The President of the United States has again saw fit to address my concerns. Barack Obama just sent me this — not that I asked for it:
Bill —
Today, I was asked a direct question and gave a direct answer:
I believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
I hope you’ll take a moment to watch the conversation, consider it, and weigh in yourself on behalf of marriage equality: http://my.barackobama.com/Marriage
I’ve always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally. I was reluctant to use the term marriage because of the very powerful traditions it evokes. And I thought civil union laws that conferred legal rights upon gay and lesbian couples were a solution.
But over the course of several years I’ve talked to friends and family about this. I’ve thought about members of my staff in long-term, committed, same-sex relationships who are raising kids together. Through our efforts to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, I’ve gotten to know some of the gay and lesbian troops who are serving our country with honor and distinction.
What I’ve come to realize is that for loving, same-sex couples, the denial of marriage equality means that, in their eyes and the eyes of their children, they are still considered less than full citizens.
Even at my own dinner table, when I look at Sasha and Malia, who have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, I know it wouldn’t dawn on them that their friends’ parents should be treated differently.
So I decided it was time to affirm my personal belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
I respect the beliefs of others, and the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines. But I believe that in the eyes of the law, all Americans should be treated equally. And where states enact same-sex marriage, no federal act should invalidate them.
Fine and dandy. You certainly put to rest all those wild claims that you are a closet Muslim.
Forgive me though if I suspect that you are being a lips-moving-lawyer when you say that you respect the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines. Maybe you mean it conditionally as I respect the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines when they don’t disagree with mine.
You certainly get hissy when religious institutions decline to subsidize birth control and abortion. And those crazy zealots that think it preferable for a young boy that one of his parents be someone who understands what it is like to grow into a teen into a man, rather than two people who don’t particularly like men — which I think most will agree is not even near as bad as a boy being raised by two people who don’t particularly like women — well, you sure do wish they would just go away.
What you don’t seem to get is that one of the main reasons to oppose gay marriage is love. If you love someone you will not give approval to behavior that is objectively destructive. Tolerance of weakness, yes. Encouragement of self destruction, no.