from the week of December 19 2004

Evan Wolfson sent me this great column by Ellen Goodman at the Boston Globe. She challenges the popular assumption that gay marriage cost the Democrats the election and argues that change should not wait for people to be comfortable:

"One of the more tenacious ideas about the 2004 presidential election is that same-sex marriage dunnit. The decision to legalize gay marriage in Massachusetts and the pictures of weddings in San Francisco, New York, and Oregon "energized" the Republican base and reelected the president.

Well, not exactly. Eleven states had ballot amendments against gay marriage, but eight of those states were unalterably Republican. In the 3 battleground states, Kerry actually did better than Gore. All in all, only 2 percent of voters said gay rights was their most important issue. And Kerry, we need to remember, opposed same-sex marriage."

Posted on December 20 2004, 10:37AM | Permalink

I don't have time to write a full review right now, but I do want to say that last night I saw and enjoyed August Wilson's new play, Gem of the Ocean, now playing on Broadway.

The play was not nearly as slow and turgid as Wilson's King Hedley II. Phylicia Rashad is wonderful as Aunt Esther, the 287-year-old magical matriarch who inspires the play. Set in 1904 Pittsburgh, the play is the ninth in Wilson's series of ten plays, one for each decade of the twentieth century.

Gem of the Ocean is playing at the Walter Kerr Theater in New York, 219 West 48th Street.

Posted on December 22 2004, 2:51PM | Permalink