Burnt Orange Report

Maxey: There is Hope.

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I still have the post-it notes. And now that I have another version of Travis County Precint returns, I'll post more analysis in the coming days. But for now, one last post from the Statesman, and then to class I go. -kt

Maxey: On a bleak November night, I still found reason for hope

As the polls closed Tuesday night, reporters began clamoring for me to comment on the impending announcement of the vote totals.

Something in my grey head and aging, activist gut said that I needed to spend time somewhere else first.

So at what I expected to be a tough moment in my life, I headed to the election night party of the University of Texas Campus Alliance Against Inequality to be in the company of some amazing young people. I needed their energy and excitement. Most of all, I wanted to experience their clear vision of full civil rights for gay and lesbian people, uncluttered by my generation's nonsense.

As director of No Nonsense in November, the statewide campaign to defeat Proposition 2, the "gay marriage" amendment, I had watched these young leaders with awe. Through thousands of hours of grueling work — educating people one-by-one, registering the un-registered to vote, ignoring the barriers of my generation (political parties, gender, ethnicity, race and religion) — they opened the hearts and minds of one another.

And now, standing in Gregory Plaza on a warm, clear November night, I saw the future of the gay and lesbian fight for civil rights.

Karl-Thomas Musselman, a native of Fredericksburg, passed me a Post-It note scribbled with campus-area precinct results. Results from the dorms showed 80 percent and 84 percent voting against the ban on gay marriage. (That's with a turnout of more than 1,100 students compared to about 100 in 2003). West campus precincts voted against Proposition 2 in the high 80 percent range, with one busting 91 percent. Student areas on Riverside Drive and Far West Boulevard showed similar results.

I knew before I arrived that these young people were passionate about this issue and their futures. Marti Bier, head of the alliance, led an effort that resulted in 5,228 early votes being cast on campus, where only 200 had been in the 2003 election.

I was filled with hope as I headed across town to the lights of the TV cameras to comment on the extremely disappointing election returns from across Texas. The reporters had questions and wanted 30-second sound bites, but the answers are rarely easy.

Why the lopsided margin in favor of Proposition 2? Obviously, marriage is the toughest issue for the gay and lesbian political movement. We knew that when we started.

As an example, our polling of Houston African Americans showed that 65 percent supported non-discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment. But with gay marriage, 65 percent were against it.

On every topic, voters support gay rights overwhelmingly — until you say that religiously charged word, "marriage."

I'm certain that a majority of Texans believe that gay couples should be able to use civil documents to protect their relationships, property and medical decisions. It's a conservative idea, really — people taking charge of their affairs and being responsible for their actions and those of the ones they love.

Unfortunately, the Texas Legislature wasn't willing to just define marriage as between a man and a woman in this ballot proposition. Instead, lawmakers added a poorly worded, overreaching second sentence that voters really never understood or considered the consequences of. ("This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.")

So on Tuesday, most Texas voters went to bed believing they have "protected" marriage according to its religious and historical definition. I pray they slept well with their victory. I didn't. I and many gay and lesbian families were emotionally run over.

We woke up Wednesday and did what we usually do. We fed the children and sent them to school, sat in traffic going to work, wrote our checks to our favorite charities and churches, did our community and political volunteer work, and worried about taxes, the war and the quality of our loved one's lives.

And after all that, we now have to go to even more extraordinary lengths to do what everyone else still takes for granted — protect our families.

Texas voters left gay and lesbian Texans with an awful legal morass and lots of uncertainty. Gays and lesbians will have to spend thousands of dollars resolving legal issues, money that could have been used for caring for each other and our communities.

Lots of real people were hurt Tuesday. I mourn that fact. But my heart is uplifted because of leaders such as Karl-Thomas Musselman, Marti Bier, Jason Orne, Jake Holbrook, Trampes Crow and all members of this next generation — young men and women who are unfettered in their total belief in full equality for all families.

There is hope. It's only a matter of time.

Maxey, an Austin Democrat, is a former member of the Texas House.