President Bush is the target of critical missives by both gay and anti-gay activists over his comments to ABC's Diane Sawyer Tuesday night, when he was asked about his position on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The president said he supports an amendment "which would honor marriage between a man and a woman." But he added, "The position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they're allowed to make, so long as it's embraced by the state or at the state level."
Just what this means is not entirely clear (surprise, surprise). Sadly, the president has gone on record in support of amending the Constitution to prevent gay marriage in some fashion, although the fact that he said he favors an amendment to "honor" marriage between a man and a woman, rather than an amendment that stipulates marriage as between a man and a woman, could provide some wiggle room.
And he fell far short of endorsing the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment now before Congress, whose language is widely interpreted as barring states from recognizing not only same-sex marriages, but also civil unions and domestic partnerships. This reticence on Bush's part was recognized by the anti-gays. In the words of the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins:
"I'm very concerned about his additional comments which seem to suggest the definition of marriage, which pre-dates western civilization and the United States Constitution, can be redefined at the state level. This sounds as though the administration would support civil unions which are counterfeits of the institution of marriage. The President's remarks also undermine state legislators who are fighting to protect the institution of marriage in states like Massachusetts."
But an
opposite view (though similar tone) was expressed by Winnie
Stachelberg of the Human Rights Campaign, the Washington-based
lesbigay lobby:
"We are gravely concerned by reports that the president would join in these attacks on American families. -- The amendment pending in Congress would go much further than defining marriage as between a man and a woman. It could strip away any legal protection for millions of hard-working, tax-paying Americans and their children, including the right to Social Security survivor benefits, to the right to inherit a partner's property without heavy tax penalties, even the right to visit a loved one in the hospital."
But Bush clearly has not come out in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment now before Congress, and indicated he'd be against stripping states of their ability to recognize civil unions and domestic partnerships, which is why the anti-gays are so unhappy. In fact, the limited amendment he suggests he'd favor could be a complete non-starter with the religoius right, derailing their whole effort.
On another point: HRC can't seem to get away from the view that marriage is primarily about benefits -- ultimately not a strong argument, as Dale Carpenter explains in his recent column, Bad Arguments for Gay Marriage:
Very few people marry in order to experience the magic of filing a joint income tax return. They marry because, in our tradition and history, marriage is the way couples in a community signal the depth of their commitment to one another. Their family and peers reciprocate by supporting and celebrating that commitment, which in turn reinforces it. Everyone understands the stakes.
But this is something that the "rights" obsessed HRC doesn't, in
fact, seem to understand.
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