4.11.08

because a spade is a spade

A fellow named David Link writes to the LA Times:
I agree with so much of your editorial against Proposition 8. It is a shame you had to invoke bigotry in its final thought.

I have been working on securing legal rights for same-sex couples since 1985, and I served on the task force that led to Los Angeles becoming one of the first major cities in the world to recognize same-sex couples and offer them benefits, in 1988. Although I have seen my share of bigotry against lesbians and gay men, calling Proposition 8 supporters bigots insults many people who are struggling with this issue. Gay or straight, we all grew up with an understanding of marriage and civil society that did not include homosexuals or viewed them as sick, sinners or criminals.

It is only in the last 50 years that homosexuals have fought to take their rightful place in our communities as equal individuals. And it is only since the mid-1980s that we have begun to achieve legal recognition for our relationships.

The domestic partnerships that L.A. helped pioneer have helped a lot of people -- very possibly a majority -- understand that our relationships are as important to us and our children as the ones that we were raised in were to our parents. But 20 years is not a long time.
People of goodwill who are still wrestling with this are not bigots. This is the kind of intemperate language that makes it harder, not easier, for same-sex marriage to ultimately prevail.
But suppose we made a slight alteration to that second paragraph:

I have been working on securing legal rights for interracial couples since 1985, and I served on the task force that led to Los Angeles becoming one of the first major cities in the world to recognize interracial couples and offer them benefits, in 1988. Although I have seen my share of bigotry against blacks and other minorities, calling Proposition 8 supporters bigots insults many people who are struggling with this issue. White or black, we all grew up with an understanding of marriage and civil society that did not include blacks or viewed them as sick, sinners or criminals.


Of course it’s bigotry. While it may hurt people’s feelings to accuse them of being bigots, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re actively supporting discrimination, and the vast majority justify themselves using the Bible. But since going around saying “God hates fags,” a la Fred Phelphs, or with a milder “God loves fags but hates homosexual behaviour,” doesn’t exactly inspire the warm and fuzzies, Prop 8 supporters hide behind alleged risks to children and society. It may be that this bigotry is culturally ingrained and that many are, indeed, “people of goodwill” – but good is as good does; intentions are bricks for roads in hell. Much like the racists who kept black people down and worried about the end of civilization with black suffrage and full equality, these “people of goodwill,” intentionally or not, are acting like bigots in supporting discrimination. Maybe David Link is right that we should be nicer – but nice doesn’t see to get anywhere. There’s no call for being nasty, but please, let’s call a spade a space and a bigot a bigot.

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