Today, The Washington Post ran the results of a Washington Post-ABC News poll that shows that 58% of Americans believe gay couples should be allowed to marry. This is up from 37% only 10 years ago.
As readers of this blog know, one of my absolutely favorite sayings is from Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” If these changing poll numbers don’t show that, I don’t know what does.
In other positive news on that front (by now you may have noticed that I’m one of those “straight but not narrow” types - a straight female who considers herself an ally of the gay community — so this is all positive news to me), Ohio Senator Rob Portman came out in favor of gay marriage —a stance he formerly opposed —because his son is gay, and Hilary Clinton now supports gay marriage. It’s very easy, and understandable, to complain that Portman was all too ready to deny others what he now considers a basic right until the situation hit very close to home and that Clinton waited until she was no longer Secretary of State to make the pronouncement, but the point is they re-evaluated their positions and (I would say) evolved on the issue.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, on the other hand, declared on ABCs “This Week” on Sunday that he could not “imagine” that his position opposing gay marriage would ever change.
Here’s how I see it. You are welcome to your opinion against gay marriage, but you are not welcome to infringe upon the rights of others and deny them the same basic rights that you have. It’s such a trite and tired test, but if we put any other word in there besides "gay" or "same-sex" and said “Blacks” or “Jews” or “Whites” were not allowed to marry, it would be seen as discriminatory and struck down. This is a basic civil rights issue, not a religious one.
I read a piece on Bloomberg News today that posited that folks like Boehner and other politicians who feel the same way he does are secretly hoping that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of gay marriage this summer so that the Republican party can say it didn’t cave on same-sex marriage (despite the fact that it is turning off the more moderate Republicans on a daily basis). It will no longer be an issue that has been making the party look old, antiquated and out of step with current thought.
All I know is I know and love plenty of gay couples who have been in loving, committed relationships for more than 20 years, and yet, other than in a few states, they are not allowed to be legally wed, even though Britney Spears can marry for 55 hours and Kim Kardashian can wed for 72 days and those are seen as acts that uphold the “sanctity” of marriage because they are opposite-sex unions. True love is so hard to find. Shouldn't finding someone, regardless of whether they're the same or opposite sex as you, be celebrated?
Today’s $10 goes to the Human Rights Campaign, a D.C.-based powerhouse that works for LGBTQ equal rights because equal rights aren’t equal until everyone has them.
March 18: Human Rights Campaign
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