In reply to Matthew Dessem.

That's a very good point about voter turnout, which I hadn't been considering. When analysts where trying to make sense of the 2008 election, the significance of the black and latino vote wasn't just that they voted for Obama, it was that voter turnout was higher than it'd been for other elections.

If that's the case, it is possible that it could still have legs as something to encourage apathetic or cynical voters to show up and vote. The only reason this still has as much attention as it does is that it's so easy to frame as a simple, easy-to-digest ideological/moral debate, which is harder to do for the economy. Realistically, it should be a non-issue: it directly affects such a small part of the population, and it's a slam-dunk by any rational definition. You wouldn't have so many people claiming that it's a nuanced, complicated issue with lots of gray area if it didn't have value as a "wedge issue", tricking people into thinking they were standing up for their beliefs, instead of just passing arbitrary judgment against a minority.

I'm still inclined to think that the people who'd be fired up to go to the polls to take a stand against the homosexual lifestyle, would be more turned off at the idea of voting for a Mormon. But that may just be another case of over-simplified stereotyping.

And I'm still uncomfortable even with the idea of saying that Obama has done more for gay rights than any other President. It's more that he's done less to oppose gay rights. Which is why seeing the huge billboard over the health clinic in the Castro this morning — THANK YOU OBAMA! in big letters — just further annoys and frustrates me. Obama said, essentially, that he disagrees with Prop 8 in principle but still believes that the system worked exactly as it's supposed to. And all the people who were in tears at the injustice of it are now saying that they're thankful for it, almost as if that's the best they deserve.

Trying to articulate exactly why it annoys me so much has made me realize that the past 6-7 years have basically destroyed my trust in people. I used to take people's arguments at face value; now it just seems like nothing more than stalling tactics or at best, apathy. "This is what I believe" used to be important; now, it always takes the form "This is what I believe, and I won't do anything about it," or "This is what I believe, and no rational argument will convince me otherwise." And since public opinion has changed to the point that even the GOP is starting to realize they can't capitalize on anti-gay sentiment, but anti-gay rights referendums are still getting passed with pretty much the same frequency, it seems like plenty of people are saying "This is what I believe" and then going to the polls and secretly voting the opposite.

And again, what made me enthusiastic about voting for Obama, as opposed to just begrudgingly voting for Kerry, was the ideal of getting away from that, using plain talk to address everything instead of spin, and getting at the facts instead of passion or dogma. I wish it were possible to just take Obama's statement as a good thing just on its own merits. Again, a lot of people, especially younger people, will be reassured by the message and end up being less afraid. But when it's impossible to defend the policy other than by talking about being politically savvy, or saying it's better than most, then for me it destroys the idea that anyone's being honest anymore. I'm just no longer confident that there's going to be any justice around this issue in my lifetime. And it seems so unnecessary.