“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall … Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
By simply making that comparison, President Obama put LGBT equality front and center in his second term.
Seneca Falls was the birthplace of the women’s rights movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, among others, held the first Women’s Rights Conference in July of 1848. It was the beginning of equal rights for women, which unbelievably continues today. The conference also advocated for the right of women to vote.
Selma. What can I say? I am able to own and write this message because of the civil rights work that is largely associated with Selma. Selma was a turning point when “Bloody Sunday” happened on Sunday, March 7, 1965. That day African Americans were hosed down and dogs were used to attack peaceful demonstrators protesting for voting rights. Those images are among the most memorable from the African American civil rights movement and caused a fundamental change in American views of African American equality.
When President Obama made the comparison of Stonewall to Seneca Falls and Selma, he was for the first time in history acknowledging from the bully pulpit that the LGBT rights movement deserves its rightful place among other civil rights movements.
It may seem like such a small thing, but it is truly historic and Obama will become the Lincoln of LGBT civil rights. In 100 years, there will be a movie called “Obama,” which will chronicle all of the things that our president has done to advance LGBT equality.
What stands in our way when the president is extolling our equality? The political landscape. Republicans, and some Democrats, are performing political calculus based upon their districts. The calculation is how will support of LGBT equality affect my chances for re-election? If I am a congressperson in North Carolina versus one in Los Angeles, how I will vote for the potential repeal of the so called Defense of Marriage Act could be fundamentally different.
It is sad that LGBT civil rights are subject to the whims of ambition of congresspeople, but that is how our political system works. Paging the Log Cabin Republicans and Go Proud. Stat! Each organization claims they are working to change the Republican Party from within. Well, here is your chance to show the LGBT community that what you say is true.
President Obama, and thereby the Democratic Party, has made our equality of national importance. The true obstacle in our way seems to be the Republicans. So as you go to the polls in 2014, remember who is against your equality, rather they be Democrat or Republican. It has a great impact on your life.
STAMPP CORBIN
PUBLISHER
San Diego LGBT Weekly
