Thursday, August 03, 2006
Marriage in America: GLBTer's Play All their Cards
Over 250 GLBT activists have come together to declare their real intentions for marriage in America: define it into oblivion.
In a document titled, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage," they outline their specific goal for marriage in America:
GLBTer's are inconsistent in how they portray their economic status. Attempting to appear victims of oppression by the big, bad, rich conservatives, Beyond Marriage attempts to portray GLBTer's as struggling to make ends meet. They do this to gain the sympathy and support of the gracious America people. BUT, when it comes to persuading corporations and influencing policy they pull out favorable statistics like this:
Interestingly, they also attack the broader policies of the "Right" including low taxes, smaller government, strong national defense, and personal retirement savings accounts; the "Right's" conservative policies are apparently threats to "transgender, gender queer, and other gender-nonconforming people." Do they not like the strong economies and low unemployment rates? Do they not like protection from foreign enemies? Do they prefer living under threat of terrorist attacks?
Why do these 250 activists find the need for such a drastic change in agenda? In light of 6 court losses in July, defeats every time same-sex marriage is on the ballot, and every public opinion poll--ever, they needed to do something or risk falling into insignificance like Jesse Jackson.
I have two theories why they chose this new statement: either they are seeking to build as broad of a coalition as possible by seeking to be inclusive of every type of relationship (incorporating polygamists and the people who want to marry their dogs) hoping to garner more support, OR they are willing to appear extreme and later willing to negotiate through compromise (kind of like salary negotiations; ask for $50k settle for $45k).
Their focus is clear, they want to receive the government's benefits for married couples without having to do all that yucky committment/child-bearing stuff. Ewww. Either this is the proverbial nail in the coffin for the same-sex marriage push in America, or it will be their grandest moment.
TB: Volokh, Grey Thoughts
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In a document titled, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage," they outline their specific goal for marriage in America:
"Legal recognition for a wide rage of relationships, households and families - regardless of kinship or conjugal status....Access for all, regardless of marital or citizenship status, to vital government support programs, including but not limited to health care, housing, Social Security and pension plans, disaster recovery assistance, unemployment insurance, and welfare assistance." [emphasis mine]You did read that correctly, a wide range of relationships including, say, polygamy (as a recent article in The Advocate seemed to support) or say women who want to marry their dogs. According to this statement, same-sex marriage is only the beginning of the 'legal relationships' they seek. Additionally, they explicitly state that their push is not about equality (as they often say) it's all about money. The word 'economic' appear no less than 17 times in this short statement.
GLBTer's are inconsistent in how they portray their economic status. Attempting to appear victims of oppression by the big, bad, rich conservatives, Beyond Marriage attempts to portray GLBTer's as struggling to make ends meet. They do this to gain the sympathy and support of the gracious America people. BUT, when it comes to persuading corporations and influencing policy they pull out favorable statistics like this:
"The GLBT community is estimated to possess $641 billion in purchasing power. When this number is multiplied by the similar spending patterns of our allies and supporters, this buying power increases exponentially."Both powerfully rich and oppressively poor--an impressive accomplishment indeed. Simply put, they can't have it both ways.
Interestingly, they also attack the broader policies of the "Right" including low taxes, smaller government, strong national defense, and personal retirement savings accounts; the "Right's" conservative policies are apparently threats to "transgender, gender queer, and other gender-nonconforming people." Do they not like the strong economies and low unemployment rates? Do they not like protection from foreign enemies? Do they prefer living under threat of terrorist attacks?
Why do these 250 activists find the need for such a drastic change in agenda? In light of 6 court losses in July, defeats every time same-sex marriage is on the ballot, and every public opinion poll--ever, they needed to do something or risk falling into insignificance like Jesse Jackson.
I have two theories why they chose this new statement: either they are seeking to build as broad of a coalition as possible by seeking to be inclusive of every type of relationship (incorporating polygamists and the people who want to marry their dogs) hoping to garner more support, OR they are willing to appear extreme and later willing to negotiate through compromise (kind of like salary negotiations; ask for $50k settle for $45k).
Their focus is clear, they want to receive the government's benefits for married couples without having to do all that yucky committment/child-bearing stuff. Ewww. Either this is the proverbial nail in the coffin for the same-sex marriage push in America, or it will be their grandest moment.
TB: Volokh, Grey Thoughts
