Why I Still Hope

(Proudly cross-posted at OC Progressive)

Right after the last election, I was devastated. I thought we had won, but instead I lost my fundamental rights and felt like garbage. I didn't know what do to next.

So what did this po' lil' queer kid do to start recovering what H8 stole away? I joined the impact. I put love into action. I didn't let homophobes like Rick Warren take my hope away. I looked back, then started thinking ahead. And lately, I've been waiting for our day of justice.

So what now? It's time to move on. It's time to start kicking some radical right ass and secure equality for all once and for all!

As we've talked about before, there's no way to really know how the California Supreme Court will rule in the Prop H8 lawsuits. They may issue a verdict we don't like, or they may issue a verdict that immediately reinstates marriage equality in the nation's most populous state. But either way, we must prepare for something else historic. We must prepare for the campaign afterward to secure our civil rights.

No matter what the court decides, we will likely see reaction to the ruling lead to action at the ballot box. Either the radical right will further try to erode LGBT rights and/or we will work for an initiative to secure marriage equality in California for good. So in order to prepare for the inevitable continuing campaign, we must ensure we build the strongest campaign possible. And no, I don't just mean raising money or putting up media ads. While we do need both, the inept and failed No on H8 campaign proved that those weren't enough to win.

We must knock doors. We must make calls. We must talk to our neighbors. We must register voters. We must reach out in our community and build those personal connections necessary to make a real impact and change people's hearts and minds.

This is why I've been so impressed by Courage Campaign. They get it. They realize how important grassroots community action is, so they're willing to help build local networks statewide like the one I'm working on in my hometown, Orange County. Without them, I don't know how I'd be able to prepare for our upcoming community outreach walks in Irvine on April 4 and Dana Point on April 18. Without their help in finding other local activists to help me do all this organizing, I don't know how I could have done this all on my own.

So if you're in California, please consider joining Courage Campaign. Give of your time if you can. Give of your money if you can. If you care about our civil rights, just give what you can and join our movement for equality.

And if you're not in California, you can still help us out here. But more importantly, go find your local LGBT activist network and join them. We need to see progress in all 50 states to build our way up to a nationwide tipping point for equality.

We're so close. I'm so fired up. I still have my hope, and no court or fundie wingnut can take it away from me.

Day of Justice

Find more photos like this on Orange County Equality Coalition


Today is the day I've been waiting for quite some time. The California Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the lawsuits that will force the judges to decide whether it's OK to treat millions of people, people like me, as "second-class citizens" simply because of who we love. Can this possibly be allowed? I hope not, and I renew my vow today to work my hardest to ensure it's not allowed.

So what's at stake today? Here's an idea.



OK, so that's the human element... But what about the legality? It's not as "cut and dry" simple as the pro-H8 forces want us to believe. Believe it or not, the judges must ultimately decide on their own relevance. Does the court's interpretation of the constitution still matter?

What’s really at stake in the Prop 8 case – and what will probably be the real deciding factor in the California Supreme Court’s decision – is the power and prestige of the California Supreme Court itself.

Prop 8 aims to overturn the California Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in The Marriage Cases (2008), where the Court held that “the substantive right of two adults who share a loving relationship to join together to establish an officially recognized family of their own — and, if the couple chooses, to raise children within that family — constitutes a vitally important attribute of the fundamental interest in liberty and personal autonomy that the California Constitution secures to all persons for the benefit of both the individual and society,” and that “in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”

If this decision of the California Supreme Court, based on what it described as a “fundamental constitutional right,” can be overturned by a simple majority of voters in a ballot proposition, then the purportedly “fundamental” state constitution carries no more weight than a simple statute — and arguably even less weight, since a statute requires either the approval of a majority of the legislature and the signature of the governor or a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

And since appellate judges see themselves first and foremost as guardians of the constitution, if the constitution is diminished, then the judges are correspondingly diminished as well.

