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Is there a more polarizing issue in the United States than gay marriage? On the same day the San Diego City Council unanimously approved renaming Blaine Avenue as Harvey Milk Street in honor of the first openly gay elected official in California, the good citizens of North Carolina passed Amendment One, which asserts “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”
San Diegans should be proud of the city council’s decision. We’re taking steps to honor the legacy of civil rights activists such as Harvey Milk, who championed equality for all people, regardless of sexual preference. I read the news on our city’s small victory in the fight against bigotry, and I was proud to call this city my home. The new street name will be unveiled in a ceremony on May 22, Milk’s birthday.
Unfortunately, shortly after smiling about the local news, I heard about the decision made in North Carolina and felt differently. I felt something I’m sad to say I’ve been feeling more consistently the last few years: I felt ashamed to be an American. I’m ashamed our country hasn’t taken the moral high ground on issues related to discrimination. I’ve been ashamed of California for failing to set an example other states can follow when it comes to equal rights for all citizens. The fact that the legal status of gay marriage in California is in a state of limbo, pending appeals in court, is shameful.
North Carolina doesn’t share California’s reticence when it comes to taking a stand on the issue of gay marriage. This week, North Carolina stepped up to the ballot box and joined the ranks of the 28 states with constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.
There are two major issues here. First, there’s the obvious human rights problem that arises when the majority rises up en masse to squash the rights of a minority group. Second, one has to wonder why a state like North Carolina, which has the fifth highest unemployment rate in the U.S., is devoting so much time, energy and money to solving a problem that doesn’t need to be solved. Don’t legislators in North Carolina care about the actual problems in their state?
While I feel strongly about the necessity of equal rights for people of all sexual preferences, when I see this type of legislation in the news, the first thing I find myself wondering is why our elected officials aren’t working on solving more urgent problems. In the time it took to push Amendment One, legislators and lobbyists could have been working on the state economy by promoting education or providing health care. Instead, they chose to spend their limited time and resources actively discriminating against gay people and pandering to the lowest common denominator of the voting base.
There was a time when elected officials inspired their constituencies to social change. Leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Milk would stand in the face of the crowd and speak up for what was right, and not what was necessarily popular. The political game needs to alter its tune in order to bring about positive social change in this nation.
Real patriotism occurs when individuals start to think outside of their own individual prejudices in order to embrace that which is good for the nation. JFK knew this. Milk knew this. North Carolina apparently doesn’t, and unfortunately California hasn’t demonstrated an understanding of this principle in a meaningful way since Proposition 8.
Next time you’re driving through Hillcrest, when you pass Harvey Milk Street, take a moment to reflect on what it means to be a San Diegan. Think about what it means to be a member of a community, as opposed to an isolated citizen.
I’m confident future generations will look at this type of legislation with the same mixture of terror and fascination that we look at laws forbidding interracial marriage. My hope is that time will reveal North Carolina’s place on the wrong side of history, and that the disgusting bigotry against the Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transsexual community will die with the generation that approved Amendment One and Proposition 8.
— Kenneth Leonard is an English junior.
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While I agree that the vote in NC was appalling and sickening, especially since that is my home state, I think that your article is too simplistic in discussing North Carolina politics. Just because this was one of the issues that reached widespread news does not mean that North Carolina legislators are not concerned with unemployment in the state, especially as a state that so heavily relies on manufacturing to employ its citizens. It may also behoove you to research what exactly this legislation did, other than reporting various headlines from a simple Google search. I am in absolute agreement that it is an attack on human rights, but it goes beyond the rights of LGBTQ individuals and families. It also denies the recognition of civil unions and domestic partnerships of straight couples, which infringes upon the rights, health care, and safety of the poor in the state. Gay marriage was already illegal in North Carolina; this amendment wrote it into the state constitution, which will make it more difficult for an amendment to the state constitution to pass. Already grassroots movements against Amendment One are on the move to bring this to higher courts and actively work against this measure.
Further, your article erases the work of grassroots movements on the ground in North Carolina who were working to advocate against this amendment. Among them are the Human Rights Campaign-NC, the Coalition to Protect NC Families, Equality NC, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP, several conservative church organizations that were condemning this amendment, and the governor of North Carolina. One of the most disappointing things about this vote, other than the outcome, was the 34% voter turnout. Before you turn North Carolina into a monolith, check your facts and don’t just write a reactionary article that places San Diego on a moral high ground. Homophobia is everywhere, and naming a street in Hillcrest does not mean that LGBTQ San Diegans feel safe in all parts of the city. It does not mean that our straight citizens are suddenly advocates and allies on behalf of gay rights.
I lived in Fayetteville, NC, for three years. I am familiar with North Carolina. My intent wasn’t to suggest that San Diego was somehow a more moralistic place than North Carolina. The intent of the article was to draw attention to the different ways in which communities respond to LGBT issues. If you felt like I was slamming the whole state of North Carolina, I’m sorry. I did intend to slam the decision that was made by the voters regarding Amendment One, and unfortunately the voter turnout does imply a certain discriminatory culture in NC that is troubling. My article does not erase or otherwise diminish the work of grass-roots activists. What it does is draw attention to the result of a vote, and that’s all. I admire the work that was done in opposition to Amendment One. I understand how hard that must have been in some parts of NC.
Incidentally, it is the job of opinion writers to generate reactionary articles. Reacting is what we are supposed to do. I appreciate your feedback and criticism, and I hope you continue reading.