The dark is rising indeed.

[aquabean]

Unwarranted references to children's literature aside, it's true.

pvt_tiger called me up this morning from her desk upstairs and in greeting said, "The Apocalypse has started."

"I know!"

"No, really, the world's going to end and--"

"I know! I heard on NPR this morning."

"O'connor?"

"Yeah."

"It's all over."

"Pretty much."

It's true though. Our fears have been realized, though it comes from a corner I know I wasn't expecting it from. What's interesting is that if you go to the BBC News homepage you'll see a link to an article. It's right under the headline. "Battle ahead for nation's soul."

I told PT that I was going to move to Canada or Mexico. As a queer female minority, it's hard not to feel more than a little nervous. At the same time you can't just walk away. You can't just give up and not fight, not try protect those around you, who'll come after you. Except, as I told PT, "So wait, after this what am I going to do? Fight from jail?" I fear for the civil liberties of a country that is slowly being forced into a position of moral quicksand by an administration who has no problem uses fear as a weapon against its own citizenry.

Living in California is safe. Or safer. There's a liberal sensibility that pervades much of what we do. The wailing of gnashing of teeth this morning has been gratifying. More than a few email have gone out, all of them begging for this not to be true, all of them voicing the same fears. I admit I don't know enough about politics to be able to say anything more in-depth. It doesn't mean I'm not going to go out and learn more. I've said before that it's our job to arm ourselves, to prepare for a fight we all know is coming. Well, the first shot has been fired -- really, it was fired ages and ages ago, but maybe this will galvanize more people than just me -- and it's time to fire back.

Comments

[wildelamassu.livejournal.com]

As a queer female minority, it's hard not to feel more than a little nervous.

Hell, as any kind of female, it's hard not to feel more than a little nervous. O'Connor was the swing vote on women's issues. As a sexually active straight woman, I am very, very concerned about the future of birth control and abortion and this country.

I'm betting Rehnquist will follow some time later this week.

[runefallstar.livejournal.com]

It's true that at this point I doubt they'd actually be able to do anything like take birth control away, but at the same time access to things like the morning after pill and actual sex education -- as opposed to say, the "abstinence only" classing being taught in states like Texas -- may become nearly impossible.

And with the way that the Christian Right seems to be latching on to current political climate worry that issues like the bans on gay marriage will be ruled as being allowable under the constitution, if only because the weight of the Supreme Court has shifted, and not because of any actual legitimacy. Look at the laws that have been passed in places like Virginia. Did you know that there, you and I couldn't own property together? Even if we were simply business partners and happened to own a store and the land it stood on, the contract would become invalid because we're both women. Any contract or institution that gives the same -- in any capacity -- rights as marriage, to two people of the same sex is no longer valid in Virginia.

This also applies if you're only passing through. So, say you and I were actually dating. We've been together for 25 years and I have a living will. I give YOU the right to decide if I'm kept on life support for the rest of my life should anything happen to me. We've talked and I've said I'd rather be unplugged. But we just happen to be driving through the state when we're hit by a buss and I end up in the hospital. Suddenly, that contract is no longer valid. *Poof* Just like that.

Or, say we're best friends, but not actually SO's. You have two kids. Your husband died years ago, and you decided that if anything happens to you, I get the kids. We live in Virginia. Well, the moment this law went into effect, back in June or July of this last year, that whole will -- legally binding in every other state -- is completely moot.

It all seems pretty unconstitutional to me. But I worry. Because major issues like this are now going to be up against something that is that much harder to fight. Are we going to have to wait 60 years like the civil rights movement? Geh.

And now I'm all worked up about it. Heh. Sorry. I mean, I know it's not the end of the world, but that sense that personal rights are going to be coming under more direct fire is hard to stave off.

[wildelamassu.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I had no idea it had gotten that bad there. We're with ya, dude.