On June 26, 2013 in a 5-4 vote. The US Supreme Court struck down The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that was signed into law in 1996 by Former President Bill Clinton. This was part of Clinton's (surprising) one two punch to same sex and alternative sexuality individuals and advocates. The other being the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) that was also recently repealed. This matters, and it matters a lot.
The United States has a history of discrimination against non-heterosexual people. In fact our cultural and socialization practices reinforce and reward heterosexuality, making it invisible, expected, a norm. Hetero-normativity also referred to as "straight" privilege ( though I am wary to use the word "straight" as it too is used as a normative term) has been supported by legislation (and the elite that control legislation); even when a majority of Americans overwhelmingly support same sexy rights, specifically marriage (around 86% of the US population). Now that is not the case, this is a BIG Win for equality and a step forward toward eliminating the ridged sexual binary structure we live in.
Supporters of Civil-Liberties in California can also celebrate, that in a separate ruling, it was determined that supporters of Prop 8 did not have a sufficient case to bring before the court.
In other News, Texas Senator Wendy Davis is Awesome! For 13 hours she filibustered in sweet pink sneakers to make sure a extremely restrictive abortion bill would not become law. The way she gestured to the crowd signaling her victory reminded me of Katniss Everdeen. So, show her some love
However, this joy must be tempered. One needs to acknowledge the troubling schizophrenia of the US Supreme Court's rulings this week. Yes we got lucky (5-4 is lucky) with the end of DOMA but at the cost of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Sociologist know all too well that just saying that people are equal ( through legislation) doesn't make it so ( e.g. the ADA of 1990). We are still living in a white elite hetero-normative, able-bodied culture that is well represented in the amount of backlash we see from the public: here But at least this is a ray of sunshine, in the bleak dark culture before us.
THIS CONCLUDES THE SOCIOLOGY ALERT WE WILL NOW GO BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED TOPICS :)
