Leah and I sent this message to Senator Barack Obama this morning and encourage those of you who agree to send a similar message to your candidate of choice. I will post the Senator's reply as soon as I receive it.
Senator Obama,And if any of our readers have a valid reason, we'd love to hear it. Just post it as a comment.
While we support (and have volunteered for) your campaign, we are disappointed by your stance on gay marriage. At the Human Rights Campaign Foundation forum, you were quoted as saying:
"We should try to disentangle what has historically been the issue of the word 'marriage,' which has religious connotations to some people, from the civil rights that are given couples. My job as president is going to be to make sure that the legal rights that have consequences on a day-to-day basis for loving same-sex couples all across the country ... are recognized and enforced."
Your statement was sadly reminiscent of "separate but equal."
While I agree that churches should not be forced to wed gay couples, civil marriages should be afforded to gay couples just as they are to straight couples. If you set the term "marriage" aside for straight couples, then you have not achieved true equal rights. Instead, you have played politics with equality.
Straddling the fence of this issue, like you do, is not commendable. Even if you disagree with gay marriage due to religious beliefs, your personal opinion should not disenfranchise others. And hiding behind the "historical" meaning of the word "marriage" is laughable - defending anything with the argument of "that's how it's always been" is a weak-minded cop-out. Slavery was "historical" too, but its history certainly didn't make it right.
So, now comes the challenge. We would like you to give us one one valid reason why civil marriages should not be afforded to gay couples. If you can't, we hope you'll do what's right and change your stance. If you can, we'll be surprised.
