Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Arizona stands alone

Permit me a moment, in a hubbub of American election analysis, to draw your attention to the voters of Arizona, who stood against the tide, and rejected a ballot proposition to ban same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, it looks like the other seven states where this proposal was on the ballot have opted for the politics of exclusion - most notably in Tennessee, with 80% support for this measure.

I was hoping for something better out of Wisconsin, Colorado, or Virginia. But it's not to be, as a majority of American states have now passed this sort of measure.

Thank-you, Arizonans!

Labels: , , ,

Recommend this Post

3 Comments:

At 8:37 am, Blogger Jacques Beau Vert said...

I am glad you pointed this out, because I missed it. Very interesting - I'm somewhat surprised.

 
At 5:55 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not so surprising when you take into account the fact that the proposed amendment would negate and deny legal standing etc. to co-habiting heterosexuals. This was going to punch a lot of seniors 'shacked up' together.

That's what wasn't sold to the other states. Any amendment that recognizes nothing /but/ so called 'traditional' marriage affects more than the desperate gay pairs out there. Sneaky of the evangelicals, targeting everyone 'sinning' like that while frantically waving hands and yelling "look, a gay condor!"

It's just more of the old "when they came for me, there was no one left to speak" chipping away at rights.

 
At 3:11 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was excited about this at first too, but after reading this analysis in Slate, I tend to agree with niles. Arizona voters probably rejected the amendment because the opponents of the amendment cleverly focused on the overly broad wording and negative effects for straight, common-law couples rather than civil rights for gay couples. If a more tightly-worded amendment were put forth, I suspect it would pass. Unfortunately.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home