Andy Pugno Pokes Fun At Gay Stress: Are We There Yet?
Gotta love the guy’s chutzpah. The lead counsel for the Prop 8 defense Andrew Pugno just doesn’t seem to get that being treated as less than or being viewed by society as some sort of freak somehow can actually impact a person’s self-worth. In his latest entry on the Protect Marriage blog he compares what he obviously views as the ridiculous notion of gay social stress and outcastdom as similar to special class considerations and imaginary demands of stutterers and exceptionally tall people.
Andrew really? Oh really?
It blows our mind the level of insensitivity and lack of empathy others display when not having had to walk in someone else’s shoes. Of course it would be hard to showcase the prism of emotions one carries throughout their daily lives when a majority of one’s society has determined that you are not worthy of the same privileges as they. That’s just not something you can act out in an impromptu game of charades. It either takes having the experience yourself to know the feeling or the simple act of compassion and the willingness to understand another human beings challenges when it it is so very clear that their path is very different than your own.
You’d think a college educated and intelligent man like Pugno could easily grasp that. But there’s almost this stubborn and unforgiving refusal to acknowledge that Prop 8 hurt people—-period. As though to do so would be a treason of sorts. To simply acknowledge that it hurt other human beings. Even if to just put the sexual identity aspect and constitutionality of it aside and just acknowledge that it hurt somebody. Is that too much to ask?
Here’s Pugno’s summation of the Prop 8 trial, day 4
Are We There Yet?
by Andy Pugno – General Counsel on January 15th, 2010
As testimony today droned on from yet another plaintiff expert bemoaning perceived discrimination against gays and lesbians, I couldn’t help but think of the stereotypical long drive with a car full of kids, getting the same question every ten minutes: are we there yet? No matter the subject matter expertise of the expert the plaintiffs have called, they have all made the same claim: gays and lesbians have their feelings hurt because society does not see their relationships as marriage. The testimony has been replete with complaints about public attitudes: sideways glances as gay men walk together down the street, upraised eyebrows when a gay couple checks into a hotel and asks for a room with a king bed, disapproving looks from a bank officer when opening a joint account, etc. Today we heard that gays and lesbians are susceptible to stress and depression over negative public attitudes, and that the passage of Prop 8 elevated their stressful feelings.
Testimony this afternoon from yet another academician and anti-Prop 8 donor stated homosexuals have a higher rate of mental disorders than the general population due to the stress caused by supposed stigmatization of being gay (though he admitted that his studies of social and minority stress is at odds with several other studies on the issue). This stress, presumably, justifies designating gays and lesbians as a suspect class entitled to special legal protections that make it easier for Judge Walker to issue a ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. By that reasoning, I couldn’t help but think of other groups of people who might feel stress over social stigmatization. Are obese people a special legal class? Stutterers? Exceptionally tall people? If an exceptionally tall, stuttering, obese gay couple was really stressed out over the passage of Prop 8, does that increase the chances that the measure is unconstitutional?
Tomorrow we hear from three more plaintiffs experts who believe that gays and lesbians are subject to social disapproval and discrimination.
Are we there yet?
Possibly Related Posts:
- No TV Action For Prop 8 Closing Arguments
- Religious Org Wants Judge Walker To Excuse Himself From Prop 8 Trial
- SF Chron Says Prop 8 Judge Vaughn Walker Is Gay
- Courage Campaign Accuses Prop 8 Attorney Of Public Funds Misuse
- Re-enactment Of Prop 8 Trial Day One
