After Prop 8: A Way Forward?

There's a good -- and as outgoing President Bush might say, 'spirited' -- discussion going on in the LBGTQ community about what to do in response to Prop 8. Some (like Dan Savage) say it's time to confront the bigotry head on and press the matter in the courts. Others (like Andrew Sullivan and Cindy Rizzo) believe great gains were made (almost 50% of California voters supported the right to same-sex marriage) and more progress will only be made through more education and engagement with those who oppose gay marriage (esp. African Americans, Latinos, and Christians of all stripes).

I confess to leaning toward the former path (confrontation) more than the latter (engagement) because at this point I think there's been an awful lot of energy spent on education and engagement and it doesn't appear to helping much in some communities. As one of the commenters to Cindy Rizzo's article pointed out, there lots of people with gay family members who are still never going to be convinced to support same-sex marriage.

But after reading the blogs of those who believe continued engagement with opponents of gay marriage is the best path, I'm started to see their point. There is nothing to be gained by a confrontation between the LGBTQ community and African Americans or Latinos. Approaching the problem as a racial issue is in fact totally counter productive. Of course, it isn't people's race that causes them to oppose gay marriage, but in most cases it's the particular take on Christianity they follow.

While these beliefs may be hard or impossible to change (and that in itself is an important issue, but probably one for a later discussion), I believe there is an increasing opportunity to argue the case with opponents of gay marriage that this is a question of human rights, not a religious issue.

Some Christians may never believe homosexuality of 'ok', but I believe it is possible to convince them that because we live in pluralistic society, accepting the beliefs of others is not harmful to one's own beliefs. In fact, supporting tolerance for beliefs other than your own may even help create greater tolerance for those things you do believe.

Helping to argue this point is an area progressive Christians can really help. Socially conservative Christians may not be especially open to listening to the LGBTQ community, but could possibly hear the case when made by other Christians.

For a long time, I thought I didn't have the time for churches and other Christians who still had an issue with gays and lesbians. The debate in the church was going nowhere and only causing deeper division. But after 11-4-08 it's a new time. And now may be the just time for progressive Christians to re-engage in the debate in a new and non-confrontational way.