History has been swirling all around us these past few
weeks. It’s been created, changed, and
dramatically altered all at once. In the
wake of a jarring decision by the Supreme Court Tuesday, which effectively
gutted America’s landmark and protective Voting Rights Act of 1965, we’re on
the eve of yet another string of historic and possibly life changing Supreme
Court decisions.
On Wednesday, June 20, 2013, the Supreme Court will rule on
the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the recognition of same-sex
marriage by the federal government and also allows states to ignore same-sex
marriages legally performed in other states in Windsor v. United States; and it will also determine California’s
Proposition 8 case, which was a referendum where voters overturned California’s
law which made marriage equality legal in California (the lower court has ruled
that the Prop 8 is unconstitutional and violates CA’s equal protection
clause).
And while I’m cautiously optimistic about how they’ll rule –
DOMA will get overturned and be left to the states; Prop 8 will be a very
narrow decision but ultimately uphold the lower courts decision are my guesses
– there is still such shit going on in the world. As I write this, an amazing Texas State
Senator by the name of Wendy Davis is filibustering a bill in the Texas state senate which would severally limit
women’s health options and access to abortion in the state of Texas, forcing 37
of its 42 women’s health clinics that provide abortion services to close. She has been speaking since 12:18 Texas
time.
Texas has arcane and annoying filibuster rules, but among
the general you are not allowed to sit or lean, eat, drink or use the
restroom, or stop talking about the subject of which you’re filibustering. If the topic on which you’re speaking is not
germane to the bill you’re filibustering, a warning is issued; you only get
three warnings. Then you’re done. So this forces the opposition to stay tuned
in, to try to trip up the filibusterer.
The person can also yield to questions.
I'd been tuning in on and off since this afternoon. At one point, a female GOP legislator rose to
see if the speaker would yield for questions.
When Ms. Davis refused to yield her time for questions, the GOP female
senator spat back “not even for a woman who is also a physician?” Nope.
After more time, she was told she was no longer discussing
something that was germane to the topic of the filibuster. She was discussing sonograms – in the context
of pregnant women and access to abortions.
And she was told it was off topic.
And yet Republican after Republican has made an effort to force
sonograms on women who want to terminate a pregnancy, regardless of the
reason. And now they’re saying it is not
germane. My how the hypocrisy flies in
Texas.
The people’s chaos erupted in the Senate chamber when the
rule-changing Chair (President of the Senate for the time being) decided to
dictate who he thought was in order, and why.
In a stunning show of solidarity, the Democrats did
everything they could to continue running down the clock as the rules were
repeatedly broken. And then Leticia Vande Putte (who arrived in the Senate chamber after burying her father the very same day) raised a parliamentary inquiry. After
she was ignored on her previous question, she asked, in an additional
parliamentary inquiry: “Mr. President, at what point does a female senator
raiser her hand or voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?”
It was stunning. A
total fucking mic drop. And so
true.
She had been previously ignored when she was making a motion
to adjourn a previous motion to table the appeal of the decision on the
filibuster. Confusing? Yup.
But it’s important.
All these things add up.
Everyday we teach young girls and boys to respect each other, that
they’re equal, and are their own being.
And yet as they age and see what the world is doing, women see their own
body is constantly up for debate; members of the LGBT community are
discriminated against and relegated to second-class citizenry. That is wrong.
No one likes abortion and in a perfect world – where access
to contraception was unrestricted and free – the only need for an abortion
would be in the case where the life of the mother is at stake. But in a perfect world, you wouldn’t need
that clause ‘cause the pregnancy would be perfect. In a perfect world, where men didn’t rape
women, you wouldn’t need a clause to allow raped women to get abortions, either. And in a perfect world, legislators would
stop telling doctors how to treat their patients through repressive, ignorant,
and petty laws.
But the world isn’t perfect.
On Wednesday morning, shortly after 10:00 the voice of (I’m
guessing) Chief Justice John Roberts will change millions of lives, for better
or worse.
I’ve always said that I was a feminist before I was a gayist. Of course I’ve always been gay, but I found it easier to take the mantle for women's rights than about anything else when I was younger (meaning high school). It was a social issue I was proud to stand
for and by, and to loudly and unabashedly defend (thanks in large part to a now
dear friend, Cathy Meiklem).
The gay stuff came naturally (though not without a closet, of course), because it was in the same
vein, we just didn't have the rights yet.
I’ve witnessed first hand -- and been a part of ground game operations -- tremendous advancements for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in
this country. And as everyone says: it’s
all happened in such a short amount of time.
I get annoyed when Senators and Representatives who voted
for DOMA 17 years ago say they are now opposed to the law and it should be
thrown out by the courts. What made gay
people different in the 90s? Maybe they
hadn’t met any gay people, 'cause you know, we’ve never been visible
before.
I’ve be glued to the SCOTUSblog each morning SCOTUS has come down with decisions. That will happen again Wednesday. The folks who run it are brilliant and amazing and should be awarded for
their succinct and timely reporting on an institution that does things in an
utterly traditional way. I have no
complaints about how SCOTUS issues its rulings and limits certain types of media inside the court house. Patience are a virtue. I think it part of the
reason I have such a love affair – sort of a painful one – with the Supreme
Court. It is almighty, even though it is
an equal branch of government. There is
something in its luster, in its stature, that makes it grandeur than the other
two.
Tonight, we still don’t know if the Texas Senate voted on
SB5 illegally after midnight or if it voted on a motion to consider the vote
for SB5. Either way, it was a remarkable
show of courage by Senator Davis and the team that was lined up behind her all
day long in the name of women and families in the state of Texas and across the
country.
Thankfully, Wednesday will not bring a decision about
restricting access to abortion from the Supreme Court. But if we don’t keep up our diligence and
continue to erupt in the peoples chaos, someday it will.
It’s remarkable to me how I feel like I’ve a foot in two battles: one
where we seem to be making great strides (LGBT rights) and the other that seems to be
falling backwards (women). I’m not
giving up one-way or the other.
There will always be work to be done, because the world just isn't perfect.
