Chickens, humans, joy and disappointment


Thoughts on the election

On Tuesday night November 4th I went to bed feeling pretty ecstatic that America voted for hope and change, not hate and fear. But I also went to bed unsure of how the California propositions were going to come out. I was in NYC and had to get up early for a conference, so couldn't stay up to watch the returns. I felt emotionally invested in and therefore incredibly nervous and full of dread about three propositions:

-Prop 2 re: mandating some small improvements to the brief and tortured lives of some (and only some) factory farmed animals

-Prop 4 re: sneakily trying for the third time in nearly just that many years to chip away at a woman's right to choose by pretending it was about protecting teens form pedophiles

-Prop 8 re: incomprehensibly writing discrimination into our state constitution, all to prevent two people who love each other from getting the equal rights and responsibilities that come from the civil contract of marriage

When I awoke i found out that I could breathe a sigh of relief about the first two, but that Prop 8 was winning, that discrimination was winning, that disenfranchisement and unfairness was winning, that bigotry was winning.

And I must confess it has completely dampened my excitement over this election and the election of Barack Obama. I know other states voted in gay marriage bans; I know Arkansas actually voted to prevent unmarried couples from adopting or being foster parents (because being a ward of the state is sooo much better) but I expected more from my own state. I expected this blue state to be progressive across the board. I was deeply deeply disappointed...and it continues to be disappointing, and to mute my joy about how the election otherwise went.

One of the most painful parts was to see the media and some of my own gay friends state that "Californians care more about chickens than humans", because Prop 2 passed so easily, while the campaign against Prop 8 failed.

Just as in the primary season, when discussions of sexism vs. racism tended to not be productive, I also don't see what Prop 2 and Prop 8 have to do with one another. And why is no one saying that "Californians care more about mass transit than humans" although Prop 1 also passed. Or that they care more about veterans or children or any number of other groups that saw Propositions pass in their favor. I know most of my friends did vote Yes on 2 and no on 8, and I know they know it wasn't those tortured creatures that let them down: It was people. People we must work hard to move towards demonstrating humane behavior towards animals and humans both.

But what are the lessons to be learned? Why did the vote go that way...why indeed did more people vote to slightly improve the living conditions of some factory farmed food animals than to allow gay couples to officially wed?

I think there is one big reason: The Prop 2 supporters showed us who was being hurt and made sure we knew we had the power to stop it, while the Prop 8 opponents danced around it and gave us no opportunity to feel empathy and to be galvanized to action on behalf of people we didn't even know.

Now, one of my issues with the Prop 2 campaign was that it actually won't do much for most animals. It actually gave we the voters a false impression of how much we were really stopping. They showed us those infamous clips of downed cows being forklifted, for example, without bothering to say that Prop 2 wouldn't help those cows at all. A bit disingenuous, but effective.

Prop 2's proponents showed us who we could help by passing that Proposition, and motivated us to do so. And they showed us pain to get outraged about.

Meanwhile the ads opposing Proposition 8 were sterile, reactive, and tried to guilt people into voting against it, instead of inspiring people to do so. Where were the shots of people that look just like you and me...all races, all shapes and sizes...who are gay and who would be directly hurt and affected by this Proposition? Show us some happy families. Hell, show us some beautiful wedding shots of joyful, clearly in love couples. I've had people tell me NO, showing wedding shots would be going too far, but I just don't think I agree. Talk about marriage as something that comes with rights that fairness dictates all couples should have, sure, but also talk about it as a rite, as a meaningful ceremony. Show us that everyone takes it that seriously and feels that deeply about it.

That's my theory...and I'm curious what you all think.

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Some other links of note:

Mark Hawthorne in the American Chronicle: Gay Rights or Animal Rights? It's Not One or the Other

Abusing animals is always wrong, just as discriminating against humans is always wrong. Why should one oppressed group express their anger by targeting another oppressed group? (I don´t believe there are any beings on this planet more oppressed than farmed animals, who are bred, raised, confined, mutilated and slaughtered at a rate of 55 billion per year worldwide.)

We might also consider the direct connection between the oppression of human beings and the oppression of non-human animals, whether it´s how the domestication of animals heralded the human slave trade, or the relationship between the exploitation of animals and the exploitation of women.

Keith Olbermann's wonderful Special Comment on Prop 8

My favorite part? Simply his repeated question: "What is it to you?"

Because seriously, it is very very hard to understand, especially when it's utter BS to say that marriage has always been between a man and a woman...I mean polygamy is as biblical as it gets!

I don't have a grand conclusion for this post. I don't know what to do next or where it will go. I don't think we win rights for gay marriage by attacking African-Americans or by pretending (as the ad campaign tried to) that this isn't about our feelings about marriage. It is about those feelings...and how strongly everyone in our society yearns to have that opportunity and that right.

I hope it somehow gets overturned, but more than that I hope people learn to respect and appreciate love, and not stand in its way.

In time this will happen...the younger generations in this country will see to it. Why wait when so much is at stake for so many?

Posted: Sun - November 16, 2008 at 08:45 PM       EmailFeedback

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