However, with our defeat here in Maine, and the inglorious demise of marriage equality in New York, I had already steeled myself for this:
The New Jersey State Senate on Thursday rejected a proposal that would have made the state the sixth in the nation to allow marriages involving same sex-couples, the latest in a succession of setbacks for advocates of gay marriage across the country.
Same-sex couples in the Garden State already enjoy the same legal rights as heterosexual couples, other than being allowed to simply call themselves the same thing (or, in other words, to be accorded the same social standing). Perhaps they should be grateful, no? After all, it's more than I can say about couples like the Better Half and me here in Maine. But obviously the difference rankles. Because it should.
This was clearly not the year that marriage equality would take hold for a significant population of gay and lesbian families in the United States. I really had higher hopes, but life sometimes takes turns against our liking. They'll survive and regroup in Jersey just like we're doing in Maine. But this is still a fight worth continuing, because we're still a family and still worthy of the same respect as other families. And nobody will ever be able to convince me otherwise.
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I'm sorry about this morning's experience, and I can understand your hurt. The sexism I endured from my family of origin, which continued into my 50s, will always hurt.
ReplyDeleteI posted earlier about being old enough to understand the fuss over JFK. I'm also old enough to have seen the tremendous strides in America's attitude toward gays and lesbians. My personal change in this area is a microcosm of these strides. Your day will come!
Barbara
It says something about the suckweasel nature of the current Democratic Party that Darth Cheney has a more compassionate view of gay rights than the Democratic legislature of a Blue state.
ReplyDeleteI want to be an independent, but the criminal and corrupt behavior of Democrats at all levels is forcing me to vote anyone-but-Democrat. I'd really prefer kick-all-the-bums-out, but high value targets first. Go Brown.
It says something about the suckweasel nature of the current Democratic Party that Darth Cheney has a more compassionate view of gay rights than the Democratic legislature of a Blue state.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm not typically inclined to take the same viewpoint as you, GJ, but on this particular point I can't help but agree.
come on, the only reason Cheney tolerates the idea of gay marriage (and remember he never once advocated for it forcefully) is because his daughter is a lesbian. Cheney is the definition of solipsistic. If he had a son who was a Morman bigamist, he would accept bigamy. It has nothing to do with compassion and everything to do with what he feels is in the best interest of himself and his family. At most I can credit Dick with is not disowning his daughter, but considering he is about as soulless an individual that ever lived I doubt religion has ever factored into anything Cheney has ever done. In fact, I challenge anyone here to come up with any quote by Cheney testifying to his personal relationship with Jesus.
ReplyDeletecharo
Mr. Cheney is on the record favoring a State's right to decide SSM. He didn't have to make that belief public. I am certain he came to this belief because his daughter is a lesbian. How human of him to reexamine his beliefs because of what his daughter means to him. I also am certain that because of Mr. Cheney, not a few people on the right will examine and change their own beliefs about gay rights. And for that, you can thank Mary Cheney's honesty and her father's love for his daughter.
ReplyDeleteCheney is a cretin and a coward. Now I am supposed to thank him for loving his own kid? And why shouldn't Mary Cheney be who she is publicly, unless you are implying her father's politics are more important than her life. Cheney has never believed in anything other than his own little solipsistic world. Show me one example of when he sacrificed anything. And please, being VP ain't a sacrifice.
ReplyDeletecharo
I would just note that solipsism can be very lonely, as one so seldom meets fellow believers.
ReplyDelete