Alexi Comes Out (on DailyKos)

Alexi does not support marriage equality (0.00 / 0)

At a recent event, I asked asked whether Alexi supported marriage equality for gays and lesbians and he said, no, but he supported civil unions.  He also said when we look back 30 years from now, it will be a non-issue, so my read between the lines is that he is fine with it, but will be a follower not a leader on the issue.  A few years ago, that might have been sufficient, but with marriage equality gaining momentum and so many politicians supporting it today, including the former republican senate leader in ny, steve schmidt and dick cheney (?), i cannot lend my support as a volunteer or fundraiser to anyone who does not support full equalify for gays and lesbians.  

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by: lakeviewlawyer @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 13:22:42 PM CDT

i'm not surprised... (0.00 / 0)

and i'm a little shocked that you are.  i'd be interested in knowing any difference between alexi's positions and barack's.

more to the point, gay marriage isn't really a federal issue -- except wrt repeal of DOMA.  it is primarily a state issue, and illinois hasn't exactly been on the forefront.  greg harris' bill got sidelined, but i wonder how many democrats outside of cook county would support it.  gay activists have some work to do (both here and around the country), and it is curious that we are suddenly seeing threats like your's.  it hasn't even been a year since california voters -- california! -- rejected marriage equality.  i'm not sure what momentum you are thinking about.

it would be foolish for a candidate in the democratic primary in this state to take the position you want without gay activists setting the stage for their doing so.  whether or not black churches led to passing proposition 8 in california, they remain a powerful force in democratic primary politics here.  gay activists have yet to provide any cover for candidates supporting marriage equality in the community of black churches, and your threat suggests an unwillingness to do so.  it is no accident that marriage equality has advanced in states that are basically lily-white...

"We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it." - President Obama, Sept 9, 2009

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by: bored now @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 13:57:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

no threat (0.00 / 0)

i am not sure what prompted the intesity of your response but the purpose of my post was simply to inform people of alexi's position on marriage equality and to state that i cannot lend my time and money to a candidate unwilling to support full marriage equality.  if you disagree, for whatever reason, that is your perogative.  but i am absolutely certain that statewide candidates who support marriage equality will receive an outpouring of support from the LGBT community, a community that is very politically aware and active, and very, very loyal.  

the issue of gay marriage is not only important for marriage's sake (and you are correct that DOMA is a federal issue, but immigration and taxes are other examples of important issues where the federal definition of marriage has significant implications), but i have learned (the hard way) it is a good proxy for whether an elected official will stand with our community when times get hard or throw us under the bus.  alexi's position is essentially the same as barack's.  but just last week, barack's justice department filed a brief in support of DOMA (which he said on the campign trail was "abhorrent") that relied -- unnecessarily -- on reasoning and caselaw relating to the marriage between an uncle and his neice and other arguments that i find (as a lawyer and a gay man) offensive.  and barack has not followed through on a single of his important promises to the LGBT community, so pardon me if i am more careful in the future about who i give my time and money to.

finally, i think it is misplaced to put the blame on the LGBT community for not doing the grass roots organizing.  local, state and national activists have been working very hard to do outreach to all communities, including religious and African-American communities, but that only goes so far if the state's political leaders are not willing to lead and say out loud what many of them say in private, wink, wink.

for some concrete information on the public's views on gay marriage and why it is not such a bold stand in illinois in 2010, see http://www.fivethirtyeight.com...

   

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by: lakeviewlawyer @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 15:06:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

what intensity??? (0.00 / 0)

personally, i would be equally shocked if people who read this blog were unaware of alexi's connection to barack and his support for the president's policies.  (btw, repeating my points not a good way to make different ones.)

you are certainly free to disqualify candidates who don't share your special interest.  but let's not pretend that this is ennobling.  it merely confines you to being a single issue voter, which is hardly the change we voted for.

i am definitely prone to sarcasm, so i will try not to be here.  but i hope you don't think that threatening candidates with your non-support is actually helpful towards gaining marriage equality.  because, while however satisfying you might personally find it to be, it's about as accurate as your estimate that "momentum" for marriage equality is building.  sorry, still stuck on the prop 8 outcome and the realization that gay rights activists gave it away.

the big problem that we face with extending marriage equality to the non-lily white states is the challenge of expanding support not within the libertarians among us (an overwhelming majority of which i'd suspect are republicans), but among at least one of the pillars of the modern democratic coalition.  while there are suggestions that gay rights is looked upon more favorably among the hispanic community than has previously been (commonly) believed, the roadblock remains the african-american community.  only conservative republicans, white evangelicals and people with an education level of high school or less are more opposed to gay marriage than the african american community.

in the illinois democratic primary, they represent a third of the likely electorate, heavily influenced by the values of the black churches.

candidates/campaigns are far more likely to be looking at that "third of the electorate" and weighing it against your refusal to support people who disagree with you.  it is clear that marriage equality won't be won at the ballot box if other people share your preference for magic over hard work and extensive coalition building.  if you really care about achieving this goal, you'll recognize that attacking the president isn't likely to be appreciated by the very people that you need to convert to your cause.  you know, in order to be successful in diverse states.

just sayin'.  building a broad-based coalition will take hard work and real political savvy.  unfortunately, success in this particular community may force more changes than gay rights activists are willing to do.  we all love our (political) myths, and i have the impression that the gay community and black churches inherently conflict in this department...

"We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it." - President Obama, Sept 9, 2009

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by: bored now @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 16:22:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

see mea culpa below! (0.00 / 0)

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by: lakeviewlawyer @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 18:02:33 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Edited for spelling of Alexi's name... (0.00 / 0)

Thanks for the post

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by: BobB @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 13:33:25 PM CDT

mea culpa (4.00 / 1)

turns out i was wrong.

from a post by alexi on dailykos:

Also, I don't know what even that might have been at, but I don't believe I've ever said I'm against gay marriage.  I may have been talking about the Civil Unions Bill we were pushing in the State Legislature.

I support marriage equality.

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by: lakeviewlawyer @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 18:01:49 PM CDT

Eric, nice to see you again (0.00 / 0)

It's been awhile.  Seeing your post took me way back.  "Itsply2" brother.  You are a class act!  Best wishes.

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by: BrianG @ Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 22:25:22 PM CDT

Probably support him (0.00 / 0)

With Jan out, I'll probably support him.

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by: Frank @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 11:25:37 AM CDT