A college psychology professor's observations about public policy, mental health, sexual identity, and religious issues
UPDATE: Prop 8 was overturned. Read more here (WSJ) and here (LA Times).
However one feels about it, the decision will be a big news event and an indicator of how constitutional amendments nationwide will fare under challenge.
This is going to the Supremes no matter what and that will be when the lady with girth sings.
I will update the post when the decision is handed down.
CNN has a brief explanation of what happens next.
I didn’t write about Proposition 8 in CA during the election season, primarily because I had become preoccupied with the general election and the historic campaign. However, as all know, Proposition 8 in CA passed and has set off a firestorm of reaction. Protests this past weekend were widespread nationally (see this link for more than most people will want to read).
However, I want to post this video because I hope it serves as a caution to those on both sides of the gay rights issue. I am saddened by the treatment of the Christian believers who apparently were not there to celebrate the passage of Proposition 8, but as a resumption of an outreach. I also believe that the anger and ugliness reveals the rejection that many gays feel from the Prop 8 defeat. I hope leaders of both sides will step up and call for calm and cooling off.
Rejecting violence while experiencing empathy for the angry is not likely to be a popular position. I watch this video and I wonder, how can we live together? How can such divergent value positions co-exist in a society that often changes by degrees and not by fiat? Mostly, as I watched the impromptu march, I just felt sad and long for a better resolution.
Update: Some reactions to this from both sides of the spectrum. Pam’s House Blend says, “This kind of activism isn’t helping” and this blog offers more from the perspective of the group of Christians chased out of the Castro.
GayPatriot has some good advice for activists…