Last Thursday's ruling by the California Supreme Court to legalize gay marriages in that state seems to have continued the slow wave of acceptance washing across the U.S.: today came news that Miami-Dade county commissioners voted 8-4 to recognize domestic partnerships between unmarried couples that not only cover county employees in regards to employee benefits, but also allows unmarried couples - gay or straight- to register for visits to their partners in county hospitals and correctional facilities. This vote follows other counties in South Florida that have had similar polices in effect for years.
Florida can be viewed as a litmus test for other townships, counties and other such governing bodies as it was the state that had a much publicized ban on certain gay rights due to the (misguided) efforts of the opinionated Anita Bryant in the late '70s. If Florida can change, maybe middle-America can also.
These recent rulings may also be a sign of acceptance of the LGBT community in large populated areas across the U.S. Turn on your television and you see gay leading characters in top-rated prime time series on the number two television network – ABC; the success of the LGBT oriented channel LOGO and other such programming on major movies channels such as Showtime (backed by the number one network CBS), the recognition and financial success of major motion pictures with LGBT themes such as Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and future projects such as Milk based on the life of openly gay California official Harvey Milk, could indicate that maybe the public – and more importantly corporate America - IS finally considering the LGBT community as part of mainstream America.
We could probably be seeing the start of the final chapter in the gay rights movement, leading hopefully, to a time in the (not too distant future) where the term "gay rights movement" may be seen as redundant.
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