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A Bad Proposition
Oct. 16th, 2005 11:57 pmI went, as usual, to dinner with my parents tonight. I had plenty to talk to them about tonight, with the layoffs and seeing Tim Bratcher, and looking into trying to diagnose my clutch problem on the car. Dad is much better than I on mechanical problems.
Both my parents remembered Tim and were wondering what he was doing now. I told them what I knew, and mentioned that he remembered that we owned a computer back in 1979 and was grateful for the exposure. I also threw in that he was looking to move back to Houston, and my Mom asked why, I told her, "because gay life in San Antonio kinda sucks."
My mother then proceeded to state that she knew it all along. Really Mom?
I was meaning to talk to my parents about one more important issue, but I was waiting until we got back to their home before starting in on it. However, my mother ended up bringing it up indirectly in the car. Texas is having an election in November, and the ballot for most Texans is simple a selection of nine different proposed amendments to the state constitution. The Texas constitution is full of amendments because the actual constitution is so poorly written.
Mom said that early voting was coming up in a week, but this year they were not doing it on weekends. Since I still vote in the district (don't get me started) this would prove a problem for my being able to vote in this election. I'll have to make a special trip. Still, my parents always vote early, so I needed to cover the topic before early voting started.
This year the inept Texas Legislature, instead of revising property taxes or fixing higher education funding or anything else that they were sent to Austin for passed a raise for themselves, debated a "sexy cheerleading" law, and placed the unfair and unneeded marriage amendment on this ballot. Proposition 2 is a slightly watered down version of what was first proposed, but still would prevent marriage equality, and keep a civil unions bill from coming to the floor. Of course these are both already prevented by the DOMA law passed several years ago under then Governor Bush. The proposition also would prevent any other implements of marriage from being granted to same-sex partners.
What they originally wanted was to prevent any same sex partners from being able to obtain equivalents through law, mush like power of attorney, or wills, but this was later recended. What is a part of the proposition is still vague enough so that a legal interpretation could try to invalidate domestic partnership benefits and adoptions, and I'm sure there will be those who will try to use it as such, even it it's current language.
So I tried to talk to my parents about it. I did talk to them once we got home, but Dad had already turned the TV on. He was watching some old western, as usual, so I know he was trying not to deal with the issue. Mom at first said "Well, it doesn't change anything," and I had to explain to her that it does, because it tries to provide an legal edge that people could try to challenge gains we have already gotten, and things that help our community. I also added, if it didn't change anything, what would be the reason for it?
I could see that Mom was actually a little bit open to the argument, especially as I explained that in defeating this, it still doesn't remove DOMA, and it's certainly not something that Texas judges would be striking down anytime soon. Texas judges are just as conservative as our legislators are. I told them that this was just a way to keep things at status quo for now, and trying not to put discrimination into the constitution.
Dad groaned at that one. I guess from someone who still doesn't like women in the Episcopal ministry, it's kind of par for the course.
I did mention to Mom that I knew that this proposition was a bit of a disappointment to the legislature because they couldn't move it to the 2006 ballot when they could use it to drive more evangelical voters to the polls in an election year. The only major elections happening in the state this year is Houston city council. This is why there hasn't been quite as much of a push to pass this law, and a big push to defeat it, well, at least have a good "against" showing.
The fact is, and I even told my parents this, Proposition 2 will likely pass. It's pure numbers in this state. Even with the expected low voter turnout, politics and culture in Texas is definitely conservative. There are television ads here in Houston, to try to hit the area with the expected largest turnout, to try to show people that a vote for this proposition is a vote against real, live people. People who live in their community.
So it's odd to be trying to tell someone to please vote, because even a close vote will be a "win" here. Still, I asked for my parents to consider it. I didn't try to force it, or demand that they tell me how they would vote and why. I know that it's still a bit of a stretch for them, so trying to explain why it's important for their son is difficult without seeming overbearing. I guess I'm trying for the soft sell, wafting somewhere over the current cattle drive on the tube.
