Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyDecember 1st, 2009
Over the summer, our community advocated for a marriage vote in New York and New Jersey.
In New York the House passed marriage equality, but the Senate imploded resulting in months of confusion and a constantly changing power play for control. Now, in special session, there may possibly be some movement on the bill, though there is no certainty of its passage.
In New Jersey, however, we have always known that the votes were there for passing marriage equality. But over the summer, with elections coming up, we were asked for patience. Our community was promised that if we would wait until after the election, the legislature would enact marriage equality during the lame duck session regardless of the election outcome.
Now some are talking of reneging on this promise. They blame Maine.
But I wonder if they have the blame backwards. Would the vote in Maine have gone another way if New York and New Jersey had moved ahead by enacting equality? Would the tone of the discussion have shifted? Would Mainers really have wanted to see themselves as less tolerant than their neighbors in New York or New Jersey? It is one thing to be a bit more conservative than Massachusetts, but Jersey?
Yet there is still hope. Some Democrats in the state are not at all pleased by what they see as promise breaking and spineless weaseling. So a collection of prominent Democrats have signed a letter calling for a vote.
An Open Letter Calling on Democratic Legislators to Post Marriage Equality Legislation for a Vote
We believe that equality and fairness are fundamental principles of New Jersey’s Democratic Party, and that is why we call on the state legislature to vote immediately on, and pass, the marriage equality bill.
New Jersey has a proud history of supporting civil rights. It was this legacy that encouraged many of us to become involved in politics. We believe that allowing committed gay and lesbian couples to marry is, at its core, about treating our family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors with dignity and respect.
We appreciate that this is a difficult issue for some state legislators. But marriage equality is an idea whose time has come. We are confident that the voters will stand by those elected officials who do the right thing.
When our children and grandchildren look back on this moment, we want to be able to tell them that we, too, did the right thing.
As Martin Luther King poignantly reminded us, “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” That is why we’re proud to lend our names and our voices to this important cause. We do so in our capacity as private citizens and Democratic voters, and not on behalf of any particular office or organization.
This effort is important – and will perhaps be effective – because it appears to be a grass-roots effort to rally the support of elected officials. If this is, as it seems, the effort of grass-roots workers and endorsed by power brokers, including congresspersons and mayors, then it could be foolish to ignore. It is very difficult to win elections without the support of either motivated activists or powerful party machines.
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