Two good things

[unjapanologist]

Flanders held local elections yesterday. I've been more concerned with European than national or local politics in the past few years, but I voted by proxy (it's compulsory) and I'm going to live there again next year, so I'm trying to catch up.

Two good things that happened:

• The Green Party, which is often refreshingly thoughtful when it comes to matters of copyright (they proposed legalizing downloading for personal use, heavily opposed ACTA, etc) did very well, with about eighty new local representatives across Flanders. Congrats!
• While browsing for elections news, I came across this photo. It was taken last Thursday in Leuven, where my university is, and it shows local representatives of all political parties (except the xenophobic extreme right one, which lost big in the election) lining up in front of a rainbow flag in the town square. They're there to show their support for a series of proposed measures to encourage more open participation by LGBT people in society. With discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation mostly eradicated on a legal level, representatives of LGBT organizations say it's now time to focus on creating a more open and tolerant environment in daily life.

Belgium is a bit of a mess in political terms, and there's plenty of dubious stuff going on. But I'm relieved and (yes, okay, I'll say it) proud to have a country where it's not controversial for politicians from across the whole political spectrum to take a group photo in front of a giant rainbow flag, with a church in the background, four days before an election. 



Source: Zizo Online (Dutch)

Comments

[anatsuno]

yes, yes! I would be proud too. this is a great photo. <3

[unjapanologist]

I LOVE THAT WHALE *cough*

There's plenty of discrimination left in daily life in Belgium, and there are definitely circumstances where I'd hesitate to say that I'm bi. But sometimes I forget how far we've come.

As in, I just realized that I could also have mentioned in the post that Belgium's current prime minister is openly gay. But the man has been at the forefront of national politics for as long as I can remember, and his being gay is treated as such a total non-issue that it just slipped my mind completely. Now that I think about it, that's... wow.

[angrymermaids]

Compulsory voting? That's crazy! And probably a good idea.

That is a gorgeous picture. I wish our politicians could do something like that without worrying about the crazy far-right voters. We have too many of them.

Also, I live in a part of the country (and come from a family) that is so backwards as far as LGBT rights go that any bit of progress is cause for celebration. :P I'd love to march with Mormons for Marriage Equality but I have not a single peep about any sort of Omaha Pride event. :(

[unjapanologist]

The merits and demerits of compulsory voting are debated endlessly. Not voting is punishable only in theory, though. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for not showing up.

Oh, that site looks lovely. And this is a nice fact to know! How about Iowa? Nothing there that you could take part in?

[angrymermaids]

That is a nice fact! *sends to mother*

I don't know of anything in Iowa. Even so, Iowa has both same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws, while Nebraska has neither. It's so weird. It's about an hour or so to the Iowa border. On the other side, I can run off and get married. On this side, I could technically be fired for my sexual orientation.

[unjapanologist]

The different state laws sound incredibly confusing. I have no idea how you keep things straight! Well, whether you can marry in a state or not is probably an easy thing to remember, but it sounds like there are all sorts of differences.

Suppose you run off and get married in Iowa, would that marriage have any sort of validity in Nebraska?

[angrymermaids]

Yeah, the little things are confusing. Marriage laws are high-profile, but it's the other stuff that's hard to figure out or remember. Like, waitstaff in Nebraska do not need to have a food handler's permit but we do have to take a class down at the courthouse on serving alcohol. Food handler's permits back in Washington were a big deal for everyone though.

I don't think so. Nebraska has a law defining marriage as between a man and woman (boo) so they don't have to recognize same-sex marriages. It would be recognized in Washington, New York, Massachusetts, and all other states that recognize same-sex marriage. I guess it is kind of confusing.