![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
MA to Bigots: Drop Dead
Jun. 14th, 2007 11:09 pmMany on my f-list have already noted today's vote in the state legislature denying the petition to put a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the ballot in 2008.
The straight "yay"/"nay" vote has never been in favor of the amendment, but by the rules, a 3/4 majority is required to deny a "popular" petition request. ("Popular", in this case, literally means "originating with the people".) There is a good reason for the super-majority rule: when the legislature itself does not see fit to put a measure on the ballot, and the people try to do an end-run around a supposedly out-of-touch legislature, we can pretty much assume that the legislature won't vote in favor of the petition. Thus, a super-majority is needed to say, "No, we really mean it".
We really mean it.
In this case, it's the petitioners who are out-of-touch. Many were claiming that "the will of the people has been thwarted today" and "it's clear we have to replace some legislators".
No, it ain't just "some": the number of votes supporting the petition dropped by 17 since the last vote, from 62 to 45. Moreover, those who support the petition are the older members of the legislature.
This is a generational issue. The dying generation are the ones who are promoting bigotry, and the coming generations are the ones who think that homosexuals are citizens too. Not only will the bigots be unable to remake the legislature in the image, they're already seeing more states (New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut) going toward equal rights.
There will be backlashes, and there will be a few cases where the bigots will be able to muster enough resources to roll back the calendar. For a while.
But not here, not this year, and not next year.
And by the year after that, they will sound like Flat Earthers.
The straight "yay"/"nay" vote has never been in favor of the amendment, but by the rules, a 3/4 majority is required to deny a "popular" petition request. ("Popular", in this case, literally means "originating with the people".) There is a good reason for the super-majority rule: when the legislature itself does not see fit to put a measure on the ballot, and the people try to do an end-run around a supposedly out-of-touch legislature, we can pretty much assume that the legislature won't vote in favor of the petition. Thus, a super-majority is needed to say, "No, we really mean it".
We really mean it.
In this case, it's the petitioners who are out-of-touch. Many were claiming that "the will of the people has been thwarted today" and "it's clear we have to replace some legislators".
No, it ain't just "some": the number of votes supporting the petition dropped by 17 since the last vote, from 62 to 45. Moreover, those who support the petition are the older members of the legislature.
This is a generational issue. The dying generation are the ones who are promoting bigotry, and the coming generations are the ones who think that homosexuals are citizens too. Not only will the bigots be unable to remake the legislature in the image, they're already seeing more states (New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut) going toward equal rights.
There will be backlashes, and there will be a few cases where the bigots will be able to muster enough resources to roll back the calendar. For a while.
But not here, not this year, and not next year.
And by the year after that, they will sound like Flat Earthers.
