressed shock
and horror at the new policy. For example, Kris Mineau of the
ultra-reactionary Massachusetts Family Institute declared, “It’s
a horrible situation when the president and the attorney general
refuse to carry out their constitutional duties.”
On the other side, marriage-rights
activists and supporters of full equality for LGBT people hailed the
new policy as yet another important step in the movement for same-sex
marriage rights and full LGBT equality.
Lamda Legal director Jon
Davidson called the new policy “a major turning point in the quest
for equality.” The American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender Project called the ruling “an historic
show of support for equal treatment under the law.”
Justice will be won in the street
through united action
Politicians—Democrats and
Republicans—lined up to speak out for or against the Obama
decision. But few, if any, acknowledged that this progressive ruling
and other gains in the LGBT struggle are the result of decades of
tenacious and militant struggle by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans
people and their supporters for an end to bigotry, violence and
discrimination.
The recent overturn of the
discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy that barred lesbians
and gay men from serving openly in the military, plus legislation now
pending in Hawaii to legalize same-sex marriages, as well as
increased support by the general population for equal marriage rights
are the result of broad and militant struggles over several decades,
a fight that will be won in the streets through united struggle, not
from inside the ruling circles of power in Washington.
