Note: This post is also on my other blog SCATTER-SHOTS at michael-snaps.blogspot.com
===============================Personally, I was never the biggest supporter of same-sex marriage (a term I prefer to gay marriage, which sounds rather madcap and frivolous to me). My partner wasn't (isn't?) either. But a funny thing happened on the way to the church, so to speak.
NO, I'm not getting married.... BUT... the rabid forces against the idea of calling civil unions "marriage", brought out a fiery activist side that I wasn't sure I had. While I can be and am known to be out-spoken, which really means I have an opinion and here it is, I believe in free speech, and the right of others (even if they are racist, prejudiced, and just old ignorant on topics of civil/human rights) to say what they think. (Though I don't think people should classify incitement to violence as free speech so much as hate crime.)
There has been a lot of victories on the side of same-sex marriage in the states this year. And those of us in Canada, Belgium, Spain, and Sweden(?) already enjoy this privilege to marry our significant others. But the barrier is, unreservedly, linked to prejudices perpetuated by people self-characterized as Christian, family-oriented, or religious. The argument is always to keep something away from gay people, as if we cannot be trusted to handle it with care. This position is just hateful - there is no other adjective that really describes it.
As has been shown again and again, but which the religious right (even though elected to institutions that are officially separate from Church) refuses to acknowledge nor analyze, is that gay people do make good citizens and can be trusted not to abuse marriage any more than straight people have already done:
- The most obvious example these days is Tiger Woods and his baker's dozen of mistresses, courtesans, and groupies. He's been fucking his way around the world, while putting out an image of family man and positive values.
- Myriad American senators who purport to be Christian and honourable, and then have affairs with the opposite sex, or solicit same-sex shenanigans.
- There are many leading lights who have been married multiple times, but they stand for family values.
- EG: Newt Gingrich had a girl on the side while his first wife was dying.
- I believe Dr. Phil has been married twice.
- Larry King has been married seven times... but he has said that he is old-fashioned, in that he doesn't like to have affairs, but prefers marriage!
- Various Kennedys have had marriages annulled, even after having children. That's the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church: support the rich Kennedys but not a monogamous gay man. (Oh, and the Kennedys are not against same-sex marriage.)
- The preponderance of family men to slaughter their families (too many to mention).
- Uganda planning to pass a law that could result in federally-sanctioned execution of gay men. (The same country that needed global help because of Idi Imin and all the human rights violations and murders he sanctioned. You'd think they'd learn not to be so hateful.)
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