The state's lone stand against bigotry only lasted two years, it looks like. Proposition 102, to ban gay marriage, is headed for a huge win. Only Coconino County, which includes the college town of Flagstaff, is breaking ranks and voting "no."
In 2006, Arizona became the only state to vote down a same-sex marriage ban; the measure was very broad and even included straight unmarried people, a big problem for the state's large retiree population, who sometimes live in sin if marriage would impact their taxes or benefits. Version 2.0 is purely targeted against gays. I guess the folks in Arizona have lost their empathy along with their 401(k)s.
I am getting more and more ill about California, where, as I write this, the polls haven't yet closed. All across the nation, people have chosen as their president a black man whose life story is nothing like theirs, in its particularity, really, nothing much like anyone's. Even in Arizona, John McCain's home for 26 years, Obama is down only by about 10 points. But when it gets to gays the empathy stops. Will that ever change.
