A loud, gasping death...

So, it passed. The big one.  The amendment that gives discrimination a sacred place in our State Constitution.
But was does it's passing really mean?  I don't mean legally--for those of us against the measure, the implications--and dangers--were very clear.  What I mean is, what are the cultural implications?  How does an amendment like this pass in 2012?  How does it pass when national support for gay marriage is so "high"?  Some polls suggest that 50% or better of the population is in support of making gay marriage legal.
I have an idea.  It involves the last, gasping breaths of a culture about to turn the corner of history.  Some deaths are quiet, peaceful processes.  Others are fought to the bitter end, with gasps for air and pleas to a higher power to grant more time on this side of Heaven. Just as other cultural beliefs--on the whole--had to die, so this will too.  When women fought for the right to vote, there were loud, guttural protests from a culture that did not want to relinquish its political power to women.  When civil rights were finally granted to Black citizens--as they always should have been--once again the cries of a dying cultural system could be heard.  This is no different. It is painful for all of us--those who have already walked the path in support of equality, and those of us who will come along kicking, screaming, fighting, and voting in support of another time in History.