Another nation takes a step towards the right side of history.
Argentina’s Senate passed a gay marriage law early on Thursday following more than 14 hours of charged debate, as hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the Congress in near-freezing temperatures. Senators voted 33-27 for the proposal, with three abstentions.
“We’re now a fairer, more democratic society. This is something we should all celebrate,” Maria Rachid, a leading gay rights activist, said as supporters of the law hugged each other and jumped up and down after the vote.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez supports gay marriage on human rights grounds and is expected to sign the law after her return from a state visit to China.
Good. There will be more happy individuals in Argentina, with no adverse effects on society whatsoever.
Filed under: News, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: Argentina, gay marriage, Same-sex marriage |
For the Sake of Science 
Sanity is spreading.
Every crazy person thinks they are sane.
Lots of people thought they were on the right side of history, luckily its not really history until 30-40 years later once the consequences are clear in the longer term. Just like with W, it is impossible and irresponsible to determine how good or bad his presidency was, at least for a couple of decades. Clinton and Reagan are in the same boat. Carter is just now being analyzed in depth.
Lets give it a while before we start declaring what side of history was right.
While I agree with Nate that it may be “too soon” to be sure which way history is going, I think that Michael is probably going to be proved right on this one.
Look at the trend of recent history just in this country: until the 1950’s everyone pretended gays did not exist; until the 1970’s or 80’s they were treated with contempt and derision; until the 2000’s no one (including me) thought that marriage equality would even be on the horizon anywhere in the US. In 2010 we have same sex marriage in several states of varied political complexion, and there are plenty of openly gay business people, teachers, elected officials, entertainers, etc. This is a broadly supported social change. The chance of anyone, for religious reasons or not, stuffing all of these people back in the closet is miniscule.
It is just as likely that Jim Crow will get any popular traction, and I can tell you from personal observation that there were plenty of folks in the 1960’s who still thought that the civil rights genie could be put back in the bottle. The evidence at the time was that they were “on the wrong side of history”. I see a very similar dynamic at work here.