So. Maryland voters have decided to put their new gay-rights law on the 2002 ballot. First, this means that it won't take effect until January 2003, at best, and probably not at all. Second, it means that it will become a campaign issue in the governor's race, which means that Marylanders will have the lovely spectacle of seeing which Republican can gaybash with the best of 'em, and which Democrat can nimbly dance around the topic and avoid saying a single word that will alienate moderate to conservative Democrats. (And let's not forget the possibility that, if there be a conservative Democrat in the campaign, he may just try a little verbal bashing just to see how it flies. I expect it would fly very well.)
Supposedly, 60 percent of Maryland voters polled say that they support the law, but let's not kid ourselves; everyone lies about that sort of thing. Nobody wants to be seen as a bigot, or even slightly bigoted, so depending on how the question was phrased, they may have felt cornered into saying that they supported it when their real opinion may have been that they didn't know or didn't like it. A similar referendum defeating a gay rights law in Maine passed -- twice -- even though polling data showed 2-1 support for their law. It's not possible to tell how many people in Maryland are truly supportive. (And if anyone actually believes the polling data, it will certainly fall; for some reason, belief in actual support seems to compromise fundraising and turnout.)
The sophistication, sophistry, and bizarre alliances of the opposition are truly remarkable to see. I mean, Catholics, the Christian Coalition, Orthodox Jews and Muslims? I realize that they're working on that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" theory, but this is truly absurd. For the most part, the Christian Coalition would be happy to see laws saying "Muslims are evil and must be destroyed, or at least expelled," and I'm not sure they're much more lenient about Catholics and I'm certain that they're not about Jews. Yet we're so dangerous that clearly, animosity must be put aside for the greater good. (Well, if nothing else, we've found a way to bring Jews and Muslims together!)
It will be interesting -- in a "may you live in interesting times" sort of way -- to see what happens. I hope the law survives; if it does, maybe it would be a mark of some sort of progress. Maybe it would say that people at large (in Maryland, anyway) really do think that everyone should have the same rights to live their lives peacefully.
Copyright © 2001, Iain Jackson, after-words.org
[Archives: 2001 and after]
Archives before February 5, 2001
Search entries:
12/19/2001: vive la france
12/19/2001: princess, redux
12/19/2001: yemen and rumsfeld
12/18/2001: you're NOT in the army now
12/18/2001: interesting donation
12/18/2001: shame on winn dixie, indeed
12/18/2001: saudi princess
12/17/2001: new resolve
12/17/2001: a victim of the attack ... yeah, right
12/17/2001: polluters ho!