Four More Years of Discrimination

On Tuesday, six months after gay and lesbian couples won the right to marry in Massachusetts, 11 states approved constitutional amendments codifying marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution.

Voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah all approved anti-same-sex marriage amendments.

Eight of the 11 states also intended to ban civil unions, thereby throwing up yet another roadblock to any kind of equality under the law. Opponents of gay and lesbian marriage are also pushing a federal constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage nationwide.

Supporters of legal ban on gay marriage were overjoyed that their stance had been so heavily endorsed across the country.

Gay activists were angry but not surprised at the development and vowed that the fight for legal equality for homosexual was far from over.

Gays have lost the battle, but process of winning the war has just resumed.
But did gays actually try to stop Bush?
No, they didn't.

Amazingly enough, despite Bush's vocal support for the antigay Federal Marriage Amendment, and Republicans' successful passage of anti-gay marriage ballot amendments in 11 states, Bush received 21% and 23% of the GLBT vote. It was about the same percentage he received in the 2000 election, according to a data from CNN and The Washington Post.

Kerry's camp on the other side clearly failed to win over any significant number of gay and lesbian voters who had previously supported Bush.

We all know that gay Americans will not be better off under the second Bush term.
So, why didn't they stop him?
Because they don't want it enough.

If gays are to preserve their success in Massachusetts, they need to devote their time and resources to convince the court and countrymen that lesbians and gays have fundamental right to marry.

It is an uphill task. But they should prove they are not second-class citizens.