Posted by
Tom Kummer on Friday, November 14, 2008 1:43:06 PM
In the aftermath of the 2008 elections, specifically with the passage of amendments defining marriage as one man and one woman in California, Arizona, and Florida, there have been a number of columns written on this issue. I have some observations on the issue of gay marriage, and I plan to have at least two parts to my comments. If I get too windy, I reserve the right to go to three or more parts.
First, I want to look at the politics of gay marriage. In his column of November 10, Rod Dreher says here http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1108/dreher.php3: “Similarly, though it's tough for social conservatives like me to admit it, we've lost the gay marriage battle, especially among the young.” When I first read this, two thoughts came to mind. How can anyone say that the gay marriage battle is lost, when every time, in every state, when amendments have been on the ballot defining marriage as one man and one woman, they have passed? If citizens are voting this way, it looks to me that this is a battle that is anything but lost.
My other thought concerns the politics of this issue. This issue is looked at as a conservative issue and a Republican issue. However, looking specifically at California, that state went for Obama by a healthy margin, 61% to 37%. California proposition 8 passed roughly 52.2% to 47.8%. Just looking at the mathematics of those numbers, clearly many voters who voted for Obama had to have voted for proposition 8. So considering the numbers, how is this issue solely a conservative/Republican issue?
Four years ago, here in Ohio, we had a similar amendment on the ballot, one that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. It passed by a larger margin than Bush carried Ohio, so obviously the amendment had the support of some Kerry voters. I personally know some Bush voters who voted against the amendment. One friend put it like this: “Let them (gays) suffer the same misery and torment I did in my two marriages”.
Considering this, why does the gay marriage issue get defined as a conservative vs. liberal issue, or a Republican vs. Democrat issue? Clearly, defining marriage as one man and one woman enjoys bipartisan support, and also bipartisan opposition.
In my next part, I’ll dig into the issue more, specifically looking at Thomas Sowell’s column from November 5.