"Gay Rights" and "Civil Rights"--Same Thing?

Many opponents of Proposition 8 have characterized the current "gay rights" movement as being virtually identical the the civil rights movement that began in the 60s involving Americans of African heritage. Are they really the same thing? I think this is an important question, because if they are then I've got some serious soul searching to do.

The struggle for African American civil rights sought to bring basic personal protections to people who had never had them before. We're talking about things like being able to drink from a public water fountain, eat lunch at a diner, sit in any seat on a bus, getting an education at a public school, voting, getting a job, even walking down the street without getting firehosed.

Prop 8 had nothing to do with fundamental personal rights like those mentioned above. "Gay" people have long enjoyed the same fundamental personal rights anyone else does. And when it comes to civil rights for "gay" couples, the law (specifically, the California Domestic Partnership Act of 2005) declares that registered same-sex domestic partnerships shall have civil rights that are absolutely equal to those granted heterosexual marriages. And those rights are eminently enforceable in the courts.

So, opposing Prop 8 had nothing to do with obtaining new civil rights. How can you obtain something you already have?

Opposing Prop 8 WAS a demand to society for a new privilege, not a new right. That new privilege was redefining the word "marriage" to include the behavioral choices of "gay" people.

Who decides what the legal meaning of a word that affects our entire society should be? How can you decide such a question fairly? It seems to me the only possible way to do that is by voting. The most fundamental concept of governing in our democratic republic is "the consent of the governed".

A civil right is a vastly different thing than the definition of a word. To me, "gay" rights is almost a misnomer. I am not aware of any civil right I now have under California law that a "gay" person does not also have.

California law says that "domestic partnerships" and "marriages" have identical civil rights. The fact that my "domestic partnership" is legally called a "marriage" does not affect any "gay" couple's civil rights in any way. Nor does it grant me any new or different rights beyond those "gay" couples already have.

In my opinion, equating the Prop 8 fight with the civil rights movement that began in the 60s is a canard. I'll buy the argument that the Prop 8 fight was about respect, but I am not convinced it was ever about rights.