Separate but Equal is neither separate nor Equal. We figured that one out already. Why are some politicians, like Kerry, trying to go back to it? I'll give Bush some credit here; he does stand up for what he believes in, although I think he's wrong on this one. But Kerry wants to have it both ways. He wants to please his conservative constituents by defending the word marriage, while extending the rights and responsibilities of marriage to same sex couples.
Grow a spine and stand up for what you believe in!
If you think same sex couples should enjoy the legal rights and responsibilities of traditional marriage, then say so. Popular or not, you'd at least stand for something.
I'm already on record as saying the State has no business deciding who can sleep with/live with/marry whom. Let's apply the First Amendment properly here, and keep Church and State issues separate. A civil marriage (yes, use the word marriage) would be a civil contract between two (or more; there's no reason to arbitrarily restrict the makeup of the marriage by sex or number) adults, granting the members of that marriage the same rights and responsibilities of a traditional marriage. A religious marriage would be performed by the church, according to its own rules and restrictions.
Marriage as we know it today is really a two part construction anyway; let's clear up the dividing line between the two parts and get the State out of an area it has no business being in to begin with.
Posted by Rich at February 12, 2004 11:26 AM | TrackBackI thought atrios's take on this was the best: It doesn't matter what John Kerry thinks about gay marriage, because the republican opposition will paint him as a giant homo-lover anyway. He might as well adopt that position, because it's the Right Thing To Do anyway.
Posted by: Chris Wage on February 12, 2004 11:41 AMKerry used to stand up for stuff, but ever since he's been running for President, he's been a waffler. It's amazing that he was one of the few Senators that voted against DOMA in the 90s and now he's even saying he might support a Constitutional ban on gay marriage. Totally lame.
Posted by: Manish on February 12, 2004 2:30 PMDo you want Kerry to win or lose? The stakes are enormous.
Posted by: BeatGeorge on February 27, 2004 5:43 PMI hope we could have these rights in the near future weather its called marriage or civil union.
Posted by: John on March 4, 2004 10:52 AM