Writer Dan Aiello, in The Bay Area Reporter last week, published an interview with No-on-8 campaign manager Steve Smith. Smith had much to say about what went wrong and what went right with the campaign. One thing, worth noting given the current situation in Sacramento, is Smith’s assessment of what has happened since Election Day.
From The Bay Area Reporter:
“The trend is so far in our favor,” he said. “Whether the court overturns it in three months or the voters overturn it in two years, I guarantee you we will look back on this” as only a temporary setback.
Smith asked everyone to get the message out to the community not to act out. “It’s hard not to act out, but I’m telling you, don’t act out. The spray paint on the Mormon Church, that hurts us. Any violence, that hurts us.”Smith, who is straight, encouraged the LGBT community not to despair.
“Things are trending our way. Even [the Yes on 8 folks] think it’s going that way, and they’re scared.”
Smith said that the No on 8 resources, including a list of thousands of donors, “including a lot of straight money,” an incredible network and the religious and other allies gained over the course of the campaign will be instrumental in any future battles.
The California Supreme Court is poised to make a landmark decision that could go our way, or it could favor those opposed to full equality for all California citizens. A half dozen lawsuits have been filed by gay legal groups, multi-ethnic civil rights groups and multi-denomination religious organizations in opposition to Proposition 8.
The Yes-on-8 side have filed their own lawsuits, and again brought in, to no one’s surprise, their out of state radical religious right legal goon squads. To top it off, they’re threatening a recall of any judge who opposes Prop 8. This situation is all the more more ironic, because six of the seven members of the Supreme Court are Republicans.
In an article in today’s Los Angeles Times, Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen, describes the current situation as “a time of lots of crocodiles in the bathtub.” He continues, “Their oath requires them to ignore these kinds of political threats. But the threat of having to face a contested election is a significant one.”
The crocodile metaphor comes from the late California Supreme Court Justice Otto Kaus, a Democrat who served on the court with Chief Justice Rose Bird. Bird and two other justices were removed from the Court for their opposition to the death penalty. The effect on the remaining judges was chilling. While it was their duty to impartially make decisions, the spectre of a recall was always in the back of their minds.
According to Otto Kaus, “It was like finding a crocodile in your bathtub when you go to shave in the morning. You know it’s there, and you try not to think about it, but it’s hard to think about much else while you’re shaving.”
Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle published a call for civility.
From The San Francisco Chronicle:
Despite the Nov. 4 vote, the decision to ban same-sex marriage is not in the best interests of our society and the future of our state. A highly charged court challenge is headed for a clarifying ruling by the state Supreme Court.
[ … ]
This outcome shouldn’t stand. At the same time, those who oppose the ban should draw the line at excesses: curse-filled picket lines at churches, racial-tinged confrontations and personalized boycotts aimed at opponents of same-sex marriage. These actions deny civil rights, invite violence, and ignore the options that may restore same-sex unions. These tactics shouldn’t be tolerated, or allowed to become diversions from the central cause of restoring same-sex unions.
A more effective approach is a concerted legal push now embarked upon. Attorney General Jerry Brown asked the high court on Monday to rule on Prop. 8’s constitutionality. His request, backed by other state political leaders including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, speeds up the process. It also goes to exactly the same panel that struck down state laws against same-sex marriage in May.
[ … ]
The focus has now shifted to the high court, which should review its ruling from earlier this year. In that decision, the court found that guarantees of personal privacy and autonomy protect “the right of an individual to establish a legally recognized family with the person of one’s choice.”
It was the right decision then, and it remains the right one now.
Don’t take these points as an indication of some mellowing on my part. I’ve definitely not experienced some Road to Damascus encounter with a chatty, flaming bush that has changed my mind about the righteousness of our cause. I say keep the fires of outrage and anger burning, but for the moment, it’s in our collective best interest to temper our anger, watch what we do and say, and remain aware that our words and actions may come back to haunt us.
The Yes-on-8 crowd and their big bucks financiers continue to bleat that it’s over and the people of California have spoken. I disagree. We, the people, are clearly still speaking, but we need to keep a tight rein on what we say and how we say it.
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