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June 06, 2006
The Real Reason Bush Is Making Gay Marriage an Issue
Posted at June 6, 2006 03:51 PM in Marriage Equality .
By T.J. DeGroat
© 2006 DiversityInc.com®
June 06, 2006
President Bush is turning up the volume on his opposition to same-sex marriage despite the unlikelihood that a proposed constitutional ban will become law and the increasingly tolerant views of Americans.
During a speech delivered yesterday afternoon, Bush drew strong applause from representatives of religious and other conservative organizations in the audience when he said, "Marriage is the most fundamental institution of civilization and it should not be redefined by activist judges," referring to the Massachusetts high court's ruling legalizing gay marriage in 2004.
Largely reiterating the argument he made that year, Bush called on Congress to pass the amendment and send it to the states for ratification "so we can take this issue out of the hands of overreaching judges and put it back where it belongs: in the hands of the American people."
Why is Bush using political capital on a topic that even his wife has said should not be a campaign issue?
Opponents of the amendment said Bush, whose support of a federal ban won him conservative votes in 2004, aims to use the issue as a political tool to help the GOP in this year's mid-term elections.
"We all know what this issue is about," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement. "It's not about how to protect the sanctity of marriage, or how to deal with activist judges. It's about politics and an attempt to drive a wedge between one group of citizens and the rest of the country, solely for partisan advantage."
Opposition to gay marriage is believed to have helped Bush dramatically increase his share of the black vote in Ohio, whose electoral votes decided the outcome of the 2004 election. (See also: Why 16% of Ohio Blacks Gave Bush the Election: Moral Issues, Especially Gay Marriage)
Just like in 2004, Bush is caving in to the conservative right, said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
"It's appalling," Lynn said. "Maybe if the president spent more time on issues the American people say are important and less time kowtowing to the religious right his approval ratings wouldn't be in the tank."
That sentiment is shared by opponents of the gay-marriage legislation, who noted that the country is grappling with far more important issues than same-sex couples wanting to spend their lives together.
"At a time when hard-working Americans are losing sons and daughters in Iraq, struggling to afford health care for their families and worrying about being able to fill their tanks with gas, the discriminatory attack on the U.S. Constitution and American families is shameful politicking," said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Joe Solmonese.
The HRC illustrated that idea by bringing several "hard-working Americans" to the Capitol yesterday to voice their complaints. "I took time off of work today because I am fed up with what's going on in Washington and want to send a message," said LaWana SlackMayfield, a North Carolinian who took part in the HRC event. "As a working woman and a woman of color, I believe there are many more important issues. President Bush's policies have devastated my community, and I'm here to tell him this amendment is no solution."
The president began his amped-up assault on gay marriage two days before he delivered his White House remarks. "Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society," he said in this week's radio address. "Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all."
The address and yesterday's comments came as the Senate began to debate the amendment, which appears to be doomed.
Most Republicans support the measure but a few, notably Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., have spoken out against it. All but one of the Senate Democrats—Ben Nelson of Nebraska—oppose the measure. They, along with moderate Republicans, are expected to prevent the proposal from receiving the two-thirds majority required to send it to the states.
Since gay marriage polarized the nation two years ago, many Americans' beliefs have changed. A poll released earlier this year by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that a slim majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage, down from 63 percent in February 2004.
"Americans want real solutions to the problems that we face as a nation," Lynn said. "All we get from this White House are distractions and constant attempts to appease religious extremists who have an unhealthy obsession with other people’s personal lives. The American people have grown tired of it."
That opinion is reflected on some of the country's largest newspapers' opinion pages. Even before Bush spoke yesterday, Dick Polman, a Philadelphia Inquirer political analyst wrote, "Too many other issues predominate, everything from Iraq to immigration."
A New York Times editorial published yesterday called Bush's weekend radio address "depressing," saying, "It was depressing in the extreme to hear the chief executive trying to pretend, at this moment in American history, that this was a critical priority."
The Times added: "All this effort to divert the nation's attention to issues that divide and distract would be bad enough if the country were not facing real, disastrous problems at home and abroad. But then, if that weren't the case, Mr. Bush probably wouldn't feel moved to stoop so low."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: DiversityInc
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