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June 6, 2006
All The Kiddies Are Cynical Tonight
Gay Marriage Amendment: How transparent is this? I mean, is it made of glass? Is it made of see-through plastic? Are the American people stupid enough to fall for this? Am I scared to my own answer to the last question?
Very, yes, yes, yes and yes.
Let's see what's wrong with the world today: Iraq, Haditha, the resurgance of fighting in Afghanistan, Iran, instability in Somalia, AIDS, immigration, global warming, gas prices, interest rates, inflation, the deficit. That's the short list. You know, right off the top of my head with no real thought put into it. There's much more.
And what is the Congress doing? Gay marriage amendment, flag burning and a repeal of the estate tax.
I usually think I'm beyond cynical, but this is just beyond me. How the voters won't be disilusioned and disgusted... but you know what? We'll stop the damn gays from marrying! And that will solve... none of the above problems I have listed.
Nevermind what I personally think: that straight people have done enough damage to that sacred institution of marriage. When Britney Spears can get married like she's getting a tattoo, when the divorce rate is still 50%... we don't need gay people to damage the institution. These focus on family groups never talk about the divorce rate.
I've known many gay couples in long, long-term relationships that would like to get married. I know gays that don't want to get married. (I know straights in the same situations as well.) Denying a specific group their civil rights... Equal protection clause of the 14th. And I will look Scalia in the eye and say it. Marriage has been defined by the Supreme Court as a fundemental right. Thus, it is within the fundemental right strand of equal protection, thus the scrutiny is bumped up to strict and thus, the law/amendment must be narrowly tailored and interest must be compelling. (A- in both Con Law I and II, baby!)
But the saddest, most depressing thing for me about this whole thing: Bush made his big speech on the 25 anniversary of the CDC MMWR report which described the symptoms of five men in Los Angeles. (See below). There would soon be cases reported in San Francisco, Miami, New York and Paris. The media would soon label it GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) By the end of 1981, there was a new word for it: AIDS. Like his political father, Ron Reagan, Bush said not one goddamn fucking word yesterday about a disease that has killed 25 million people worldwide, with 2 million estimated new infections every year (and that's low-balling it). A disease in which people in this country suffered so much in the early years; they lost jobs, insurance, family, friends and their lives. They died a horrid death, made that much worse by fear and prejudice. It didn't matter how they got the disease, whether they were gay or straight, a blood transfusion, an infected needle, an infected partner... and it is now a pandemic, leaving orphans across Africa, denial in Russia and a scary complacency in the US. People still die of AIDS here. And the virus has shown great adaptablity: someday, the triple-cocktail may not be enough. But, on the anniversary of the beginning of one of the most tragic chapters of American and World history, let's deny gays the right to marriage. Clearly, in 25 years, we've learned nothing about tolerance.
Posted by emily at June 6, 2006 1:26 AM