Yes-vember for Gay Marrigage

OK, kiddies, voters in four states get the right to reverse the elections of fear and confusion about marriage equality. In three states, they can reinforce same-sex marriage (Maine, Washington and Maryland) and in another (Minnesota) they can tell those who want to constitutionally ban it to get lost.

This AP piece has a fine recap of these states' particulars.

One of the few facts the anti-equality folk like the National Organization for Marriage use is that all the states that have put SSM to popular vote have rejected it. That's 32 of 32.

Of course, the NOM sorts do not mention that nearly all of these were in the scare-mongering period just before and after Vermont legalized civil unions and Massachusetts SSM. Given dishonest, dishonorable bluster about the dreadful certain outcomes of letting homosexuals also marry, voter confusion was certainly understandable.

It isn't any more.

Here in New England and the larger Northeast, voters have seen years of only benefits from a slight expansion of marriage. Coupled with single and paired folk coming out on porches, at work and elsewhere, they virtually all know homosexuals hindered, harmed and hampered by denying them the option of marriage. They see there is no redefinition, to use the MA Family Institutes's most common lie, of marriage. They have learned that there has been only societal good and the type of respect and compassion that the major religions preach.

Come November 7th, it's almost certain that the anti-gay/anti-SSM will reframe their we-always-win game. They have built on this mythology despite legalization of marriage equality by legislative and judicial action. All they have left is plebiscites.

We have a dreadful history of denying shared civil rights — to women, African American, Asians and other. We unquestionably share the human failing of being willing to punish those we think of as not like us. Honestly, most of us know better. Fortunately, more and more public speakers make it plain that we should never vote on civil rights.

So, say the count on November 7th is 32 to 4 or 34 to 2, feel the hard breeze from the spin by the Dark Side. Even so, know that this shameful pattern is about to reverse.