Headlines here in the U.S. have been dominated in recent days by the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the controversial Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA -- the 1996 bill signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton to restrict the rights and recognition of same-sex couples -- appears to be on the way out in the U.S. Whether or not the court will repeal the 17-year old law is uncertain. What is certain is the public mood on the matter: Recent polling shows ever-increasing support for same-sex marriage in the United States.
America -- which has, at times, lagged behind the rest of the Western world on issues of race, gender and sexual preference -- has a historically methodical tendency of addressing divisive social inequities. This plodding deliberation is coupled with an often inspiring propensity to face these problems loudly and publicly once public policy catches up with public outcry. But while a decade of war on two continents and in two Muslim countries did little to aid America's image in the Muslim world, they have done little to dent the U.S.'s mass appeal to people from the emerging world. A recent survey by Gallup shows that 138 million would-be emigrants prefer the United States to every other nation in the world, making it the world's most desirable destination for aspiring immigrants.
Relatedly, another Gallup poll from last year suggests that the immigrant experience in Europe is on the decline, as the continent's recent economic woes -- coupled with a spike in nationalist sentiment -- have made Europe a less than hospitable destination for immigrants looking for a better life. Instances of discrimination and, in some cases, violent assault against immigrants in countries such as economically distressed Greece serve as just one example of what appears to be a recent step backward for multicultural Europe. Tensions between capitals and cultures across the continent have tarnished the pan-European identity and driven its citizens back into the warm embrace of their flags.
This is an incredibly disturbing trend for European nations in need of immigrants to offset a continent-wide decline in birth rates. Muslim immigrants -- representing a sizeable chunk of new arrivals to the continent -- have long represented a kind of stalking horse for more than a few burgeoning nationalist movements in Europe, with Islamic dress being a frequent target of these groups.
That controversy has returned to the forefront in France, where face-concealing Muslim garb like the niqab have been illegal in public places since 2011, and from public primary and secondary schools since 2004. One recent poll shows over 80 percent of French in favor of banning Muslim veils and all other religious clothing in private workspaces and businesses. This comes on the heels of the country's top court ruling on the case of Fatima Afif, a nursery school employee fired in 2008 for refusing to remove her headscarf. France's sizeable Muslim population -- the largest in the European Union -- has found itself at odds with the devout secularism in French public life for nearly a decade, the Afif case being just the latest manifestation.
Both the old and the new worlds could benefit from what the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan referred to as "benign neglect." The U.S. government -- behind much of the Western world on gay rights -- now appears ready to divorce itself from the business of same-sex couples. European nations -- desperately in need of more Europeans -- would do well to follow suit and not allow anti-immigrant sentiment and public secularism to infringe on the individual rights of others.
Most European countries are more progressive than America on gay rights, but it could be in the eventual reversal of DOMA that the United States sets an example for the rest of the West. America, in some ways, has long had an advantage over its European friends on matters of migrants and cultural preferences.
"The U.S. is a magnet, and many people can envisage themselves as Americans, in part because so many successful Americans look like them," explains Harvard Professor Joseph Nye. "Moreover, connections between immigrants and their families and friends back home help to convey accurate and positive information about the U.S."
As a nation of migrants and mutts, Americans have historically found common ground in their laws and liberties. That general truth has, at times, fallen victim to government overreach or indifference motivated by politics and ignorance -- often both. The U.S. appears ready to remedy one of these historical errors in the case of DOMA, a move our friends across the pond might wish to take note of in regard to religious liberties. France and Belgium both have laws either curtailing or outright prohibiting face-concealing religious attire, with several more on the books at the state and city levels across the continent. The U.S. -- often the butt of jokes for its parochial, "Christianist" ways -- has zero.
"The compelling argument is on the side of homosexuals," argued conservative TV host Bill O'Reilly during one of his recent broadcasts. "'We're Americans, we just want to be treated like everybody else.' That is a compelling argument."
Indeed it is, and not just here in the U.S., but in all free societies around the globe.
