Dept. of Unpalatable Truths

Let us be frank about something. It is no longer politically tenable to oppose full equality for black people. Or women. Or Jews. Or Catholics.

Illegal immigrants? Yeah, you can still get some mileage out of publicly hating them. Various members of the right-wing shrieking class have decided Muslims are fair game. So, while groups it is still publicly acceptable to discriminate against are thin on the ground, gays and lesbians at least have a little bit of company.

However, no matter what company we have, this is pretty miserable:

The New York State Senate decisively rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have allowed gay couples to wed, providing a major victory for those who oppose same-sex marriage and underscoring the deep and passionate divisions surrounding the issue.

The 38-to-24 vote startled proponents of the bill and signaled that political momentum, at least right now, had shifted against same-sex marriage, even in heavily Democratic New York. It followed more than a year of lobbying by gay rights organizations, who steered close to $1 million into New York legislative races to boost support for the measure.

With the rapid-fire demise of marriage equality in New Jersey and now New York, it's pretty clear that it is an idea whose time hasn't yet come. Or, at least, seeking equality through the political process is DOA. While I will commend the courage of lawmakers here in Maine as often as I have an excuse to do so, I think it's pretty plain that such courage is going to be mighty hard to come by.

Where do we go from here? Do we consider civil unions as an acceptable compromise or temporizing measure? Do we pursue a judicial approach? I think right now we need to regroup and reconsider.

I have received a cease and desist order from the horse's next of kin demanding that I stop beating it, so I will refer you to the full article to see how the Republican Party and the Catholic Church come off. The only other thing I think is worth noting is this:

[G]ay rights groups... have become major financial players in state politics, [and] wanted to know which senators they should back in the future and which ones to target for defeat.

Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s largest gay rights group, hinted that senators who voted against the bill on Wednesday could face repercussions. And Christine C. Quinn, the New York City Council speaker, echoed that sentiment, saying, “Anybody who thinks that by casting a no vote they’re putting this issue to bed, they’re making a massive miscalculation.”

If Democratic lawmakers thought they could vote against marriage equality while still counting on the support of gay and lesbian backers, I can only hope that they come in for a very rude awakening. It is long past time for our issues to be taken seriously, and the assumption that we will forgive, forget and fork over the dough should be taken behind the barn and shot.