Senator Obama opposes same-sex marriage ban, and same sex marriage
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 8:07am 2 comments (last by Jah)
In a letter yesterday, Senator Barack Obama stated his opposition to an amendment to the California State Constitution taking away the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry.
In his carefully worded letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic club the Senator never refers directly to the ammendment or mentions his position on same-sex marriage.
"...I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.
"For too long. issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans."
Notice the switch to the passive voice in the second paragraph, because while he might support all that dignity and equality stuff, he's not actually going to do anything about it.
You can find his actual position on equal marriage rights on his LGBT page (here's the PDF) in answer to an HRC questionnaire. The senator circled that he opposes equal marriage rights and after saying some stuff about how he supports equal rights he writes:
"I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman. If I was President, however, I would oppose any effort to stifle a state's ability to decide this question on its own. Whether it was a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage or a bill like the Defense of Marriage Act, I would oppose such efforts. I think the President should do all he or she can to advance strong families. Whatever the make-up of the family, it is the President's role to provide policies and leadership that enable the family to thrive.
Senator Obama takes an easy out opposing a constitutional amendment to take away rights. It's especially easy since same-sex couples don't have the right to get married in this country, save for Massachusetts and now California.
In his own words, Senator Obama writes that it's time for change, but unfortunately he hasn't shown the leadership to get out of that passive voice and say he supports equal, 100% equal, LGBT rights.
The status quo? That's not change I can believe in.
2 Comments
Jah Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 4:35am
Since everyone seems to be embracing the idea of same-sex marriage(which is immoral) while still rejecting polygyny (which is not immoral) there is a serious problem with national values. In doing so people can no longer claim that the US is a "Christian" nation because religion does not support nor endorse immoral behavior. While the notion of "live and let live" is fine legislation cannot be passed to support one thing while continue to ban another. Families come in many forms so what is the problem? Is it better for a single heterosexual woman to remain unmmarried because she cannot be a second wife but tell homosexuals that its okay to marry a same-sex partner so they don't have to be alone in life? There's not much left to the moral fabric of society; it's nothing more than a rag now.
Joe Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 4:00pm
Here is a campaign that is trying to get the world record for the most simultaneous same-sex marriages (200 couples at once). It's an inventive way to celebrate the California ruling and highlight the positive. Here is a link to the campaign: https://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/same-sex-marriage-2008.