Calif. troubles spread nationwide

November 17, 2008 by Shane Collins 

Wanda Sykes visits Nevada, stands up for gay rights

As she walked among the crowd of hundreds protesting the passing of Proposition 8 holding a rainbow flag in her left hand and waving to passer-bys with her right, comedian Wanda Sykes took pride in supporting the GLBTQ community at The Gay and Lesbian Community Center on East Sahara Avenue Saturday.

“I am just so thrilled to see that so many people are out here participating and getting involved with the protest,” Sykes said. 

“Gay, straight, we’re all out here and it’s very important to keep this going.”

Sykes and her wife married on Oct. 25 among thousands of other same-sex couples in California. She was devastated when the rights to same-sex marriage was withdrawn with the passing of Proposition 8 on Nov. 4.

“Our country took one step forward when [America] elected the first black man to office, but 12 strides back when California banned gay marriage,” Sykes said.

Across the country Saturday protesters took to the streets to proclaim the injustice of banning same-sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona and of adoption by same-sex couples in Arkansas.

Massachusetts and Connecticut, which began granting same-sex marriage licenses early last week, are the only two states to wed same-sex couples.  The other 48 states do not allow same-sex marriages; however, some do allow civil unions or domestic partnerships, something the GLBTQ community says is an insult.

“[The gay community] are people just like everyone else – black, white, disabled – no matter how you look at it,” said Masson Gray, a UNLV sophomore whose cousin is gay. 

“It crushes me to know that he can pay taxes, we can make the same purchases, but when we sit at the dinner table I know this country forces us to be different.”

“He can’t marry and I can – it’s separate, but equal.”

The gay community across the country has faced a setback, but Gray said the support and spirit of protesters and community leaders is stronger than he has ever seen it.

Reina Cruz, of Spectrum, UNLV’s only GLBTQ alliance group, said the passing of Proposition 8 has made the community on campus even stronger.

“With the change of the election we are becoming more united,” Cruz said. 

“We have to pull together now to fight for our cause.”

Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Christine Clark said any time legislation is passed that takes away civil rights, it impacts the UNLV community and that Spectrum is working to make their voice heard.

“While these decisions are negative, this negativity can be a catalyst for galvanizing political engagement to overturn them,” Clark said.  “Among the effects of which will be raising general awareness of the [GLBTQ] community.”

Spectrum partnered with the The Gay and Lesbian Community Center to organize the protest and plans on rallying throughout the coming months and extending their presence to California.

Regarding the issue of equality for same-sex couples, Cruz believes that the power to decide should be given to the federal government, not to the states, an issue that Obama agreed with Sen. John McCain (R) on during his campaign.

Rebecca Wood, assistant professor of political science, said the gay marriage is a state-to-state issue, and with regard to Proposition 8, the California Supreme Court overruled the ban due to constitutional constraints.

“As it stands right now, this is a matter up to the states,” Wood said. “Clearly, that is a similar situation to what you see in California. Proposition 8 was seen as necessary by its proponents because it was the only way to overrule that decision [by the Supreme Court].”

Clark said, “We are living at a time where state level decisions about same sex marriage are likely to be contested for a number of years to come,” adding that political engagement and education will push these issues forward.

One question etched in the minds of Americans is how members of the more liberal political party could be elected to the presidency and many congressional seats, but Proposition 8 still not passed.

“A lot of the exit polling shows this might have been related to the particular demographics of the voters this time around,” Wood said.  “African American voters… favored it, basically, two-to-one.”

Because of the increased turnout of this demographic and their stance on the issue, there were more people who tended to support the measure, she said.  However, it is not clear that this is the single cause that Obama’s supporters did not vote precisely with the Democratic Party’s issues.

The passing of Proposition 8 does show that many people are more interested in the issues regardless of party platforms, an insight Wood said made the difference in getting Proposition 8 passed.

“You might [see] this as a good thing in a way, that they’re actually reading what’s on the ballot and making a determination on each separate issue,” she said.  “Instead of towing the party lines, for better or for worse.”

The passing of Proposition 8 has led to some backlash toward religious groups, in particular the Mormon community, for hindering goals of the GLBTQ community.

“We are also living in a time where people across religious, spiritual, faith-based and secular affiliations are questioning their beliefs,” Clark said.  “This does not necessarily mean they are rejecting their affiliations, but they are clearly beginning to think more and more critically about what it means to be observant.”

Recently, a record number of people withdrew from the Mormon church citing the passing of Proposition 8 as a catalyst for their decisions – on one Web site against Proposition 8, LDS members number in the upper hundreds.

Clark said people are becoming more conscious of prominent issues and are standing up for what they believe is right even if it costs them something personal.

“When outsiders to a community of which we are members stand up for us and with us, we as community insiders cannot help but be heartened,” Clark said.

“The UNLV [GLBTQ] community is no different from any other community in this regard.”

Only time will tell if the GLBTQ community will have the same rights as everyone else, but as Sykes put it while clenching the rainbow-colored hope for equality, “the movement is inspirational, simply inspirational.”