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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2010)
September 8, 2010 ^Jortianb (Obseruc r Page 17 New Prices Effective May 1,2010 "^ ¡g CoRftoKXfe 0A>vo\rts 'Ax\iiv\<Sr' 0 e e H S ecure p , S K /^ A S U A 'T a Q a W FoR e g o ¿M pgRSKVo^, ’S g C A tts e -V w s w o -fte- a ^ erica M v iA y - RCT A CS j OUD was ih tu e . S K y . . . Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG, $45.00 A sm all distance/travel charge m ay be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With O ther Services)-. $25.00 Bigotry’s Icy Grip is Thawing Don’t Ask, Don’t Care Made top sergeant, Earned my way; Till they found out I was gay. W illiam A . C ollins T h e g la c ia l p ro g re s s to w a rd equality for gay A m ericans offers som e revealing looks at o u r society. O ne is the w eakening hold o f re li gion, R om an C atholicism in particu lar. U n til re c e n tly , c h u rc h b ias against hom osexuals w as plainly u n d e rs to o d , u n s p o k e n , u n c h a l lenged, and accepted. N o longer. T hat underlying b u l w ark o f m orality is now w id ely p e r ceived as bigotry. F or exam ple, at Jesuit-run M arquette U n iversity a great uproar ensued w hen the school revoked a deanship offered to a lesbian professor. In o th er days not only w ould there never have been an offer, b u t she probably w ould never have becom e a professor. A nd surely faculty and students w o u ld never have raised such a how l. O ther religions are in turm oil too. Episcopalians are breaking into sepa rate ch urches ov er the issue, and by w hile northern M ethodists lean to w ard allo w in g gay clergy, S o u th erners control the votes. L utherans are sim ilarly divided. M or m ons o f co u rse rem ain o ffic ia lly o p p o se d , bu t church fathers (there are no ch u rch m o th ers) re cently supported an anti- discrim ination ordinance to protect gays in Salt Lake C ity. B lack churches, how ever, fear that h o m o sex u ality th reaten s the basic fam ily, and in A frica churches have succeeded in m aking sam e- sex relationships a serious felony. T hen th ere’s o ur m ilitary. The C om m ander-in-C hief, D efense Sec retary and C hairm an o f the Joint C hiefs have now called for repeal o f D o n ’t A sk, D o n ’t Tell. B ut the indi v idual service chiefs aren't so sure. N aturally all this internal tension g iv e s g a y -in to le ra n t p o litic ia n s room to m aneuver. So w ith such ram pant indecision still on the loose, D efense Secretary R obert G ates is sim ply ch an g in g p rocedures m ak ing it m uch harder to enforce the law that ejects gays from the service. Social tolerance seem s to be a d v ancing quite n icely w ithout us in o th er countries. M ost W estern m ili taries think w e're kidding about b an ning gays. T h ey n ev er could un d er stand A m ericans anyw ay. A nd now several C atholic countries are loos ening up their w edding rules. Portugal lately b ecam e the sixth E uropean nation to san ctify gay m arriage, and A rgentina ju s t broke the ice in South A m erica by court decree. It seem s that its c o n stitu tion, like m any o f o u r ow n state co n stitu tio n s, co n tain s an in co n v e n ie n t " e q u a l rig h ts " c la u s e . M exico C ity has actually voted to a llo w sam e -se x m arriag e. M ore sleepless nights in the V atican. B ack here at hom e, these social battles rage on. California, w hich in cludes m any progressive-voting com m unities, actually approved a gay m arriage ban in 2008. C iting the C onstitution's guarantee o f equal rights, a federal district court recently overturned the ban, but that decision doesn't alter the population's basic sentiment. The final outcome will prob ably be decided by our Supreme Court, which is dom inated by a conserva tive majority. M eanw hile, m ost law m akers still seem co n v in ced that in their hearts the "silent m ajority" o f voters o p p o se g a y rig h ts. W h eth e r th ese public passions stem from fear o f sin o r "otherness," o r real concern for "fam ily values" is hard to m ea sure. W hat can be m easured is that this icy g rip on a big chunk o f o u r population is gradually thaw ing and that autom atic hard line opponents o f equality are now faced w ith m ean ingful political opposition. OtherWords columnist William A. Collins is a former state repre sentative and a former mayor o f Norwalk, Conn. 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