Bad News, Good News
Well, as you know, California ruled that Proposition 8 stands. No more marriage for same sex couples—except the 18,000 wed prior to Prop 8’s passage. That’s 36,000 out of the total 26.3 million adults (2004 figures) legally married in the state, but still barred from 1,100-plus federal rights granted to other wedded citizens. Of course, that last holds in any of the other five states allowing same-sex marriage—but how odd.
Scenario: Two gay friends are badly injured in a BART rail accident, and taken to an ER. Alerted, their spouses rush to the hospital. One (of the 36,000) is allowed to his husband’s bedside. The other (whose nuptials had been planned for November 9, 2008) is told, “Sorry, you can’t go in. You’re not a relative.”
The poet Yeats’s famous line—“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold”—perfectly describes the socioreligious schizophrenia embodied in the recent ruling. And no, I do not believe its contradictions can hold.
SF Gate columnist Mark Morford wrote on May 27, “Sorry, enemies of gay marriage. Prop 8 or no, you’ve already lost….Gay marriage is a foregone conclusion. It’s a done deal. It’s just a matter of time. For the next generation in particular, equal rights for gays is not even a question or a serious issue It’s just obvious, inevitable, a given.
“The pattern is as old as fear itself,” Morford continues. “Remember, only rarely does true progress appear as a single, momentous, Obama-like shift that reverberates across the planet, and changes everything in an instant. Most frequently, it comes in fits and starts and hiccups, small lurches and hard-fought battles shot through with little spitballs of hate and intolerance and heaps of misunderstanding. You know, just like now.”
The Good News is that for your convenience, Lavender is adding a digital edition to its Web site. It will be an online magazine with virtual pages that can be turned with a click of the mouse.
As you flip through an issue, you will enjoy a sleek, digital replica of the print edition, enlarging areas of interest, or clicking on ads to access their sites for further information.
You can navigate through the pages with our user-friendly toolbar; e-mail an article to a friend; or plan your next outing.
When will all this be available? Right now, with our current Pride Edition. Enjoy!
And the Bad? Be proud of the strides we’ve made this year. Be proud of what we will accomplish in the future, working together. Enjoy!
