In 1968, U Street in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., was on fire and a focal point of racial tension. Forty years later it was a scene of a racially diverse celebration of Barack Obama's election as president of the United States of America.
I even walked the streets amid the celebration with members of a delegation from Sweden who came to witness our historic election. They were as excited as I was, though I failed to see the tears in their eyes that streamed down my face.
But what does this excitement mean for our country? Will it translate into anything for the LGBT community? After all, Barack Obama is the first president-elect to mention gays in his victory speech. On the heels of major defeats on ballot initiatives in Arkansas, Florida, Arizona, and most disappointing, California, the preceding question is of even more importance than we could have previously imagined.
While the ballot initiatives provide us with a heartbreaking setback, there are a few positive developments for our community in this election. In New York State, Democrats won a majority in the state senate, where the previous Republican majority refused to take up the marriage bill shepherded through the lower chamber by Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell. Conventional wisdom is that marriage will now be achieved through legislative action and signed by equality-minded governor David Paterson.
In Connecticut, following the mostly unexpected state supreme court decision granting civil marriage equality, we were faced with the quixotic possibility of a constitutional convention. Every 20 years voters in the Constitution State can be asked whether to call a convention to consider changes to its constitution. While this is rarely even considered, this year opponents of marriage equality launched a last-minute push to attempt to make this vote a referendum on the expansion of marriage rights to same-sex couples. The voters of Connecticut overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional convention, leaving no chance to overturn the supreme court decision.
Democrats also increased their majorities in the U.S. Congress. Though the House had passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (a noninclusive version, lacking coverage for gender identity) and an inclusive hate-crimes law, they were both held up in the Senate. The expanded majority should make it much easier for our advocacy organizations to finally pass the first major piece of legislation that would begin the long-awaited process of achieving civil equality.
Making legislative achievements at the federal level is crucial. Once progress is made, it will be easier to achieve more victories legislatively. Our elected officials suffer from a fear of all things gay, largely as a result of our opponents' efforts. After they realize that the bogeyman of politics won’t come after them for acting in the spirit and best traditions of our nation, we will be able to count on them for further support.
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