Latest US Gay Marriage Ban Passes Committee
Reuters: here.
This stuff rather frustrates me. It's hard to find words to explain how pissed off I feel at seeing people try to write bigotry into the constitution once every year, like clockwork. So I think I'll just leave it at that.
But some moments I'd like to call attention to:
- Sen. Feingold (D-Dreamy) storming out of the hearing. There's a super-cynical level on which I see stuff like this and think he's grandstanding in preparation for his 2008 run. And then I think, wait a second, it's Feingold! And it's hard to convince myself that I wouldn't be acting with significantly less decorum were I in his shoes.
- "Georgia state court struck down a state ban on Tuesday"? Could someone fill me in on what I missed?
- The good:
Just over half of all Americans oppose same-sex marriage, according to a March poll by the Pew Research center, down from 63 percent in February 2004. - The hilarious:
Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the committee's top Democrat, said the gay marriage ban was a waste of time for a committee that needs to tackle a wide range of other pressing issues, from judicial nominations to oversight of the National Security Administration's domestic-spying program.
"I didn't realize marriages were so threatened. Nor did my wife of 44 years," Leahy said.
Leahy said Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, who supports the ban, has expressed support for polygamists in his home state of Utah.
"I never said that," Hatch responded. "I know some (polygamists) that are very sincere. ... Don't accuse me of wanting to have polygamy."
Unfortunately, I'm lacking a bit of the context for that last quote by Sen. Hatch (R-Moroni); but it seems as though he's arguing that one can believe that people can be serious in their love for each other, and still be arrested for practicing it.
At least his actions are consistent with his words in that respect, I suppose.
posted by The Neurophile @ 11:13 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
On the Georgia thang...
A judge, who heretoforth shall surely be referred to as an "activist" by certain segments of the political spectrum, struck down a voter-approved referendum which (a) defined marriage as one man-one woman (b) outlawed the "substantially similar to marriage" arrangements (c) apparently even included something about Georgia courts' ability to rule in same-sex domestic disputes, although what I read on this was pretty vague.
The reasoning that struck the law down was that referenda in Georgia are supposed to cover only a single question. This one, obviously, didn't.
Oh yeah, and I hope you heard the one about how in Missouri they're trying to evict an unmarried straight couple with 3 kids because of some obscure "if more than 3 people live in the same house then they must be related by blood or marriage" deal. Urgh.
Oh, hilarious. But if the kids are their own, then there's no way to generate three people who aren't related by blood or marriage, is there?
There's been the argument floating round the 'net that if they were to actually follow the letter of the law, they could still kick out one of the parents, just not the entire family.
There's a lot of speculation that this is just basically a crackdown on Things Religious Fanatics Don't Like. Or possibly Things Racists Don't Like, since the relationship is mixed-race.
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