Capsun's Corner – by Capsun M. Poe

It has been two weeks since my post on Prop 8 money from Hawaii and I still get comments about it in real life and through email.  A lot has happened in those two weeks, so this follow-up will expand on that earlier post.

H8 on the Ballot

California was not alone in their efforts.  As a friend in Arizona pointed out, they, too had a ballot initiative with the same effect, Prop 102, which was passed by voters there. And Florida had their Amendment 2 that did the same thing there.  I even read a post on Twitter about someone’s gay friend who was doing a community service project in Florida to help seniors vote; he had to help an elderly woman vote to take away his right!  Surely that must give someone cause for a moment of reflection, but I’m glad to see that he dutifully helped that woman vote.  I think the reason California may have received the most coverage is that it is such a large state and is perceived as a progressive state – so this kind of initiative makes the headlines when they consider it.

Protests

While I may have accepted these results, many of my fellow citizens have not.  I note here again that I completely disagree with the results, but because a majority of voters supported it, I believe I must accept them.  Many have taken to the streets to protest:

• Locally, we had one major rally/protest that drew a crowd of several hundred people.
• Los Angeles had several, and has another event planned for December.

Throughout this ordeal, we have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in ourselves as a society.  We should focus on the good and how we can achieve more of these positive outcomes.

The Good

• The L.A. Times had a story that pointed out that the Mormom church has actually been relatively tolerant of gays until recently.
• Dan Savage, appearing on CNN’s “D. L. Hughley Breaks the News” said:  It needs to be articulated around religion and homosexuality is that you can have your theology and also sign off on gay and lesbian civil rights and full enfranchisement, including marriage.
• Florida’s ban on gay adoption has been overturned.
• eHarmony will have a same-sex service soon.
• President-Elect Barack Obama has named seven gays to his transition team.

Moving On and Going Forward

I think one challenge with these sorts of issues is that we as the public find out about them far too late in the game.  It was the day before the election before I realized there was a fund to oppose Prop 8.  Had I known, I would have donated, but giving money the day before the election doesn’t do much to influence the outcome.  So often, we spend our time and energy focusing on reacting to the outcome instead of influencing it.

Although we may have lost this time on the political front, people are now seeking to win on the legal front, challenging the validity of these ballot initiatives.  Even if that fails, we should remain steadfast in our commitment to equal rights for all.  Just because we lost this time doesn’t mean we can’t regroup and come together for a win on the political front in the near future.

Food for Thought

One of my friends posed an interesting question:

Why is it that when we find out people contributed to or against prop 8, it is legal for us to shun their services, but it would be illegal for us to discriminate against them based on their beliefs for hiring them?  Not just from a legal stand point, but ethically, what makes one acceptable and one not.  Would the same hold true if it was a sole proprietership, i.e., a computer repair guy – you couldn’t discriminate against him based on his political views if you wanted to hire IT staff, but you COULD if you have a one off case where you want someone to come set up computers, and are looking to hire someone for that service.

I’m not an attorney, but I think the answer lies in the distinction between a business (even if it is a sole proprietorship) and a person.  Is it possible for us to “discriminate” against a business?  It’s not one of the protected classes:  race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, familial status, sexual orientation, disability status, or veteran status.

So, no, I don’t think it’s bad nor illegal for us to choose one business over another or shun one particular business because of it’s political leanings. This is the same reason I try to avoid shopping at Wal-Mart or any other company with a poor human rights track-record or that donates to causes and/or candidates that I disagree with.

Mahalo!

Tags: h8te, prop 8, prop h8te