The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a column that calls it like it is - or will be in some day not too far in the future: gays in the military and gay marriage nationwide will be the norm. The issue becomes one of when will the courts and the Congress and state legislatures have the backbones to make the promises of the U. S. Constitution real for all of its citizens. It's only a matter of time as older Neanderthals and Bible thumpers die off. Meanwhile, the cartoon above (click the image for a larger view) demonstrates just how ridiculous (and hypocritical) the defenders of marriage like Maggie Gallagher and similar self-enriching parasites - oh, and let's not leave out Pope Benedict XVI - are when they whine about the sanctity of marriage. The only sanctity that exists is in most people's imaginations as opposed to the reality of society where divorce and re-marriage occur virtually daily and the only true consequence of anti-gay marriage bans is to stigmatize same sex couples and keep them an inferior class of citizen. Here are some column highlights:*
Wouldn't it be great if, for once, the U.S. Congress took the lead in social change instead of being dragged kicking and screaming to a decision long after most of the country has moved on?
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Apparently, that's not the nature of politics. Still, my holiday wish is for the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy to be voted away by Christmas. Polls prove the country is ready. Surveys show the military is ready. Experience in the British and Israeli armed forces demonstrates no crisis is created by homosexuals serving openly. It is unlikely anyone fighting for this country in Afghanistan has failed to figure out if the guy next to him is gay, while also appreciating how that soldier is a tough son-of-a-gun.
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The only ones who seem to fret about gay and lesbian soldiers are Republican senators and House members catering to a loud contingent of social conservatives who think national policy should be dictated by 3,000-year-old religious taboos.
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Looking back through our history, it has seldom been Congress that has led the way to social progress. The disenfranchised and disdained have had to push and protest and struggle and die in order to get the politicians to finally move.
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If only we could recognize where history is taking us and nimbly leap the ramparts of the dying order. Future Americans will look back on this moment with disdain, wondering why anyone would have thought it made sense to deny gays and lesbians the opportunity to serve their country in battle. And, not only that, but generations to come will also find it curious that those who hold the institution of marriage sacred fought so hard to keep homosexuals from becoming old married folks.
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Purely on legal terms, it is no longer a winning argument to say the government has a right to bar certain people from a state-sanctioned domestic arrangement available to all other citizens. As the challenge to California's gay marriage ban moves through the courts, it becomes ever more clear that the legal rationale for this discriminatory practice is disintegrating. Even the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court may fracture on this issue when it is finally brought before them.
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Today, a couple of inebriated knuckleheads who happen to be boy and girl can impulsively get hitched any day of the week at a chapel in Las Vegas. A straight man or woman who has repeatedly failed at marriage can try, try again. The moral fiber of America will only be enhanced when two men or two women who have faithfully shared their lives for decades are finally allowed to do the same.
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