Homophobes attack heterosexual marriage

The people who claim traditional opposite-sex marriage is under attack are absolutely right, and they ought to know, because they're the ones attacking it. Maybe that's because they've admitted they're going to lose their battle against same-sex marriage.

Even as he was bashing both heterosexual and homosexual marriages yesterday, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) conceded defeat on the issue in the Leap Day debate-before-the-debate on CBS News's Face the Nation. When host Bob Schieffer asked, "Is there a difference between being for or against same-sex marriage and being for or against this amendment?", Santorum insisted there was not, because "the fact of the matter is, unless we amend the U.S. Constitution, the courts will require it." We presume that by "it," the Senator meant "the full legalization of same-sex marriage," rather than same-sex marriage itself. (That reminds us of Jon Stewart's succinct commentary on the issue: "Are they going to MAKE us marry gays?" Because if not, I don't see the problem.")

Santorum attacked not only same-sex marriage, but opposite-sex marriages that are not focused on procreation. "It is a- an obligation on those of us who have to make the laws to make calls as to what is the best way in-in in the case of marriage, to raise children." So Senator, should people applying for marriage licenses be given fertility tests, with those who fail pledging to adopt? What about marriages between heterosexuals who aren't able to reproduce, who plan to remain childless, or whose children are no longer children?

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), the only openly lesbian member of the House of Representatives, was the voice of reason when Santorum blamed same-sex couples for the erosion of the American family. "To make these false associations -- to somehow indicate that same-sex couples are somehow to blame for some of these problems in society -- is harmful," she said.

Meanwhile, officials at the Social Security Administration have decided not to accept even opposite-sex marriage certificates issued in San Francisco as evidence of a legal name change. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Mr. Bush is "now discriminating against San Franciscans gay and straight."

You have to look beyond the news to find some of heterosexual marriage's staunchest champions. Every week, the Fab Five of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy help hapless heterosexual men clean up their acts so that they might have a better chance of finding a girlfriend, or, if they've already got one, of turning that girlfriend into a fiancee and then a wife. We watched the show Saturday night, and when the freshly-spiffed straight guy got down on his knee to propose -- with his gay life coaches cheering as they watched on video, there wasn't a dry eye in our house or theirs. They were so happy the guy was getting married, and nobody mentioned the fact that (except in San Francisco and New Paltz, New York) the Fab Five aren't allowed to do that themselves. Someday, they'll show an episode of that show along with other artifacts of the days when bigotry was acceptable, like Song of the South, or maybe Gone With the Wind, with the slaves helping Miss Scarlett get all gussied up for another encounter with Rhett Butler:


  ¶ 5:46 PM |