Our "Friends", the Democrats on Gay Marriage

On to another topic near and dear to my heart, gay marriage....

I decided to do a bit of research on how the Democrats feel about allowing gay people the ability to get married. Of course, the majority of them have decided that they do not support gay marriage. Some of them support the idea of a "civil union", similar to what Vermont has.

The Vermont "civil union" law has a couple of problems. First, it's not portable from state to state. If you get a civil union in Vermont, that will only grant you marriage rights that heterosexual married couples in Vermont have. If you were to move to another state, those rights would not follow you. The same is true for divorce. Not so long ago, a gay couple who had been issued a civil union in Vermont wanted a divorce. The problem they encountered was trying to get the divorce honored in the state they moved to (Texas), since Texas didn't honor the arrangement in the first place. The would have had to move back to Vermont, reestablish themselves as state residence (takes one year), before they were eligible for a divorce. I believe they have given up on trying to get a divorce.

Of course, the Federal Government does not honor the Vermont "civil union" either. Any rights granted by the civil union will be ignored by the Federal Government. This is why there is nothing equal to marriage. I'm somewhat surprised that I have even started to care about this marriage issue for gay couples. But, as I've grown older, it's a more important issue. My relationship is very important to me. It's not a matter of religious beliefs. I know many people are up and arms about the gay marriage issue because they feel that marriage is a religious ceremony. The fact is, I would be happy if that were the case. That stopped being the case when the government started putting a value on marriage and started dishing out certain legal rights associated with it. Today, to get the same protection that marriage automatically gives a person, I will have to submit all kinds of legal papers to achieve the same thing. And, there's no guarantee that my wishes will be honored. There are gay couples who have gone to extraordinary lengths to guarantee such basic needs such as the ability to make medical decisions in an emergency. Even with the proper papers, I have know the partners of these couples to be turned away from some hospitals. They thought that they did everything they could legally do, yet they were not allowed in as a member of the family. The reason: the hospital did not honor or recognize their relationship.

So, my position is that no arrangement short of a full-fledged marriage will suffice. And why should it? Our relationships are every bit as worthy of recognition as any one else's. I make this pledge now... the issue of gay marriage is make or break issue for who I will vote for. I will not vote for a candidate who does not have the respect for me to honor my relationship of 28 years. That's all there is to it. I don't believe I've ever had one single issue so important to me as to dictate how I will vote. It's also important that we let candidates know how we feel about this issue. That is why I have included the email address of the candidate. Just click on their name to send them an email. It only takes a minute. The individuals who are not for gay marriage already know how I feel about them.

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts
Opposed to same-sex marriage. Kerry, like each of the other top-tier candidates in attendance, struggled to explain why he supported full rights for gay and lesbian couples, but not the right to get married. "I do not support (gay) marriage itself because . . . of how I view the world culturally, historically, religiously."

Rev. Al Sharpton of New York City
Wholehearted supports same sex marriages. He said limiting gay couples to "civil unions" would be "saying we will give blacks and Latinos the right to shack up but not to marry." He said the very question of whether gays ought to be eligible for marriage was insulting. "It's like asking 'do I support black marriage or white marriage. . . .' The inference of the question is that gays are not like other human beings."

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
Opposed to same-sex marriage. In explaining his opposition to gay marriages, Lieberman said, "I'm not ready to give a snap judgment on this. Marriage has a special status in our culture, our heritage, our history." He said he would undertake a review of all 1,049 federal benefits that go to married couples and decide which ought to be extended to gays.

Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri
Opposed to same-sex marriage. He said as president he'd work to guarantee all federal benefits available to married couples be made available to gay couples, but suggested that neither he -- nor the nation -- was ready for gay marriage. "I simply feel that civil union is the way to go," Gephardt said.

Senator Bob Graham of Florida
Opposed to same-sex marriage.

Senator John Edwards of North Carolina
Opposed to same-sex marriage.

Governor Howard Dean of Vermont
Opposed to same-sex marriage. "Marriage isn't the federal government's business," Dean said. "My view is that we have to have a civil institution to provide equal rights for every single American."

Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
Supports gay marriage.

Former Illinois Senator Carol Moseley Braun
Supports gay marriage.