Today, HJR 6 passed out of the State Affairs Committee in the State of Texas. This is a superfulous constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in the state of Texas. Apparently, the statute that says the same damned thing wasn't good enough.
Among the Republicans voting for the measure was my representative
Martha Wong.
Let me tell you a little about my district. We are the highest educated district in the state. We're also have one of the highest incomes. We were recently redistricted, and the woman who held the seat before, held it ably for 21 years. Because of her seniority, we were used to getting a lot of things to go our way. We have the Texas Medical Center, Rice University, West University, Bellaire, part of the Heights, part of River Oaks and most of Montrose.
Let me tell you a little more about that last neighborhood,
my neighborhood,
Montrose. Montrose is one of the largest gay neighborhoods in the country. A sort of hippie enclave in the 60s and 70s developed, and eventually, it became known as a gay friendly place. There are gay and lesbian bookshops, cafes, restaurants, and other organizations here. Half of the residents on my street are gay couples, including my next-door neighbors who have been together for 13 years and bicker over their renovation project. Land being at a premium, there have been a lot of townhomes and other large residential projects developed in the last dozen or so years, but the people who have moved in have been gay-friendly and fairly bohemian in nature.
The rest of our district isn't as, er, loud as we are about our tolerances, but they don't care what happens in Montrose. It's a fairly urban and sophisticated district, and the money thing is much more important than anything else. The district is at best a moderate leaning one, and of all of the people voting in that committee, Martha Wong had the most people in her district personally affected by the resolution. And when it goes to the full House, more of her constituents will suffer than any others in Texas.
A moderate Republican representing a good percentage of the gay people in Texas should have never voted for this bill. But the goddamned Republican party has their faithful voting in such lockstep that ridiculous and extreme position like changing the constitution for political points.
Moderates are just as bad as, if not worse than, the radical, and the voters in districts like mine aren't going to appreciate being labeled as neanderthals. She can
couch hers as the "moderate" position but I read the 12 hours of testimony from last Monday, and I personally know how much shit like this hurts MY family. There's nothing moderate about legislating hate into the constitution.