And this is what scares me the most about Prop H8 if it were left to stand! It could very well undo all of California's pioneering ventures to advance civil rights simply because any electoral majority can vote away any "protected" minority group's rights. It could very well reduce the value of our state's constitution to nothing more than scrap paper worth trashing. It could very well undermine the importance and the independence of the judiciary system by refusing to let them do the job they're supposed to do in interpreting the constitution!

This is what should scare all of us today, scare us all into action. Do we want the nation's most populous state reduced to ridicule? Do we want to see people's fundamental rights stripped because of certain churches' religious doctrines? Do we really want a "tyranny of the (bare) majority" where a 52% election win can render the entire judiciary meaningless?

This is what keeps me going. I just can't imagine this happening. And frankly, I don't want to.

LGBT families deserve better. All people who've had to endure unjust discrimination deserve better. And ultimately, all Californians deserve better. Hell, all Americans deserve better!

But as I've said before, this matter doesn't end once a decision is announced. If the court allows H8 to stand, we have no other choice but to go back to the ballot to win back our equal rights. But if the court does the right thing and overturns H8, we must be vigilant in defending them from the coming radical right attacks and ultimately stopping the radical right from playing any more political games with our lives.

After all, these people hurt by H8 deserve their day of justice.



Ultimately, we all need our day of justice. Let's hope we see it coming today.

My Birthday Wish

In case you didn't know, my birthday is tomorrow. Yay. When I was little, I'd always be excited about a day full of celebration, gifts, and sheer bliss. Now, I just notice myself getting older... And hopefully a little wiser with each passing year.

I guess one reason why I haven't been excited about my upcoming birthday is that I have far too much on my mind to be caught up in any self-celebration. I have personal and family issues to deal with. I have to think about how President Obama's economic recovery package will affect my family and how to take advantage of that. Oh yes, and there's that other issue... The issue of my own civil rights.

Yes, that's right. The oral arguments for the Prop H8 lawsuits are this Thursday, just two days after my birthday. Strange timing, isn't it? Can it be a good sign of what's to come? I hope so. But whatever happens in court, we need to be ready to keep working.

If the court upholds H8, we can't just walk away in sorrow. We must work our hardest to win back our civil rights. The vote last November was close, so all we need to do is gain 4% to literally reverse the results and win 52% for marriage equality in California. And with all the new enthusiasm building up in the LGBT rights movement, I know we can channel all this good energy into a winning campaign.

But of course, I'm personally hoping that the California Supreme Court pays attention to what our side's lawyers say and finds that Prop H8 truly is unfair, unconstitutional, and a dangerous precedent that could undo all the advances made in civil rights for LGBT people, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, disabled people, and women if allowed to stand. And while there isn't direct precedent in the court overturning this exact type of initiative, they have in the past overturned other "constitutional amendments" that they've found to be in direct contradiction of the state constitution's guarantee of equal rights for all. So really, we're not hopeless this week.

But again, we need to be prepared to keep going regardless of how the court decides. If the justices punt this issue back to the voters, we need to make our large minority for equal marriage rights into a real voting majority. If they decide to undo the damage of H8, we need to reassure people that this is the proper role of the judiciary, to ensure that our highest expression of the will of the people, the constitution, is being protected.

So please, if you can, support the good people working hard to protect our constitutional rights. If you're in California, support Courage Campaign and their brand new Equality Hub that's here to help us organize for equal rights, as well as groups like Equality California that are working hard in the courtroom, in the capitol, and on the streets to fight for our rights. And no matter where you are in the nation, please support groups like NCLR and ACLU that are in the courts and on the ground across the nation to defend and protect our constitutional rights.

Yeah, yeah, my birthday is tomorrow. If you'd like to help me celebrate my big day, please do so by supporting the cause of equality for all. And even if you don't give a damn about my birthday, please support the cause nonetheless because it's the right thing to do.

We can't allow any of our citizens to be treated as "second-class" simply because of who they are. No matter their race, gender (including gender identity), religion, or sexual orientation, all our citizens should be treated equally under the law. So please help us take a major step in this direction by making victory happen in California... And making my birthday extra happy this year. Thanks.