Wednesday 5 November 2008

Obama Victory Softens Gay Rights Blow

Truly an historic day. Barack Obama has been elected the new President of the United States of America in a sweeping victory for the Democrats, the Democratic candidate receiving 349 electoral college votes, to the Republican candidates 162 electoral college votes.

Amid the excitement in Chicago, the BBC reports that one reveler exclaimed, "It means all races and creeds can live together," while another woman said that this victory meant that anyone, whatever their background, could make it.

The civil rights campaigner the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the man who once described Obama as "Not black enough," among countless others celebrate the election of the first African American President of the USA as a victory for the civil rights movement, and the American people in general. This historic victory is seen as marking the end of discrimination, and the beginning of a new era of American history.

However, a few hundred miles away in California, the news came that Californian voters had chosen to ban same-sex marriage with a 52% majority in favour of proposition 8, just months after it was legalised by the state's supreme court. State attourney General Jerry Brown has said that the thousands of same-sex marriages carried out in the state since May would remain valid, but no further same-sex marriages could take place.

Florida also moved to ban same sex marriage with a 62% majority, and Arizona with 56%. And so, while the rest of the country celebrates a victory for minority ethnic groups, the gay rights movement (representative of around 10% of the population of any country) has suffered a severe blow.

While GLBT campaigners vow to fight the measures, this has been seen as a bitter-sweet victory by many liberal Americans. While the nation celebrates the equality of all people regardless of colour and creed, it appears that sexuality has been forgotten.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely disgusting! The world is celebrating the fact that an african american can become the president of the USA and the blanket news coverage given to the first black president elect has meant that i haven't seen a single news report on prop 8 or the same sex union ban. Apparently we are equal regardless of the colour of our skin but not our sexuality. Sickening!

Anonymous said...

wow. That is quite sad. I hope that this truly will change America, take a note from the U.K.

Anonymous said...

a sad day for equal and civil rights when people celebrate the victory and rights of one minority over and at the expense of another minority. excellent post butt muncha