Begging the Question

The repeal of Maine's Same Sex Marriage law yesterday is a none too subtle reminder of our place in the world. Being a second class citizen is disheartening at the very least and quite infuriating at best. The militant in me wants to go out into the streets for some good old fashioned head banging and barricade building. Bring Society to its Knees, being my rallying cry. But is that strategy really effective? Has any strategy been really effective? So far I feel that legislatively it has been a mixed bag. We have had our successes and our failures. Same for the courts. What has been a dismissal failure in my opinion is our track record in getting the general population to support our fight for equal rights through the ballot box.

Looking back I think of all of the different groups over the centuries who have fought for what they truly believed in. History is a great teacher for me in this. It is fascinating to look back to see how effective their fight was and what history has to say about it centuries later.

Generally, there have been many revolutions that were fought in the streets. Some succeeded in overthrowing the established order. Others did not. There have also been many groups that have overcome discrimination through civil discourse of one kind or another, while others have not.

So what is it that we are fighting or better yet who? Some would say religion, others the entrenched bigotry of society at large, still others, rampant homophobia. I feel it is all that and more. Basically, I feel we are considered a threat or have been branded so by society. But are we? No, not in the way they think. We are I feel a threat to society's entrenched denial of itself and the true reality of what "Family" really means. Of all of the those things within "Family" that go unspoken, suppressed, and generally swept under the carpet. Things like domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and the effects that addictions have on everyone concerned. All of the things that we know exist within the house of "Family Values". Basically, in our fight generally for equal rights and specifically for the right to marry, we have become the mirror that is reflecting the truth of "Family Values", their truth. And they don't like it!!

So how do we fight this. We can't. Not really. Denial runs very deep in our society and there is not much we can do about it. Oh there are some who speak the truth, me being one of them; but, generally we are a society in denial; about most everything. This wholesale denial is a slippery slope for us too because if we hold up the mirror for very long we will start seeing our reflections as well.

I for one will continue my quest to live my truth and to fight for what I believe in. But while I do I will not lose sight of what I feel is the reality of that fight.