June 26, 2015 will doubtlessly be a major day in the history of the United States.
Obergefell v. Hodges will be added to the list of Supreme Court cases high school students will have to memorize for their exams from now until the alien lizardoids takeover.
When the human refugees sing apocalyptic ballads after said alien takeover, dissenting Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito will serve to analogize the villainy and callousness of the lizardoid overlords and overladies.
There are many inside and outside the LGBT identity who have dedicated themselves generously to this cause and can celebrate this success. A lot has been sacrificed amid the struggle for freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The official movement began almost exactly 46 years ago with the riots against police oppression at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village of New York City.
This movement did not end June 26, and while many face this event with mirth and elation, I find myself also concerned for the future.
While the journey for racial equality is not identical to that of the LGBT community, it may give insight into the trends faced by minorities in the nation seeking basic liberties. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was a major historical event. Logically, this legal act terminating slavery and therefore affirming personhood to all blacks in America should have promised their total equality as humans and citizens of the United States.
The Brown v. Board of Education decision affirmed the inherent unconstitutionality of segregation in 1954, yet the practice continued in abhorrent egregiousness throughout the Jim Crow south. There was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Our nation has its first black president. Racism has not ended in the United States. Even the media coverage of the same-sex marriage ? legalization was exceptionally whitewashed.
I feel it is justified to look at how long the road has stretched before our fellows in the black community and wonder how much longer those in the LGBT community still have to go. I worry support from outside the community will begin to wane following this victory, that the powerful and important moderate American will think this was the main thing the LGBT community wanted, brush the dirt off their hands and call it a day.
But queer youth do not commit suicide because they could not get married.
The murder and unemployment rates of transgender Americans is relatively irrelevant to their access to marriage.
The Food and Drug Administration, a federal organization, continues to brand ‘men who have sex with men’ as a danger to public health regardless of a man’s marital status.
Members of the LGBT community can get married, but sexual orientation still is not a nationally recognized protected class.
And even with the purported national legality of same-sex marriage, obstruction was established at the state-level in Mississippi, Louisiana and Kansas within less than 24 hours of the Supreme Court decision.
So, to these essential moderate supporters, I beg for continued aid. I pray you not think the LGBT community greedy for pushing for further freedoms.
And to all Americans, I hope that this historical landmark can act as a lightning rod to invigorate and energize a drive to secure total equality for all.
I bet, knowing our free nation became a little more free felt good for most of us. Imagine what it would feel like if we make this country more free more often. On June 26, 2015, love won. Love needs to keep winning.
gmleeds@indiana.edu
