History in the making, all week
Momentous signals of social change in unions, race, health
WASHINGTON — From gay rights to health care to the fading glory of the Confederate battle flag, a series of momentous decisions this week pointed to a changing social landscape across America, with Florida very much in the midst of it.
After a long period of stalemate in Washington, and confrontations in many states, a series of landmark court rulings and a shocked reaction to racial violence have settled some longstanding conflicts.
This was the week the fledgling Affordable Care Act became firmly rooted as the law of the land after the Supreme Court upheld subsidies for health insurance that affect Florida most of all.
The high court also established same-sex marriage as a Constitutional
right, a ruling especially welcomed by South Florida’s large gay and lesbian community.
And across the South, the Confederate battle flag began to come down, a sign of growing intolerance for symbols perceived as hateful and racist.
All these developments bolstered positions taken by President Obama, the would-be transformative figure who promised change and has struggled for nearly seven years to deliver it.
“Any way you cut it, it’s been a pretty good week for the president,” said Kevin Wagner, a political analyst at Florida Atlantic University. “That doesn’t necessarily translate into Democratic Party success here in Florida. They haven’t done too well in statewide elections. They just need to get better organized.”
The week’s developments reflect shifts in public opinion that have been building for some time in favor of same-sex marriage and against symbols that divide the races, Wagner and other observers said.
For many years, Florida Democrats in Congress — notably Alcee Hastings of Delray Beach and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston — have been at the forefront of attempts to establish equal rights for gays and lesbians. They hailed the high court’s decision Friday as the culmination of such efforts.
“For our brothers and sisters who left us too soon, this ruling is many years late — but for all future generations, this ruling consecrates the bonds of marriage between all Americans, no matter who they love,” Wasserman Schultz said.
The congresswoman also has been a leading advocate for the health care system known as Obamacare. It provides tax credits to help 1.32 million Floridians pay for insurance — the most in the nation.
The Supreme Court upheld those subsidies Thursday, a landmark decision that discourages further legal challenges.
The decline of the Confederate battle flag reflects attempts to dispose of symbols from the 19th century that remain divisive, especially in the wake of the shooting deaths this month of nine African-Americans in a church in Charleston, S.C.
Leaders in South Carolina and other Southern states said it was time to haul down the flag from public places — a tipping point in this long-running controversy. In Florida, two African-American lawmakers have implored state Senate leaders to schedule a discussion about removing the battle flag from their chamber’s official seal.
The week’s developments indicated a turning point on issues such as same-sex marriage and health care, but they did not end controversies surrounding them.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and other Republicans vowed to keep fighting to repeal and replace Obamacare. And conservative Christian groups are bitterly opposed to same-sex marriage.
After the marriage ruling was announced, John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Policy Council, lamented: “This sad day in history will forever reflect the fact that the highest court of our land ignored the rule of law and the will of 51 million people in over 38 states in an illegitimate act of raw judicial power and arrogance.
“Our response to this is that we double down on our efforts to rebuild a culture of marriage,” Stemberger said. “We will never concede, and we will never give up.”