By Laurie Carlsson
The gay rights movement has
experienced some great strides over the last year. President Obama’s
endorsement followed by historic support in his inaugural address, the first successful defeat
of a state Defense of Marriage Act, and of course our grand
celebration of marriage equality in three states last November. We’re constantly hearing of wins across the
globe, big and small: Advocates
in the NFL, a supportive Mexican
Supreme Court, and conservatives – one
by one – coming down on the side of equality. As a recent Salon article put
forth, gay rights is “a movement whose time has come.”
It seems we’ve reached a bit of a
tipping point: It’s now more politically convenient to be for gay rights than against them.
Which brings a whole new element
to this issue that I hadn’t considered before. How do I feel about those who
have put off publically supporting the cause until now, when it’s safe to be
seen toeing the gay rights line?
In 2006 comic book behemoth DC Comics
hired writer J.H. Williams to take over its popular Batwoman series. Williams proposed a
story arc that included a depiction of Kate Kane, Batwoman’s pedestrian alter
ego, as a “lesbian socialite.” After a media
firestorm around the announcement of the storyline, the series faced a
sequence of delays, with the launch finally taking place in September of
2011. Coincidence? Or fear of repercussions
in a time – just six years ago – when “gay stuff” was a whole lot more
contentious.
Then there’s the case of Unveiled
magazine. Last month, a wedding
photographer presented them with a photo from a same-sex wedding, hoping to use
it as an advertisement in the publication. They responded by asking the
potential advertiser if she would be amenable to submitting a “less
controversial” picture. Instead, the photographer turned to the internet and publicized
the heck out of the magazine’s decision not to print the ad. The photographer’s
blog post was met by an incredible outpouring of support, and eventually an
apology from the owners of Unveiled, which I will paraphrase here:
‘We’re not
the bigots here; it’s everyone else!’ And we’re sorry, but we thought it was
possible that people might be mad at us.’
I believe that they’re sorry. But
it’s also hard to believe that the apology wasn’t issued because the
publication realized it had misjudged its demographic, and that it was in their
best interest to print the ad after all. They followed the crowd, once it was
clear that the path was safe.
When Legal Voice filed a lawsuit against
King County, on behalf of 4 same-sex couples who had been denied a marriage
license in 2004, it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t popular. It didn’t win them lots of
friends, nor make them heroes. Doing the right thing, which can often be very
different from the politically convenient thing – might lose money for your
business, or make people angry. But someone has to pave the way for those who
will join the cause later.
As Philanthropy Northwest pointed
out recently, in this tough economy nonprofit organizations are losing
the element of strategic planning, often operating from a “hand-to-mouth”
mentality. Changing laws takes years, sometimes decades of hard work, to say
nothing of changing hearts and minds. Legal Voice did a great deal of strategic
work around marriage equality. Now they’re moving forward and organizing around
other progressive policies that keep families strong, like paid
family leave, and preserving parental
rights for those who are incarcerated.
As you’re thinking about your
giving budget this year, consider this: What kind of change do you want to
invest in? It might not be the “movement whose time has come.” But take the chance to be on the ground floor
of social change. Give to Legal Voice* and other organizations that are at the helm of the bandwagon. Climb
aboard because it’s the right thing to do, political cover or not.
Laurie Carlsson is a former Legal Voice staffer. She led the Family Outreach effort for the Approve R74 campaign, works at the University of Washington School of Law and currently sits on the QLaw Foundation Board.
*This blog post NOT paid for by the Legal Voice Fundraising Department.
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