First of all, the name of this week's post is a Prince song title, I'm not asking you for your fake hand in marriage; however, I will entertain offers. I will always entertain offers. However, I will tell you this: it better be a spectacular ring, and you'd better not propose at a restaurant with a candle on the table. So 20th Century.
Did anything happen in the gay marriage front this week? I hadn't heard anything of any significance. Oh, yeah, the current Presidential Administration came out in support of the idea of gay folk like me having the ability to get married. And boy, did it set off some serious debate. Even some Republican advisers are now telling their party-mates that it's time to "evolve" (I love the use of that word, btw) and get on the right side of history. I'm fairly pleased with what the President had to say, but we need to remember a couple of things.
One, all he did was say something. There was no instant mandate, and while a conversation with my mother the night regarding the announcement started with her saying "So, are you married yet," it's still not something I can do here in Illinois (although I can have a Civil Union in about 3 weeks here). We've still got a lot of work to do to ensure our civil rights are finally realized. But let's face facts, it's a very important step. It's akin to the first time a major political figure said that African Americans and Caucasian Americans should be able to marry, and even then it took "a few minutes" to get that realized in many states. But the fact that our very own President is now coming out (pun intended) in favor of marriage equality is a huge step in this nation, and a step he didn't take lightly. Sure, maybe Joe Biden sped up the process, but let's face facts, is that such a bad thing? The Veep is commonly chided for running off at the mouth and having his statements get him into trouble. As far as this blogger is concerned, it finally worked to someone's advantage.
Also, I'd like to address my gay brethren who say "he should've done this sooner," and those who have complained that he hasn't done enough to address gay rights in America. I'd like to touch on this on a couple of levels. Let's not forget that a Presidential term is 4 years, and that there's a lot of priorities that any President has on his (and someday, her) agenda, especially this one. Not sure if you've noticed, but the economy has been a complete dumpster fire in recent years, and he's had to do his best to figure out -with the help of advisers- what the heck to do about that. The war in Iraq wasn't just going to end itself, folks; same with figuring out when to end major operations in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden? Yeah, not sure if it matters, but he also wasn't just going to walk up to ally troops, kneel down on the ground and say "look, if you shoot me right in the temple, I'll be dead pretty quickly." And whether you agree with his health care plan or not, he's the first guy in office to get anything done in that regard. Anything. The POTUS has had a great deal of fruits and vegetables on his plates, and just because it took him a few minutes to get to the fruits (again, pun intended) doesn't mean he doesn't care about our plight. He'd already gotten rid of "Don't Ask, Don't Swish" from the US Military policy, making it legal for gays and lesbians to openly serve in the Armed Forces. Do you think he would've fought for that if he didn't believe that it was our right?
Sure, maybe it's a political tactic. Maybe he's doing this right before an election to help ensure our vote. But let me ask you something: wouldn't you rather he did it now than not at all? And let's face facts, this isn't exactly a slam dunk to his re-election. Not sure if you've ever noticed, but old people still vote in the largest numbers. Side note, the percentage of voters in an age group can be tied to the first digit in their age. Traditionally speaking, 90% of those folks in their 90s vote, 60% of those folks in their 60s vote, etc. Do you think that a lot of folks between 70-100 years old who grew up in a time without Ellen, Will & Grace, and RuPaul's Drag Race are really going to be pleased with this announcement? How about the supposed "Reagan Democrats" out there who might be on the fence between Obama and Romney right now, as well as folks who consider themselves highly religious? It's not exactly what they wanted to hear, making this -while calculated- a very risky move on his part.
It might bring down his chances to be re-elected. And if it does, I will hold a major amount of respect for the President. If he goes down, he's going down on his terms, and swinging at a pitch instead of letting it go over the plate waiting for the electorate and the talking heads to call it a ball or strike. He's not just licking his finger and putting it up to the air to see which way the wind is blowing. He's blowing the wind himself. I may not agree with everything he's done while in office, but the sheer fact of the matter is, he's tried to get things done. And again, he's done these things within one term, even if it wasn't all within the first 100 days in office like some folks would've wanted. You can't really ask for more than that... except my hand in marriage. I'm still waiting, people! ;)
To end on a different topic, I said last time that we'd probably be discussing the death of Bee Gee Robin Gibb. Shortly after that post, he woke up from his coma, so we thankfully get to postpone that conversation to another time. I was going to possibly talk about the suicide of Junior Seau from the NFL, or the untimely death of the Beastie Boys' Adam "MCA" Yauch, but I wanted to keep today's message positive, so let's just say that both deaths were tragedies for their own reasons, and that I hope they rest in peace.
See you soon, maybe even while we exchange vows!
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