Back home on Independence Day, and inching back into the swing of things.
Here's a legal riddle from the Washington Post: Does a man who marries a woman and then becomes a woman violate a ban on same-sex marriages? A Louisville marital dispute focuses on that teaser. But it also highlights the marriage ban's absurdity -- like disputes over how much "black blood" would run afoul of the miscegenation laws.
For the social right, the fight to bar same-sex marriage is their last chance to turn back the normalization of homosexuality. Not only are gays assimilated throughout the media (TV, movies, the Internet), but open gays and, increasingly, gay families are part and parcel of neighborhood America -- and not just in liberal New England or the Left Coast. Uncloseted gay life can be found from the deep South of Dixie to the rugged Western plains.
For the most part, America is adjusting as gays declare their independence from hiding and lying and foregoing family life. So it's fitting that Philadelphia, birthplace of the nation's independence, has launched an ad campaign to air nationwide on channels such as Bravo, MTV, and other cable networks, welcoming gay visitors to the city of Brotherly Love.
And that's why the social conservatives are pulling out all the stops in the marraige battle. Check out the fear-inducing "Could Your Kids Be Given to 'Gay' Parents?" posted at WorldNetDaily.com.
Look for fireworks the week of July 12, as the Senate begins
debating the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment. It won't be
pretty.
More Recent Postings
6/20/04 - 6/26/04