The
Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling came out of a powerful struggle for
LGBT rights.
Until 2010, CBS television’s daytime lineup included As the World Turns, a long-running soap opera. Times change. Now a real-life human drama of profound importance has debuted in America: As the Generations Turn.
It’s
the inspiring story of our society’s continuing struggle to evolve toward
equality, dignity, and mutual respect — as well as love — for all.
The
moment came on June 26, when Justice Anthony Kennedy proclaimed from the ornate chambers of
the Supreme Court, “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the
liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses
of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that
right and that liberty.”
Kennedy and four other justices voted to make this higher level of inclusiveness the law of the land. But they aren’t the ones who produced this landmark.
Indeed,
while the Court’s ruling debuts a new day, it’s the culmination of generations
of painful struggle by brave gay and lesbian activists and advocates. And in
particular, it’s the product of a defiant and determined LGBT movement for
equality that arose from the brutal police crackdown and ensuing riot at
the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969.
This
democratic evolution from rank inequality came out of America’s closet, rising
through only a few neighborhoods at first, but then entering the consciousness
of today’s youth.
Rejecting
the shibboleths, ignorance, fears, and bigotry that has previously permitted
such intolerable discrimination, young people have, in a remarkably short time,
created a generational shift in the nation’s consciousness.
The
true Supremes are the people themselves. It’s their awakening enlightenment
that has transformed marriage equality from yesterday’s taboo to today’s
affirmation of simple justice.
OtherWords
columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker.
He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown. OtherWords.org.