A long way to go

Bloomington activists met Wednesday night to discuss the upcoming presidential election's hot topic -- gay marriage. Members of Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians addressed gay marriage locally and at the national level.\nA recent survey showed citizens view gay marriage as the single most important social issue in the upcoming presidential election, IU political science student and junior Matt Brunner said at Wednesday night's PFLAG meeting. \nBrunner said Massachusetts' schedule to allow gay marriages beginning May 17 is what prompted President George W. Bush to endorse a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in the United States. \nAlthough Brunner said he thinks the amendment "has really no realistic chance of getting passed," he is glad the issue was brought up this year because "at least it's being talked about." \nPFLAG board member Jackie Hall said she agrees Bush's proposed amendment is finally encouraging debate.\n"I personally think Bush's endorsing the amendment brought out a backlash they never anticipated and has brought out more information about what inequities are," Hall said. \nFrom the night's discussion, the issue of gay marriage has turned into more of a debate about civil rights.\nBrunner said if the amendment were to pass, it would be the only time in U.S. history, besides prohibition, rights would be taken away from citizens. \nPFLAG members would like to see gay and lesbian couples given the same rights as straight couples. Currently, Vermont is the only state that recognizes civil unions between gay couples. California, Hawaii, New Jersey and soon Massachusetts have their own variations of recognizing gay couples. However, civil unions only offer around 60 state rights to couples, while federally-recognized marriage offers more than 1,000. \n"We still have a long way to go," Brunner said. "Even if we approve federal civil unions, we're creating a second class." \nHall said the issue has brought to life a lot of the issues she faces, too, since she is not married to her male partner whom she has been with since 1988. \nBrunner said polls have shown a majority of older Americans are against gay marriage, but he feels his peers are generally supportive of it, having grown up around more openly-gay friends.\n"A lot of people know gay or lesbian friends," he said. "Gay marriage is an important civil rights issue of our time. It is a unique civil rights issue to our generation." \nAlthough Hall said she was gratified to hear the younger generation is more open to the idea of gay marriage than older people are, she was disappointed to hear the low number of openly-gay elected officials currently in the United States.\nBrunner said he is more optimistic. He said there was not very much representation of gays and lesbians in politics in the 1960s, but in 2004 there are over 300, including two congressmen and one congresswoman. This year alone, around 100 openly-gay candidates are running for political offices.\nThis year in Indiana, Michael Schaefer is running for the Vanderburgh County Council, and if elected, would be the first openly-gay council member elected in the state. \nMark Brostoff ran an openly-gay campaign for Bloomington City Council last fall but was defeated by a narrow margin. \nBrunner said running as an openly-gay candidate presents its own challenges. Candidates often have to overcome the label of being a "one-issue candidate," which can be very hard. Violence can even be invoked. Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay elected official in the United States, was shot and killed after he was elected. \nAccording to its Web site, PFLAG provides a safe, supportive place where sexual minorities and their families can come together to share experiences, work through problems and educate themselves and their community. \nJudy Schroeder, PFLAG board member, said PFLAG decided to have political speakers at its meeting because "we've never seen gay issues become so much a part of the campaign process as we have this year." \nAs the mother of a gay son and a PFLAG member for more than 10 years, she also doesn't support discrimination, which is what she sees the endorsed amendment to ban gay marriage as doing.\nSchroeder said, "To me, it is un-American to discriminate against any class of people." \n-- Contact staff writer Hannah Schroder at hschrode@indiana.edu.