Religious bigotry found an inordinate amount of expression in the seventh full day of testimony by the plaintiffs. According to their witness, Stanford professor Gary Segura, the homosexual community is “politically powerless” and can point their collective finger at religion for their supposed lack of political success. The essence of their testimony is that the federal courts should make religious and moral views an illegitimate basis upon which voters make their decisions and cast their ballots. Segura took particular aim at the Catholic Church and Southern Baptists for holding religious views that, he believes, colors societal prejudices that gays and lesbians are “inferior.” He said it is almost impossible for gays to overcome the religious views of churches.
Upon another outstanding cross examination by Prop 8 defense attorney David Thompson, it became clear to any reasonable person that gays and lesbians have had substantial amounts of political capital in their grasp for at least the last decade, the two initiatives (Prop 8 and Prop 22) on same-sex marriage notwithstanding.
Much of today felt as if the plaintiffs had dragged us down the proverbial rabbit hole into an alternate world of fantasy where up is down. In the real world, it is impossible to square the claim that homosexuals do not enjoy significant political power in California when the newly-elected Assembly Speaker is an openly gay man and numerous state and local elected officials are openly homosexual. California has extensive domestic partnership protections which provide all the legal provisions of marriage, and the Governor, Attorney General, both our United States Senators and Superintendent of Public Instruction all aggressively opposed Prop 8. In 2008, our opponents raised $43 million to attempt to defeat Prop 8 and outspent us by over $3 million. Equality California (the state’s most influential homosexual rights lobby) secured the passage of 11 separate pieces of legislation benefitting homosexuals. And homosexual political advocates have the support of Hollywood, labor unions, the technology sector, leaders of corporate California, and nearly every single newspaper editorial board in the state.
Add to that laundry list the fact that the United States Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is a Democrat from the most gay-friendly region of California and that there is not a single state with more anti- discrimination laws specific to homosexuals on its books. I’m left shaking my head how a political science professor from a prestigious university reaches the conclusion that homosexuals are politically powerless in the United States, let alone California.
Apparently Professor Segura’s conclusion that gays are politically powerless hasn’t reached the gay community itself. You’d think that a group that sees itself as powerless wouldn’t be eager to push a ballot initiative on same-sex marriage. Yet that is exactly what groups like Equality California, the Courage Campaign and others are focused on doing – if not for 2010 then for 2012.
Only down Professor Segura’s rabbit hole does the fantasy of gays lacking political power exist, leading to the conclusion that gays and lesbians are a defenseless minority entitled to extraordinary legal protection. In the real world, gays and lesbians are one of the most powerful, effective special interest groups who wield power far in excess of their numbers. The fact that they have amassed untold millions of dollars to fund a legal team that includes dozens of lawyers and some of the nation’s top litigators to come into federal court claiming to be powerless is rich with irony.
