One of the reasons that democrats have been careful to avoid real liberal issues in campaigns is that liberalism itself has been on the retreat for the last three decades. With the increased numbers of evangelical Christian churchgoers, the Republicans have been able to stand behind Christian morality and point to liberals as outside of the "mainstream." Since 1968, liberals have had a difficult time talking about their points of view, and, as a result of fallen back on issues like health care and social security-very important but not truly LIBERAL issues. They are POPULIST issues. Liberalism, on the other hand, the drive to increasing tolerance, correcting racial and class injustices and reducing our impact on the environment and the rest of the world, has found no voice since Jimmy Carter. If we want to see the country deviate from its conservative path, we've got to remind people why liberalism matters. And the first place that needs to happen is with gay marriage (or, more appropriately for some, gay unions).
Seven of the 11 gay marriage amendments passed on Tuesday do something that, as a country, we've not done since the beginning of the 20th century. We've voted to remove rights from a specific group of people based on ideological differences. These state amendments are the polar opposite of what liberals stand for.
Opposition to gay marriage comes from religious beliefs. They claim that gay marriage is a violation of marriage as a holy union between a man and a woman. Fine, I'm willing to concede that to them, because marriage in this country does have its roots as a religious observance. CNN's exit polls show that fully 60% of Americans feel that gays should be allowed to marry (25%) or be granted civil unions (35%). Yet seven states, some not in the South (notably Michigan) passed amendments banning civil unions.
Civil unions for homosexuals are no threat to marriage or society, in fact they will be a boon by giving legal recognition and security to approximately 3% of our citizens (according to recent studies). Civil unions would allow for assets to be transferred in the event of unforseen death, would allow for the legal protection of health care benefits for domestic partners, and will allow two individuals to work toward mutual economic goals. No American not motivated by Biblical verse would look at these goals and say that we want to discriminate against as many as 10 million individuals. This issue is controversial in the way that integrating schools was controversial in the 1960s. It's fueled by bigotry and misunderstanding.
I am willing to contend that most of the people who voted for those 7 ballot proposals were unaware of exactly what they were voting for. Instead, they wanted to "protect marriage" as the union of a man and a woman. This is something that at least 70% of Americans want, according to those exit polls mentioned earlier. Four states did pass amendments limited to defining marriage. Those amendments, though still motivated by religious belief, are no threat to rights or liberty, but the other 7 are. A great majority of Americans can look at those facts and agree, and when they do so they are agreeing to a Liberal philosophy.
Liberals need to take this small, relatively uncontroversial step toward reclaiming the word Liberal from the likes of Savage. People will see that Liberals are championing the rights of a great number of people while not infringing on real the vast majority of religious belief. So many Liberal issues like protecting civil liberties are not clear-cut, and are not obviously evident to every observer; they depend on individual perspective. The true, real bigotry and discrimination represented by the amendments passed in Arkansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah is there for everyone to see.
This is the time to make the push on a real liberal agenda. This is a fight that can be one if liberals take the uncontroversial part of the fight and take it to the people. Groups such as Moveon.org have the organization and funding to bring great TV ads helping to educate people about civil unions. Liberal blogs are a powerful voice of reason and clarity in a muddled and "balanced" media landscape. This first small step towards reasserting the liberal view of American society can be won, and it can be won while Bush is still in office. By forcing him to confront the issue head on, Americans will see the contrast between right-wing bigotry and liberal inclusiveness. And when they do liberal candidates can start talking about real liberal issues, not just populist ones that conservatives can claim as well.