thomascwaters.com

The link below is to an Op-Ed in the Seattle Times that is a pretty good read. I take issue with the editor, Ryan Blethen, in one regard:

…leaves me wondering why gay-rights supporters have jumped into the toxic mud of using identity as a weapon.

What is missing here, is an awareness of the role the anti-gay campaign has and continues to use daily in terns of identity. Do any Google search for Homosexual, and look at the way the radical right homophobes construct the identity of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. At the risk of sounding as if this is a school yard brawl of “he started it,” Mr Blethem just needs to place this recent development into a larger picture of the gay rights movement, and the anti- gay war on homosexuals.

I’d like to take issue with his sentiment that the whosigned.org action is all about intimidation, flat out, but in honesty I can’t. I can say that I don’t believe the front line motivation is intimidation. At the base, this is about holding people accountable. But one can look at that from differing sides- see the same thing- and attribute to it different reasons and different outcomes. And, I’m not sure if “intimidation” in and of itself is a bad thing. Proctors managing a class a students taking an exam could be accused of intimidation, when they see their role as just keeping the students honest and cut down on cheating.

I appreciate Blethem’s note that people sign petitions for multiple reasons. I have signed petitions because I believed that something ought to be on a ballot, even though I was going to vote against it. So, rather than label whosigned.org as dipping into identity politics, everyone on all sides ought to see it for what it is- an opportunity to engage in dialogue. If I see that a colleague or neighbor has signed, I would be best to not jump to the conclusion that this person is a homophobe, and use it as a chance to start a conversation. Does this individual realize how this referendum would impact me ad people like me?

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people have been so “othered” in our culture for so long. The use of identity politics is far from new. Efforts such as the whosigned.org help level the playing field and create an opportunity for dialogue and change.

I caution Mr  Blethen as well:

The anti campaign has clearly lost the identity battle. Every year, fewer and fewer Americans buy the tired argument that marriage equality is something dirty or inferior. A disingenuous stunt that does not serve Washington voters.

It isn’t over even if he feels the anti-equality campaign has lost the battle. When all people have equal rights, we can call the battle done. I have been an out-of-the-closet gay man for all of my adult life. I have seen enormous change and appreciate the steps towards equality tat we enjoy today, but we are not yet equal. Until that happens, the battle isn’t done.

Opinion | Don’t try to intimidate people who sign initiative petitions | Seattle Times Newspaper.