Tag Archives: LBGT

Same-Sex Marriage & the Urge to Localize

Two decades ago, when I was a young pup in the journalism biz, an editor gave me an assignment that I thought the height of absurdity.

I was told to “localize” the Rodney King riots.

I should mention that, at the time, I worked nowhere near Los Angeles or even in a city. I was at a newspaper in north-central New Jersey in a suburban county that was probably 99 percent white.  Essentially, I was being told to go find some black people to talk to.

“I think that this event is as historic to blacks as the JFK assassination was to the country,” said my overly confident, middle-aged white editor, as if he knew what in the world he was talking about.

Since then, I’ve scoffed at the old journalism nugget of localizing national stories, so was hesitant this morning to join the media throng, which was assembling in full force at the LGBT Community Center of Central Pa., to hear the Supreme Court’s decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.

By the time I got there, satellite trucks already lined N. 3rd Street in front of the center in Midtown Harrisburg. Inside, a large bank of cameras peered onto the rows of folding chairs that the Center’s Executive Director Louie Marven had hurriedly put out. In front, he had set up a screen with a Twitter feed that gave real-time updates of the decisions.

As the 10 a.m. announcement neared, most of the seats were occupied. I sat in the front row chatting with Center board President Stuart Landon about this and that. Then someone said, “Quiet, quiet,” and the buzz in the room silenced.

The decision was in: a split court ruled DOMA to be unconstitutional. A loud cheer went up. People hugged. “Of course, it’s unconstitutional!” one woman called out, expressing her personal belief more than the inevitability of the decision.

For the next 10 minutes, people huddled in groups to discuss specifically what this meant in Pennsylvania. Not too much at the moment, they agreed. Still, it was necessary, they said, both in terms of the continuing battle for equality and for ensuring that Pennsylvania couples are not denied federal benefits once the commonwealth approves same-sex marriage, which they vowed to work hard to make happen.

In contrast, the subsequent decision over Prop 8, which basically sent the matter back to Californians to decide for themselves, was something of a letdown, but generally didn’t surprise the crowd.

“This is what I expected to happen,” said City Treasurer John Campbell, who viewed the day’s decisions as another step forward in the fight.

I can’t say that the day’s events changed my mind about the value (or lack thereof) of localizing national stories. I still think it’s cheap, brainless journalism, such stories assigned by editors who rarely leave their cubicles and know nothing about the communities they allegedly serve.

But, on this day, there actually was a story — and a good one at that — as a roomful of people rejoiced together, believing momentum was on their side, that, some day soon, gay couples in the Harrisburg area would enjoy legal equality in their relationships.

 

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