Our Civil and Moral Obligation

Overturning Proposition 8 moved us one step closer to civil justice!

Judge Walker’s decision to overturn Proposition 8 in California allows us an opportunity to move past the decade’s backlash against equality. The ruling was based on a very fundamental premise of law – equal rights with unequal protections. Judge Walker used the authority of his bench to say what millions of us have known for a long time – gay marriage does no harm to straight people! Therefore, to discriminate against gay marriage is to act at the expense of human rights for no public benefit – NONE!

As our culture evolves to recognize and embrace the diversity of loving families that comprise it, our government must get out of the business of sanctioning all marriages. Sadly, government, in partnership with the insurance lobby, has long used “marriage” as a tool to ration health care benefits, pension rights, and survivorship benefits. This must end! Marriage is a private union between two consenting adults and a just government needs to recognize all such marriages, or stay completely out of recognizing any marriage.

The judge’s decision affords Washington State the chance to heal our community and acknowledge the shift in our culture from uncomfortable tolerance to acceptance, as more people find out that their friends, family members, and role models are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. It is past time that we reversed our unconstitutional attack on Washington families. It will be an embarrassment if a federal judge has to step in and change Washington’s constitution for us, because our state government was too cowardly to right an obvious wrong on its own.

Punishing people for forming healthy, loving unions, and throwing roadblocks in the way of them raising a family together, is a long-established, and effective tactic of governments against people they have determined as either threats to power or valuable scapegoats. It is not, however, the only way our community is harmed by abuses of its LGBT members.

Washington State has a reputation as a welcoming place to raise a family, regardless of the sexual orientation or gender identity of the members of that family. However, we are not immune to homophobia or transphobia, and the stress caused by the recession and the cutting of state programs designed to preserve families in need.

Discrimination against and attacks on our LGBT citizens have increased.

We are proud to have strong anti-discrimination laws in Washington State, but they unfortunately offer no protection to people who are in the process of transitioning. Correcting this simple oversight would remove a great source of stress for transgendered members of our community, and would protect those transitioning from losing their jobs due to discrimination.

Washington is doing great work by administering the federally funded Early Intervention Program (EIP) and AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), and the network of nonprofits dedicated to providing medicine and resources to Washingtonians suffering from AIDS is commendable. With these programs in place, we have been able to keep HIV and AIDS in check in our state. With the ongoing economic crisis however, these programs increasingly face risk from people who perceive them as “the government wasting money on dying people”. We must not allow these cuts to happen. This is one example of what is meant when we talk about the social safety net. This is a Civil Rights issue, and one of decency, but it’s also a matter of sound economic judgment and public health. Washington, DC, is dealing with a public health crisis as a result of cutting their assistance to individuals with HIV and AIDS. Washington State does not need to follow its example. Spending money on antiviral and hospice care limits the spread of the disease and ultimately saves tax payers money.

Homelessness may seem to some to be an issue with little relation to the fight for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered equality. However, in Olympia, it is estimated that 30% of our homeless youth are LGBT-identified. This disproportionate number has increased in recent years, as economic stress has caused more kids to be kicked out of their home for their sexual orientation or gender identity. Many of these youth are from the Peninsula, or Eastern Washington, where resources for LGBT citizens and their families are scattered or absent. Making sure that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered folks and their families statewide have access to information, advocacy, and LGBT-friendly medical help within their community is once again a matter of Civil Rights and it’s a pragmatic decision that positively impacts all of Washington’s citizens.

Judge Walker’s decision clearly goes beyond marriage. It gives each state, including ours, the opportunity to take an enormous step forward in applying basic civil rights to all of our citizens. In the process of self examination, we are afforded the chance to ensure that state-funded programs, long heralded for their societal benefits (medical assistance and homelessness prevention) are fairly offered to ALL members of our diverse community.