There is never a good time to start an unpleasant conversation. Anyone who has ever had to be the bearer of bad news knows that.
With the sudden flaring up of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell debacle in Congress this week, we feel it necessary to revisit what we said last year when same sex marriage was pushed to the fore by our own esteemed legislature.
Today we concede the likelihood matrimonial status for same-sex relationships is going to become a legal reality – probably sooner than later.
The vote last year was very close. The demographics are changing. The culture is changing.
While homosexuality was once so ostracized, and as a direct result, so closeted, it might as well have been an urban legend for most people; it is becoming less so by the day.
Consider that is has been almost 14 years since Ellen DeGeneres came out on national TV, becoming an instant icon on the strength of being the first mainstream star to do so. Children who hadn’t started kindergarten then are old enough to vote now.
We repeat today what we said last year in regard to same-sex marriage because it applies equally well to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: It may be a non-issue to most of us, but it is vitally important to the people directly involved, and their numbers are such that we as a society should, and will eventually have to, address their concerns.
However, in terms of importance, ahead of that debate we would prioritize our roads, our bridges, our schools, our jails, our half billion dollar budget hole, our economic development, our fishing industry, our (collective) anti-business reputation and cleaning up whatever mess is left by the Baldacci regime as it slinks out of town.
We won’t even discuss federal issues here. They bring their own world of angst.
The good news is we have a veritable buyer’s market of issues in which to immerse ourselves. The bad news is we have put off dealing with so much of it for so long, we are basically at crisis level anywhere we care to start.
In short, we have plenty to do, and what we regard as priorities affect us all: gay, straight, white, Hispanic, native Mainer or import from away. It makes no difference. We are all in this together, whether we accept each other or not.
