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Domestic argument: while some call for moderation after November 2, advocates for marriage equality aren't backing off
Advocate, The, Dec 21, 2004 by Christopher Lisotta
After 11 states across the nation passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage in November, the screaming call for full marriage fights for U.S. gay couples has become a shouting match among gay rights advocates. While some are calling for a reevaluation of the push for marriage, others note that with gays and lesbians continuing to wed in Massachusetts, the issue is not going away.
California assemblyman Mark Leno, for one, is not letting up. He planned this month to reintroduce his bill to legalize marriage for same-sex couples in the state. Los Angeles activist Ivy Bottini, on the other hand, believes Leno's Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act is ahead of its time. "I'm very upset that we have been pushing on marriage," she said. "There is so much education to do on it."
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Washington, D.C., political strategist David Mixner disagreed, arguing that November's election results were no excuse to let up on the demand for equality. "We have the obligation to continue the struggle," he said. "We must never give politicians the right to negotiate parts of our freedom away so they can feel politically comfortable."
Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said that Leno's bill is precisely the kind of educational tool that marriage equality advocates should be using to further the debate. "We took a body blow [on November 2] largely because the important work of providing education and real conversations just haven't happened enough," she noted. "To have these conversations against the backdrop of legislation is really helpful."
Geoffrey Kors, executive director of Equality California, said Leno's bill is part of the incremental strategy activists have been following since 1999 with the introduction of the state's domestic-partnership registry. Kors said that introducing a bill at the beginning of a two-year session of a Democrat-controlled legislature with a sympathetic governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Sacramento is the right kind of strategy in the right kind of atmosphere to advance the cause.
"Unlike those ballot measures [that came to a vote in November], we have a year and a ban to prepare, he said.
Dave Noble, executive director of the national political group Stonewall Democrats, said the lessons that gays and lesbians should take from November 2 are about determination, not compromise. "Certainly we're angry and hurt by these margins," he said. "It's not just about out-strategizing and outmaneuvering our opponents. We can't take the election results as a reason to curl up and hide. We still need to move forward."
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