Below is her comment, followed by my response. I invite Sarah or anyone else to comment in order to keep the discussion going. Thanks Sarah!
Sarah's Comment:
"First off, gays in California and New York may be percieved as people living the 'luxury' life of looking past homosexuality. I disagree. The Defense Against Marriage Act has been a pain in every single gay man and woman's life.
My friend can't even walk down the streets of Santa Cruz with her partner for fear of being beat up. She goes to the restroom at home because she's been beaten up so many times for who she is. One cannot ignore that even in West Hollywood hate crimes happen on a daily basis, many of these crimes are not even reported. Families are ripped apart everywhere in the nation soley for living the life they were born to live.
Do not take for granted the exits just because they were only done in CA and NY."
My Response:
I of course don't think that being gay in CA or NY is a perfect existence. I am painfully aware of the everyday problems facing the LGBT community, and I fully understand that metropolitan residents are not immune to these same issues.
I do, however, completely agree with Mr. Crain's assessment that things are different in the South and in other areas of the country.
As a resident of California, I could get a domestic partnership and have some form of relationship recognition with my partner. I can adopt a child and have my partner have a legal tie to our children. I can have the comfort of knowing that if I am fired or beaten up because of my sexual orientation, I will have non-discrimination and hate crimes protections.
For LGBT people living in some other states, they can't enjoy any of the rights and responsibilities of relationship recognition, in fact, it may be written into their state's constitution that they are never to have such rights. They are completely unable to adopt a child and have their loved ones have any legal connection to the child. Their boss can walk into their office and say "I am firing you because you are gay" with NO legal recourse whatsoever. They can be beaten up or killed simply for being gay and their local law enforcement would receive no resources to be able to prosecute the crime with a tougher sentence.
They are different. There are different concerns wherever you live no matter what your orientation may be. All that I am saying is that these exit polls should be treated with the knowledge that they are a very small sampling and that they should not be treated as a sound bite that with one monolithic voice, the gay community supports one candidate over another.
While, we are talking about the "pain" of the Defense of Marriage Act, lets look at the origins of DOMA... signed by William Jefferson Clinton. In fact, the two most significant hurdles in the LGBT rights movement are DOMA and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Both of which originate in the Clinton administration.
I do not blame Hillary for this legislation, in fact I respect her answers to why her husband passed both DOMA and DADT. What I don't get is why she isn't committing to repeal all of DOMA, like Barack is.
1 comment:
As for not putting stock in this exit poll, I would say to do that across the board. This is a crazy election, and polls are not as accurate as they would be otherwise. That being said, gay people, like any group of disenfranchised people, congregate to gather any sort of protection or power they can. And, it is no surprise the concentrations are greatest in these two coastal states. Therefore, I think it would be fair to focus where they did. If I were polling Mexicans, I wouldn't start in Kansas for accuracy.
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