February 24, 2004

BUSH TO GAYS: DROP DEAD:

BUSH TO GAYS: DROP DEAD: Remember when the purpose of constitutional amendments were to expand freedoms? You know, freedom of speech, of the press, the right to vote, abolition of slavery, that sort of thing? Today, for the first time, a constitutional amendment has been introduced that will take away substantial freedom- namely, the freedom of gays to be recognized by their government. Today's backing by President Bush of an amendment that would not only ban gay marriage but also civil unions and benefit-granting laws by states is an abomination, and Bush's lowest moment as president.
Now it's likely that the amendment will never enjoy enough support to pass, which is a good thing. But regardless, the president has essentially told millions of people to go fuck themselves, in order to energize a "base" that will likely vote for him regardless- and don't forget, nearly a quarter of America's gay population voted Republican in 2000. Expect that number to now approach zero.
This straight guy is wholeheartedly supportive of gay marriage, for both liberal and conservative reasons: It's a civil rights issue that helps the people concerned and hurts no one, while at the same time encouraging both love and family values rather than promiscuity. This notion that seemed so completely radical as recently as two years ago is now a reality: it's legal in Canada, it's about to be in Massachusetts, and in the past two weeks more than 3,000 gay couples have been issued marriage licenses by the city of San Francisco. Have any Americans been injured the slightest bit by any of the above? Of course not.
Andrew Sullivan is, of course, the definitive place for commentary on this, but see also Mike Silverman. A huge fight is about to begin- and if an eventual Bush loss is traced back to today, I won't be the slighest bit surprised. "Uniter, not a divider" my ass.

Posted by Stephen Silver at February 24, 2004 05:19 PM
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