Tag: Marriage

Could “Family Values” Help Gay Marriage?

This subject has nothing but dynamite attached to it…..but the party of “family values” is losing its hold on the term.  Repub after Repub is caught in the act of marital infidelity, so how can they keep spouting the crap they spout?

Attorney Evan Wolfson has made some very compelling observations:

Wolfson doesn’t believe the central issue is Sanford’s infidelity. “It’s his abuse of power, his hypocrisy and his dereliction of public duty.” He paints all the “family values” politicians who commit marital infidelities with the same brush.

“They are all self-proclaimed moral crusaders who demonize and discriminate against some of their constituents because they’re gay and then turn around and flout the so-called morality that they invoked against gay people,” he said. “To me, the really unpardonable part is not their personal failings; it’s their political and policy choices that turn out to be so hypocritical and destructive.”

So, then, why do social conservatives insist on linking marriage and religion when same-sex marriage advocates are not asking that religious institutions must marry lesbians and gays, Wolfson says there are really two different groups at play:

He believes that there are some among the opposition who are truly “theocratic” and would like to impose on others their biblically derived laws in defiance of the U.S. Constitution. But others use religion as an excuse because they are still uncomfortable with gay people and conflicted about the freedom to marry.

How, then can marriage equality advocates use the “family values” politicians committing marital indiscretions to their advantage? “I think that their hypocrisy speaks for itself and helps move the case for legalization forward,” Wolson said. “Because many of them have been the bomb-throwing leaders of the anti-gay campaign, every time one of them is taken out it allows for the fair-minded to think anew and move in the right direction.”

Advocates aren’t just sitting by watching the conservative hypocrites self-destruct. They are reaching out to those who are religious and remain on the fence about supporting same-sex marriage.

I really hate to be a buzz kill….but the religious right will not get off the marriage thing…no matter how many of their “flock” stray.

When Marie Osmond Speaks……

Will the LDS church be listening?  Marie Osmond talks openly about her daughter, her faith and gay marriage.  Her 21 year old daughter is openly gay.

And her comments do seem to suggest she supports what the LDS Church does not.  “I believe everyone should have the right to share homes and finances with somebody that they care about. You know, on those types of things, I am very supportive. When it comes to marriage, you know, I think civil rights need to be for all.”

“Everybody has a right to believe what they believe. But I do think everyone has a right to have civil rights.”

Marie seems to go against her brother, Donny, as well as the LDS Church, but she shows courage and a sense of reality.  She has grown out of that “Donny & Marie” days and has become a woman with a mind and courage.  Kudos…Marie!

New York Moves Into The Gay Marriage Fray

Gov. David A. Paterson plans to introduce legislation on Thursday to make marriage between same-sex couples legal in New York, advancing his push for greater rights for gay men and lesbians, at a time when other states have done so.

But it is also something of a political gamble, because the legislation faces an uphill climb in the State Senate. Democrats acknowledge that they do not have enough votes there to get the measure approved, meaning that its chances could rest in the hands of a few Republicans.

The governor also risks alienating socially conservative voters at a time when he can least afford to drive away any more support.

Some same-sex-marriage supporters said they hoped that by introducing the measure now, when it is likely to receive plenty of attention after the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision this month overturning a ban on same-sex marriage and the Vermont Legislature’s vote last week to override a veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, the governor would create momentum for the bill.

Paterson is facing an uphill battle if he wants to be re-elected as governor……this is just looking for support wherever he can find it……but beyond the game…..it is a promising sign, but as written, a very very long shot in the state legislature.

Are You Sure We Are Talking About Iowa?

The Iowa Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling Friday finding that the state’s same-sex-marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making Iowa the third state where marriage is legal.

In its decision, the court upheld a 2007 district court judge’s ruling that the law violates the state constitution. It strikes the language from Iowa code limiting marriage to only between a man a woman.

“The court reaffirmed that a statute inconsistent with the Iowa constitution must be declared void even though it may be supported by strong and deep-seated traditional beliefs and popular opinion,” said a summary of the ruling issued by the court.

Are you sure we are talking about Iowa?  A unanimous decision?  All the others like New Hampshire or California were split decisions, but Iowa?

This is a great civil rights victory for gays and will be interesting to see where it will lead.  Will other states follow suit?

Government In My Life

I have never wanted the government to tell me that I could smoke or not.  Or read porn or not.  Or be gay or not.  Or anything that involved my private life.  What I do in my private life is absolutely none of their business.  If I am hurting NO one but myself…then leave me the hell alone!

But now the government has gone a bit far…even for those a/holes!

The federal government is funding a $5 million national media campaign that launches this month, extolling the virtues of marriage for those ages 18 to 30.

Research suggests a bevy of benefits for those who marry, including better health, greater wealth and more happiness for the couple, and improved well-being for children.

Some say the government has no business using tax dollars to promote marriage. But others say the campaign is just like those conducted by other federal agencies to encourage the use of seat belts and discourage drug use, smoking and drunken driving.

With ads on social networking sites Facebook and MySpace, videos on YouTube, spots on radio talk shows, ads in magazines and public transportation and a new website (TwoOfUs.org), creators say the aim is to start a national conversation about marriage.

Resource center project director Mary Myrick of Oklahoma City says the media campaign has a budget of $1.25 million a year for four years; the campaign is part of the federal Healthy Marriage Initiative, a Bush administration effort under the Administration for Children & Families.

In 2005, Congress allocated $750 million over five years to the marriage initiative, with $100 million a year for marriage-related programs and $50 million a year supporting fatherhood programs. Of those dollars, the resource center is receiving $2 million each year over five years. The media campaign money is an additional annual allocation, according to HHS.

Now, the government will be spending my tax money to tell people the benefits of getting married, is that about it?  They are going to be persuading people that marriage is the only way to live life?  They are going to tell people that marriage the only acceptable way to fit into society, right?

Am I the only one that thinks that this is just so much crap?

Florida’s Crist Gets Engaged

NOw this puts a new turn on the Repub VP stakes.  Romney was my fav to be the VP only because Crist was a bachelor…that is about to change and so has my fav for the VP job.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist won’t be sleeping alone in the governor’s mansion much longer — he is engaged to a woman he met in New York City last September.

Crist, 51, asked Carole Rome to marry him Thursday morning, giving her a blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds.

She said yes.

“What a great way to celebrate America’s birthday,” said Crist, who has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Rome, 38, is the president of her family’s New York-area Halloween costume company. Crist said they met at a dinner where he and friends were discussing fundraising. Crist was briefly married while in college but was divorced in less than a year.

Damn!  The things people will do to get a job.