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The repeal of Maine’s marriage equality law was excruciatingly disappointing, but not altogether surprising. As Jesse Ventura put it bluntly, "You can't put a civil rights issue on the ballot and let the people decide … If you left it up to the people, we'd have slavery, depending on how you worded it." Indeed, history has proven that when individuals are given the power to legislate issues directly, the majority invariably terrorizes the minority. Time and time again, the mob has used referenda to repeal existing legislative protections such as Maine’s same-sex marriage law and to ensure that elected representatives are unable to pass new civil rights laws by amending state constitutions to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. In the 1960s, African Americans weathered an onslaught of ballot initiatives around fair housing and public accommodation laws. Until the late eighties, school desegregation was fought through the same process by parents and others who wanted to decide where and with whom their children went to school. Since the 1980s, Latinos and other immigrants have been welcomed with ballot proposals that include “English only” in many counties, cities and states, as well as “citizens only” access to social services, health care and education.
When it comes to discrimination through direct democracy however, we’ve had the most ballot initiatives thrown at our faces, starting with Anita Bryant’s use of the process in 1977 to repeal Dade County’s new gay rights ordinance. Along with taking away pro-LGBT ordinances, these efforts include the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories in housing and employment laws, prohibiting us from teaching in public schools, the repeal of domestic partnership laws, and prevention of the enactment of new gay rights laws. And now, nullifying marriage equality in Maine.
Last Tuesday night, while waiting for the election results, Maine’s governor John Baldacci told Rachel Maddow: “As a general principle, I understand the unfairness of being able to do it, but as an individual citizen I think it’s good to go through a campaign, it helps to educate other people, it helps to turn some hearts and minds. Sometimes just by changing the law, that doesn’t happen, and I think by doing it this way we’re changing societies and cultures and norms in recognizing the times have changed. It’s part of that process and that climb as we reach the top of the mountain. We’re going to get there, Rachel. I’d like to get there sooner rather than later, but we’re going to get there.” I am grateful that the governor had come around on the issue of marriage equality and had signed into law the valid legislation which the Maine mob trampled, but it was not good to have gone through such a campaign - we should not have had to. Not in Maine, not in California, not in Washington State or anywhere else. Our democracy was not meant to run this way.
James Madison presciently wrote: “It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part … If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure.” Unfortunately for us, the majority is united by a common ignorance and fear of us, fueled by an inordinate and irrational attachment to “traditional” values and man-made religious ideas. This is why we have executives, legislators and judges – checks and balances against themselves as well as mob rule.
For African Americans to claim their rightful place in our society, it took the Supreme Court to rule against school and bus segregation, and Congress to pass the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It took a president to sign all this into law. And we are supposed to “turn some hearts and minds” and essentially beg for our civil rights from the majority? Whatever happened to protecting the weak and the oppressed? What happened to freedom and equality? It is painfully apparent that the Roberts Court and our elected officials will do us no favors. Our president does not have the time or energy to relentlessly challenge society’s prejudice and ignorance and push our elected officials to do the right thing. So it is up to us and straight Americans who believe in this nation’s core values to press on and struggle through what will be a long and arduous slog. For African Americans, it took a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears and a whole lot of time, patience and perseverance. To this day, people of color continue to struggle for equality. For us, it means taking a deep breath and forging on. It means getting angry, coming out and speaking loud. We are going to get there. But not by begging. You can follow Erwin on Twitter @Erwin de Leon. The main source for the history of ballot initiative is Barbara S. Gamble’s “Putting Civil Rights to a Popular Vote,” 1997, American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 41, No. 1.
 Posted by Erwin de Leon,
| Nov. 5 at
12:44 PM |
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