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A cruel irony
According to the New York Times it was 25 years ago [today] that the first official notice of what would become the AIDS epidemic that devastated the gay community in this country appeared in documents at the Centers for Disease Control. How nastily ironic that today is the day the Senate chose to begin debate on the bill to ban gay marriage. While I’m no fan of gay marriage — considering it a politically facile attempt to apply straight mores to gay identities — I respect the sincerity of those who hope that it will encourage stable healthy lifestyles for gay men. Couldn’t Congress have chosen another day to start their witchhunt?
One is tempted to see in this the cruel hand of extreme partisanship — but it most likely is just another example of tone deafness from the same Congress that thought it would be a good idea to turn Terri Schiavo’s death into a referendum on quality of life issues. A pox on both Houses, I say.
Posted in Politics 06/5/06 | 
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Great points. Thanks for this.
I’m going to borrow your cue and say that I respect your comments about why you are not a fan of gay marriage. I’ll make sure we don’t ask you to cheer at the annual Big Gay Agenda Softball Game. Kidding, but I do get your message. That one glaring sentence threw me off.
Facile isn’t a word that I’d choose about this political issue. It’s not an easy remedy to convince someone that both straight mores and gay identities are both equal and niether is mutually exclusive. But really, it *could be* that simple. All it involves is the willingness to understand that gay people do fall in love just as straight people do, and wish to have a legal and binding monamous union. Heterosexual immigrants have more rights in this country than natural born citizens in the US. Hardly fair and equal.
No one chooses to be a minority. Homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice, is is a sexual orientation.
Fifty percent of marriages don’t end in “gayness”, as John Stewart recently said to Bull Bennett. It isn’t a fetish, it is part of the human condition.
If you don’t like gays marrying, then don’t marry one.
If people want to protect marriage, then ban divorce. lol…
Comment by mojopo — June 9, 2006 @ 1:31 am
mojopo-
I hear you. I just wish the political dialogue around these issues was not so either/or and reflected the complexity of the lives and institutions involved. I wonder whether marriage, an institution rooted in economic needs of a bygone time (women as chattel, etc.), is the best model for gay relationships in the 21st century.
I favor civil unions for everybody. A level playing field in all aspects of public life.
-SD
Comment by Sprague Dawley — June 9, 2006 @ 7:41 am
SD, fair enough. Thanks for your clarification, it was tremendously appreciated.
Additionally, I think gay people should be able to decide what model for relationships is best for them. To arrive at that answer they need to have choices. Right now, they have no choices presented to them in the United States.
I agree with you 100%. I do believe there should be some sort of union that is fair and legal for everybody. Something that combines the econmic and legal protection of marriage, that isn’t restricted to heterosexuals. Everyone deserves to have their civil rights respected and I applaud your comments. Great food for thought.
Have a good one!
Comment by mojopo — June 9, 2006 @ 12:32 pm