From Socialist Worker: http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/03/too-soon-for-equality
Much of the mainstream political establishment, including prominent Republicans, have come out in favor of marriage equality–but the New York Times still urges caution.
MILLIONS OF people are hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will advance the cause of equality and strike down California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act when it decides on two major cases this spring. They understand that momentum has shifted to our side when all manner of mainstream politicians, including Republicans, are suddenly rushing to say that they now support the right of same-sex couples to marry.
But not everyone is so eager for a victory. In a recent article, the liberal New York Times warned that a decision in favor of marriage equality might, in fact, harm the cause of LGBT rights–because it could ignite a “culture war.”
As proof, the Times article cites Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that guaranteed a woman’s right to abortion. According to the article, the Roe ruling hurt the effort to win abortion rights in the long run–because it happened too quickly, before society was ready for it, and thereby set off a backlash. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a supporter of the Roe v. Wade decision, nevertheless told the Times: “It’s not that the judgment was wrong, but it moved too far, too fast.”
Now, the Times warns, history could repeat itself with a too-hasty legalization of same-sex marriage.
It’s hard to think of a better illustration of how the timidity of liberalism in the Obama era leads to compromises and concessions, even on issues where our side is winning.
This “don’t go too fast” way of thinking not only dismisses the sea change in public consciousness around same-sex marriage and LGBT rights generally, but it ignores the history of how significant social change happens in the first place.
The most important rights and reforms–particularly the civil rights of oppressed groups–come not from bargaining in the courts or begging in the halls of Congress, but from struggles starting at the grassroots that transform the social climate and make it impossible for the courts or Congress to continue to uphold injustice.
Less than 10 years ago, same-sex marriage was seen as a “wedge issue” that the Religious Right could manipulate at will. Today, polls show a rapid transformation of public opinion, as a majority of the population has come to recognize that there is something fundamentally discriminatory about same-sex couples being barred from the more than 1,000 rights that married couples have.
Continue reading at: http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/03/too-soon-for-equality
