Good Reasons to Take Notice

Voters in Irvine, Concord and San Francisco this week voted against three issues of major importance to the gay community. Although no one should draw any sweeping conclusions that Californians are suddenly on a march against all gays, gay leaders would be wise to acknowledge that the election results are reason to take notice. It is obvious that long-standing anti-homosexual feelings remain among some voters. Those anxieties are easily manipulated under the cloak of those claiming only to represent “family values.” In Irvine, the voter approval of deleting gays specifically from protection in the city’s human rights ordinance was aggressively hostile; in Concord, repeal of a law that would make it illegal to discriminate against persons with AIDS was painted by one minister as “a homosexual agenda presented in camouflaged, palatable, anti-discrimination language.” Sadly, the absurd argument prevailed with voters, in spite of local and national health officials’ pleas to support the anti-discrimination ordinance as an important tool for fairness and for encouraging those at high risk to come forward to get AIDS testing.

In usually liberal San Francisco, voters rejected a domestic partnership law to allow unmarried persons to register their relationships at City Hall; that was also claimed by conservatives as a victory for “family values,” although that ordinance could have been rejected by some voters for reasons that are not homophobic.

The measures that were rejected by voters represent different issues that affect heterosexuals and well as homosexuals; in the future, gay rights activists and their allies must be ready to make clear why these and other issues are important to all voters. As other groups that have been discriminated against, gays too have been reminded anew that political complacency--even in what seems a tolerant atmosphere--can be dangerous.