Kudos to New York

I was driving back from a political event June 24 in Lexington, Ky. when I got a phone call from a friend who said New York had just become the sixth state in the nation to legalize gay marriage.

I would like to thank and applaud the New York State Assembly for standing on the side of history that Friday night in support of equality.

Easily considered the civil rights struggle of our generation, I am further inspired by the prospect that equality for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community may be finally coming.

Since I’ve had a few days to reflect on what I think this means for the nation, I have begun to realize what happened in New York has helped elevate the fight for equality to a whole new level across the country.

Out of this victory came a realization for me that is not so politically advantageous to one side of the spectrum anymore. While the right has long been considered the majority party faction opposed to equality, the political landscape is definitely changing.

“Most conservatives have reacted with calm — if not outright approval — to New York’s dramatic decision,” former senior Bush aide David Frum said in his Monday column on CNN’s website. In addition, he said he found himself “strangely untroubled by New York State’s vote to authorize same-sex marriage.”

As one of those conservatives who reacted with outright approval, I would have to say for the most part, the general trend of support for GLBT equality among conservatives can be broken down along generational lines.

Even so, as the leader of the College Republicans here at IU, I have witnessed members in my club that do not agree with my stance on this issue. All I can say is that we have agreed to disagree.

The victory in New York is going to signal a call nationwide in the fight for equality. Sooner or later, this issue will have to be settled by the federal government.

There exists a great Constitutional question of how gay marriages recognized in a state like New York are not recognized in another state like Indiana. The only way to resolve that will be through Congress or U.S. courts.

The Defense of Marriage Act really is nothing more than the federal government’s refusal to take a position on the issue. Instead, it reserves the right for the states to determine what status they will give to equality.

It seems that when civil rights questions of this magnitude impact such a significant percentage of the nation, it is the responsibility of the federal government to act.

I will borrow a quote from an earlier article of mine about GLBT equality.

I believe Thomas Jefferson put it best when he said “All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

­— cjcaudil@indiana.edu