I think it's also the difference about accepting their son, and having to accept a community.
It could be interesting if they get to meet Chris in the next week or so. I'm not sure if Chris is ready for them.
Both my parents remembered Tim and were wondering what he was doing now. I told them what I knew, and mentioned that he remembered that we owned a computer back in 1979 and was grateful for the exposure. I also threw in that he was looking to move back to Houston, and my Mom asked why, I told her, "because gay life in San Antonio kinda sucks."
My mother then proceeded to state that she knew it all along. Really Mom?
I was meaning to talk to my parents about one more important issue, but I was waiting until we got back to their home before starting in on it. However, my mother ended up bringing it up indirectly in the car. Texas is having an election in November, and the ballot for most Texans is simple a selection of nine different proposed amendments to the state constitution. The Texas constitution is full of amendments because the actual constitution is so poorly written.
Mom said that early voting was coming up in a week, but this year they were not doing it on weekends. Since I still vote in the district (don't get me started) this would prove a problem for my being able to vote in this election. I'll have to make a special trip. Still, my parents always vote early, so I needed to cover the topic before early voting started.
This year the inept Texas Legislature, instead of revising property taxes or fixing higher education funding or anything else that they were sent to Austin for passed a raise for themselves, debated a "sexy cheerleading" law, and placed the unfair and unneeded marriage amendment on this ballot. Proposition 2 is a slightly watered down version of what was first proposed, but still would prevent marriage equality, and keep a civil unions bill from coming to the floor. Of course these are both already prevented by the DOMA law passed several years ago under then Governor Bush. The proposition also would prevent any other implements of marriage from being granted to same-sex partners.
What they originally wanted was to prevent any same sex partners from being able to obtain equivalents through law, mush like power of attorney, or wills, but this was later recended. What is a part of the proposition is still vague enough so that a legal interpretation could try to invalidate domestic partnership benefits and adoptions, and I'm sure there will be those who will try to use it as such, even it it's current language.
So I tried to talk to my parents about it. I did talk to them once we got home, but Dad had already turned the TV on. He was watching some old western, as usual, so I know he was trying not to deal with the issue. Mom at first said "Well, it doesn't change anything," and I had to explain to her that it does, because it tries to provide an legal edge that people could try to challenge gains we have already gotten, and things that help our community. I also added, if it didn't change anything, what would be the reason for it?
I could see that Mom was actually a little bit open to the argument, especially as I explained that in defeating this, it still doesn't remove DOMA, and it's certainly not something that Texas judges would be striking down anytime soon. Texas judges are just as conservative as our legislators are. I told them that this was just a way to keep things at status quo for now, and trying not to put discrimination into the constitution.
Dad groaned at that one. I guess from someone who still doesn't like women in the Episcopal ministry, it's kind of par for the course.
I did mention to Mom that I knew that this proposition was a bit of a disappointment to the legislature because they couldn't move it to the 2006 ballot when they could use it to drive more evangelical voters to the polls in an election year. The only major elections happening in the state this year is Houston city council. This is why there hasn't been quite as much of a push to pass this law, and a big push to defeat it, well, at least have a good "against" showing.
The fact is, and I even told my parents this, Proposition 2 will likely pass. It's pure numbers in this state. Even with the expected low voter turnout, politics and culture in Texas is definitely conservative. There are television ads here in Houston, to try to hit the area with the expected largest turnout, to try to show people that a vote for this proposition is a vote against real, live people. People who live in their community.
So it's odd to be trying to tell someone to please vote, because even a close vote will be a "win" here. Still, I asked for my parents to consider it. I didn't try to force it, or demand that they tell me how they would vote and why. I know that it's still a bit of a stretch for them, so trying to explain why it's important for their son is difficult without seeming overbearing. I guess I'm trying for the soft sell, wafting somewhere over the current cattle drive on the tube.
I think it's also the difference about accepting their son, and having to accept a community.
It could be interesting if they get to meet Chris in the next week or so. I'm not sure if Chris is ready for them.
