 My pal Joe Sudbay has written a thoughtful and spot-on piece about the sad reality that many in the progressive straight community, particularly those who are lawyers, are defending this administration's decision to defend DOMA in a manner that is completely soulless, devoid of humanity and it's not all that surprising to me (check out this DKos post for a prime example).For some, the decision whether to defend or oppose DOMA is purely a legal exercise. For many of us, it's our lives. I'm sure, along the way, Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP were told to back off on their challenge to Topeka's segregation law. After all, that law had been unsuccessfully challenged already, and there was that very clear Supreme Court precedent on "separate, but equal." The law is the law. Who was this political activist Thurgood Marshall to suggest it should be overturned?
It's shocking how many people viewed yesterday's DOMA discussion through their own purely intellectual, legal lens. The condescending tone from some of the legal types, both straight and gay - all Democrat - was insulting, demeaning, and horribly out of touch (with their own humanity). Gay Americans lost rights last November in California. We had fundamental rights taken away by an election. Think about that. When was the last time that happened in this country? Lots of progressives run screaming from the issue of race, for instance, running for cover out of fear of appearing racist; why should we be shocked that the LGBT community is getting a taste of the "just wait and be patient" dismissiveness as we watch progressives put the "lalalalala" fingers in the ears because they don't want to discuss the filthy, degrading arguments in the brief. They aren't about to go there, because there is no defense, and of course THEY AREN'T HOMOPHOBES, right?
This is really about heterosexual privilege, coming from people who have full civil rights; isn't it nice from that vantage point to smugly tell LGBTs who could lose their job for being LGBT or legally marry in one state and lose all of those rights when you cross a state line that they have to wait -- and be quiet lest they ruin ___ (health care, the environment, economic recovery...fill in the blank). Joe: Yesterday, a Democratic President of the United States of America, in the year 2009, and an African-American child of inter-racial parents no less, gave his lawyers the go ahead to compare our marriages to incest on the same day that 42 years ago the Supreme Court ruled in his parents' favor in Loving v. Virginia. And these people, along with our President, are suggesting that the appropriate response is to shrug our shoulders and go home, since, after all, the law is the law?
So, yes, I am advocating that we push the envelope and demand new and creative thinking on legal issues, on our civil and human rights. That's how change happens (there's that pesky word again). That's what we expect from our President who promised change, who promised to be a "fierce advocate" for our rights. Yesterday's homophobic brief would have met the expectations we had from George Bush (or Jerry Falwell). From President Barack Obama, it was an appalling betrayal of our humanity, and his own.
I'm sick of being separate, but equal. And it's now clear that many of you agree. There are pathetic excuses flying about like "oh, President Obama couldn't have had any idea about what was in this brief." Um, that doesn't pass the smell test. They all knew multiple DOMA challenges were heading their way. Remember -- "they have a plan," right? Didn't I hear that somewhere? Oh, never mind.
Journalist Karen Ocamb asked Jon Davidson, Legal Director at Lambda Legal to comment on the brief and the choices the Obama DOJ had -- and decided to follow through with on this civil rights issue. Whether or not the administration felt a need to defend, there are many ways one can defend. The administration could have rested on the first two arguments raised in their papers (jurisdiction and standing) that these plaintiffs were not entitled to sue without arguing at this point that DOMA is constitutional. Doing that would not have waived those arguments. What they need to be asked is why they gratuitously went out of their way to make the outrageous arguments they unnecessarily included such as that DOMA does not discriminate based on sexual orientation or that the right at issue is not marriage but an unestablished right to "same-sex marriage" or that DOMA is somehow justified in order to protect taxpayers who don't want their tax dollars used to support lesbian and gay couples (while it's apparently fine to make lesbians and gay men pay the same taxes but be denied the benefits provided heterosexual couples). Their public statements about the filing try to sidestep these points. They absolutely knew they did not need to make these additional arguments, especially at this time and consciously decided to do so. I am seething mad. When will our progressive "friends" address this? We're waiting.
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This reminds me of the charge levied against LGBTs by the black community -- that LGBTs don't care about social justice issues in the black community, then come around, not only asking for support on LGBT issues but also being chastised for the homophobia in the black church as if 1) all blacks are religious and 2) they are all homophobic. White privilege, like straight privilege, is a terrible blind spot that continues to exist because no one likes to talk about it (or are able to discuss it rationally). Progressives want LGBTs to be on board and promote their pet issues (and largely, we do), but when it comes down to the tough stuff on our issues -- and we need all the allies we can get -- they have a million excuses why it's not time, we don't have it bad enough, move along.
Soul-searching and looking in the mirror are something we should all do once in a while.
Related:
* What kind of leadership do we need?
* The godd*mn DOMA-loving Obama DOJ mess
* Video rewind: Obama asking for our support on the campaign trail
* The Obama admin defends DOMA in a brief comparing marriage equality to incest
* Watch one progressive bus run over Rachel Maddow and the LGBT community |
