I can say I am not really surprised, but I am disappointed beyond belief. The majority of Texans think I am a second class citizen and that writing discrimination into the Texas Bill of Rights is a good thing. This does not say much for the state or for the people. Travis County, as usual, is the one spot of sanity in the state and voted overwhelmingly against the amendment.
Yes, the struggle will continue. There will be court battles and the amendment will probably make it to the Supreme Court before it is all over and hopefully be thrown out. Who knows maybe even the Texas Supreme Court will realize how wrong this amendment really is and how much harm it does to the state, but I doubt it.
I am also mad as hell about this. The National Democratic Party gave no help just as they ignored us in the 2004-election cycle in Texas. The Texas State Democratic Party did absolutely not one goddamn thing to help. Oh wait, they put a post on their web site the week of the damn election. MoveOn waited until two weeks before the election to ask Texas members whether they should do anything. This just means they did nothing except send emails the last week. These same groups will ask the GLBT community to give our time, money, and special talents to assist them in every election cycle and with every damn issue they are trying to push forward. Yet, when we needed them, they had no time for us and could have cared fucking less what happened to the community or our rights.
I know I will still help get Democrats elected. It is the best chance I have of getting someone in office that might help when push comes to shove. I will be hard pressed to do anything for any for the groups I listed. They let Texas down. They let Democracy down. They damn sure lost my respect. So if anyone from the DNC, The Texas Democratic Party or MoveOn read this, please know you lost one supporter and hard damn worker and I am sure there are a lot more who are just as fucking mad as I am.
There were some good things that happened during this fight. I really do believe our base of allies has expanded. I have met some incredible people who are devoted to Equal Rights for Everyone. We will keep expanding this base and also working on other issues that are important to Texas. The support and love from across the country has been incredible. I thank everyone who voted against this hate amendment. I also thank everyone who did anything to help. The volunteers and staff worked as hard as they could and did a great job. Some day we will be celebrating Equal Rights for All Texans, but I doubt I will live long enough to see it.
