Democratic state legislators and party officials in California and Massachusetts has embraced gay marriage and many of the Deaniac party activists across America have done so as well. I supported non-discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing and employment long before it was a mainstream position, but pushing for gay marriage is something that will trigger a strong backlash against Democrats and the gay community as well in Middle America. Social issues often take a while to heat up and gay marriage could become a bigger wedge issue for Republicans than late term abortion or gun control.
Our society has grown more tolerant toward homosexuality, however, it is far from ready for gay marriage. The gay activists would be well advised to concentrate on getting local doomestic parternship laws (a different concept than civil unions as they do not involve the controversial tax benefits for same sex couples) passed which already exist in many cities and urban counties which can provide the kind of documentation of a relationship for health insurance and hospital visitation issues that the gay community is concerned about. It is a good idea for a same sex couple to consult with an attorney who specializes in estate matters and have them draw up an iron-clad will and power of attorney agreement. We do not need to have gay marriage or even civil unions to address these concerns.
If Democrats are aligned with gay marriage, we will be locked out of power for at least a generation. Democrats are already a virtual edangered political species in the South and large areas of the Midwest and rural West. A pro-gay marriage stance will only strengthen the hand of right-wing Republicans. Are the Deaniacs willing to sacrifice the remaining social safety net, protections for workers and consumers, environmental laws, our Social Security benefits, public education and other concerns for all the important gay marriage issue ? I fear the answer is yes.
Democrats must appeal to working families once again. At the risk of offending my gay and lesbian friends, I think we need to recognize that a party and a society must be more focused on the well-being and stability of traditional families than on alternative lifestyles. Societies and parties that survive and thrive are pro-family and pro-child something that the hard-line pro-gay marriage and rabidly pro-choice folks in our party sometimes overlook.
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Um, Howard Dean opposes gay marriage and stated that repeatedly in his campaign.
If the people in Massachusetts want gay marriage, or the people of Connecticut, Vermont, or California want civil unions, then why not let them have it? Our Constitution allows for a seperation of powers to allow these states to do that.
You also fail to mention that the language in many of the recently passed state constitutional amendments againt gay marraige also prohibits contractual agreements between same sex partners (Virginia is just one example) such as wills and powers of attorneys if a court wants to interpret those agreements as something that is disguised as providing some of the benefits of marriage.
No one is suggesting that southern Democrats adopt a pro-gay marriage stance. I realize that is political suicide in the South.
However, when right wing politicians try to get constitutional amendments passed that would strip away all rights that gay couples might have, we do expect Democrats to oppose such policies. That does not make one necessarily pro-gay marriage. How many gay marriages took place in Georgia prior to last years' constitutional amendment? That's right none.
So, how is protecting the rights of families of gay partners anti-family or anti-child? It is not to those famlies and those children. Nor does protecting the rights of familes headed by gay partners have any negative impact on familes headed by heterosexual parents.
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