RSS
Home
R-71 support exclusive to counties touching the waters of Puget Sound, but it was enough
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Today's Times article
Referendum 71, the gay rights measure, passed by a 52% to 48% margin in the state of Washington, which is a historic event in itselt. This makes Washington the first state in the union to have a statewide referendum passed by the voters to give gays a sweeping set of rights which puts them on a level with straights with the one exception of formal marriage.
But a look at the numbers county-by-county throughout the state paints a very stark picture in terms of the divide between Puget Sound and the rest of the state. The only counties to vote in favor of R-71 are in the northwestern part of Washington and all of them touch the waters of the Sound. Those counties that helped the measure pass are:
- King
- Snohomish
- Thurston
- Skagit
- Whatcom
- Kitsap
- Jefferson
- Clallam
- San Juan
- Island
Every other county voted against R-71, and some by an overwhelming margin. For instance, in Garfield County in the southeastern part of the state, R-71 was defeated by a margin of 77%-23%.
But the sheer number of people in King County, where the measure passed 67%-33%, helped push R-71 over the top overall.
What is it about a single subject that can have such a wide disparity in opionion? How can 2/3 of the voters in one county be in favor of something and more than 3/4 in another county be against it?
Here's the thing about how people in different areas view gay people: In more urban areas, where folks are exposed to a more diverse array of humans, most people get to know gays. They're co-workers, friends, family or associates. Once you get to know gay people, one comes to realize they go to work, they go to church, they raise families, they live next door, they are seamlessly part of our society. Voters in rural areas, who don't have access to the diversity that urbanites have, may have stereotypes burned into their brains, such as mincing, prancing, cross-dressing gay men, or heavy-set, crew-cut, masculinized gay women.
The fact is that those stereotypes are not based in reality, but rather from movies, magazines, church descriptions, and printed materials handed out by anti-gay forces.
We're watching the gay rights movement play out in America much the same way the civil rights movement proceeded. African Americans didn't achieve their status as equal members of American society overnight. It took many decades. Same with the right to vote for women. The U.S, Constitution went into effect in 1789, but it would be a century and a third before women were deemed as worthy of having the right to vote.
History tells us that things eventually change for the better. It takes time, but it always happens.
To quote Ghandi: Think if it. Always.
Related Articles:
Comments
