The proposed constitutional amendment placing a ban on gay marriage that George W. Bush announced his support for on Tuesday is the nastiest, foulest piece of gay-bashing and gay-baiting I've ever seen. What's so terrible about two people who love each other wanting to make a long-term commitment? This ban will not protect the sanctity of marriage, as Bush has claimed. Marriage has been degraded virtually since the institution - originally designed to secure property holdings between affluent families - was founded. Adultery, spousal abuse, and poor child rearing have long since made a mockery out of marriage long before gay marriage. We should be addressing those issues first.
I support gay marriage, as I've already indicated. I also believe that the question of recognizing gay marriage should be left up to the states, and that a constitutional amendment should not be implemented. The two leading Democratic candidates for President, John Kerry and John Edwards, have rather complex but defensible stands (complex because of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and how that plays into the debate) on the issue - they both oppose gay marriage but favor civil unions and oppose a constitutional amendment - and they could easily explain their positions in a media-friendly sound bite. Too bad they didn't do it in tonight's debate on CNN. Unless Kerry and Edwards can nip this issue in the bud - and soon - it's going to dog the eventual party nominee. Maybe Americans have no patience for a nuanced answer on a question that they demand an absolutist yes-or-no answer on, but Kerry and Edwards can deliver such an answer if they work on it. They'd best do so.
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