Calhoun's Cannons for June 27, 2013
Well, there's no mistake, now. The Supreme Court, that ideologically muddled
hot mess, has made it vaguely clear, sort of, that when it comes to marriage, gay
people are finally semi-full citizens, maybe.
At least in California and
several other states, they can get married, just like regular folk. And with the fall of DOMA, that politically
motivated piece of cynical, shameful expediency, federal laws will now treat
them like their married straight brethren.
But being full citizens will have to wait until the Supreme
Court finds the courage to apply the motto above its front door --equal justice
under law --and/or Congress stops dicking around and passes ENDA, among other laws that will at
least give gay folks some federal civil protections in the workplace. Without those measures, full civil rights for
gay people will have to wait until the Court weighs in again and again on more
un-civil state laws, a grindingly slow legal version of Chinese water torture
that eventually ensures that the arc of history bends to equal justice under
law.
But even quasi-equality is bringing with it delicious
muddlement -- How to sort out the practical, day to day changes needed to
ensure equality of marriage. And if the
devil is always in the details, it's the details themselves -- all those little
things one never thinks of -- that offer a fascinating glimpse into just how
many and how far-reaching are the presumptions, assumptions, accommodations and
benefits behind the word "married."
And just how much of their "civil rights" straight married
people have taken for granted.
Meantime, the country finds itself once again divided into free
states, where gay citizens have full rights and
social acceptance, and decidedly un-free states, where gay citizens better head
for the state line before the sun goes down. It's all a creepy rerun of the
civil rights battles of the 1960's.
Which is both hopeful and dispiriting, because once again we have to
face the same slow social slog to a more perfect union, with no guarantee that
real parity will ever be achieved.
Bigotry has deep, deep roots and religion-fueled bigotry goes deeper
still. So, we will have to wait generations for most of the poison to abate.
But, in California,
at least, gay folks can once again head for the altar. Yes, yes, I know, this is proof positive that
the state is surely doomed and damned. But
California has always been
sliding into the sinful sea, a condition that's been its original fatal
attraction to so many straight arrow Baptists from Butte
heading west for the street of broken dreams or maybe a movie contract.
So, bring money, boys and boys and girls and girls and boys
and girls. The wedding industry is gearing up for a blow-out, and the state's
economic recovery needs a shot in the arm, complete with balloons, confetti and
rice. Mazel tov!
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