Even the most joyous election nights are never unqualified successes, and last week's was no different. One of the biggest disappointments on election night, of course, was the result of Proposition 8 - no matter your sexual orientation, writing discrimination into the law is a great way to put a damper on an otherwise sterling night.
So isn't it good that the end-point of politics isn't Election Night? While we might have lost a battle for equal rights for a day, the protests around the country (including outside the Mormon Temple in our headquarters in New York City), not to mention the celebration of the start of legal same-sex marriages in the great state of Connecticut, make it clear that the war is not over. People are clearly energized on this issue, and politics is, of course, something in which people can engage beyond the ballot box.
In fact, Join The Impact, an online coalition that rose from the ashes of Prop 8 to fight for LGBT rights, is boasting of a coordinated day of protest tomorrow with cities in all 50 states. (It took Living Liberally 5 years to reach every state in the Union - it took Join The Impact two weeks, which strongly speaks both to the energy out there on this issue and their effectiveness as online organizers.)
The netroots have long argued that progressive politics, including its activist component, shouldn't be reserved for the coasts and DC, but instead recognized for something that happens everywhere, every day, in acts both big and small. We agree with JTI:
Last Tuesday night was a bitter-sweet celebration. We came together to witness the first black man who will become our president, yet watched in sadness as Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, and California all voted down equal rights for all citizens. [But this] is not a four-state issue.
They're right. And while people sometimes claim it's a waste to even think about progressive organizers in deep-red states like Idaho, the four protests occurring in The Gem State (three of them in towns with reliable Drinking Liberally chapters) demonstrate that LGBT rights matter no matter where you are in the country.
And besides, remember when Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia were impenetrable ruby-red outposts? If the fight for equal protection took one sad lesson from last Tuesday - that we've got a long road ahead - than maybe we can take a joyous lesson as well - there's no state so red it can't see the light.
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