Gay Marriage 2012

Two Sundays ago Vice President Biden got in the words of President Obama " over his ski's" in speaking on Meet the Press about the issue of gay marriage. This is another way of saying that Biden got out ahead of the President on the issue.

At the time I did not consider it to be a big deal. I think everyone knew the President was in favor of allowing gay folks to be married but the Obama administration subsequent focus on the process forcing Obama's hand to come out and speak on the issue prior to his original plan to do so makes the President look small.

If you are in favor of gay marriage the fact that you are admitting to the fact of there being political calculation that determines when you say so does not help you. I understand it. We all " understand " why he might have been waiting to make a grand pronouncement. Still if I had a partner that wanted to be married to me before he, for example, died of cancer I would be less than thrilled with the President's equivocating.

The fact is that the President's pronouncement, for all the subsequent media firestorm, means nothing. If the Presidency has a bully pulpit Obama has thus far shown no ability to use it. What happens in the California same sex marriage case working it's way through the Supreme Court will have a much more important role to play.

Here in Maine we too will be in the mix this fall. A referendum to allow for gay citizens to marry will again be on the ballot. It is hard to say if it will pass. I believe that the change in opinion on the issue is changing palpably by the month. Some state, soon, is going to pass a referendum allowing gay marriage. To date no referendum has passed in any state.

My own opinion on the issue is cloudy. I do not begrudge people who are uncomfortable with the idea. For those of my generation and older this is something that is an incredible change. Still those who state that I can accept civil unions but not marriage are this time in history's equivalent of white folks in the sixties saying I like black folks, I have black friends, I just do not know if they need to be totally integrated.

As long as you hold marriage out as a practice gay folks cannot share you are stating that you feel they should not be equal in society. Now for the record I am the first to admit that I do not know if they should be equal.

I consider myself a lay scholar of the Bible, I have read it many times, study it, and always have a book in my active reading pile that actively studies religion in some way. I think that Biblical references to homosexuality are present but it takes a pretty significant tunnel vision to not recognize that many issues are addressed much more strongly by Jesus and we, including those that are against gay marriage the most strongly, choose to ignore. Jesus gave us a pretty good idea of what was the qualification for divorce. Did you know that evangelicals have the highest rate of divorce in the country and it is safe to say that in most of those cases the requirements for divorce Jesus listed are not present.

The point is that everything is open to interpretation. I am a black and white person. I like things spelled out. I am not a fan of modernism. Everyone who knows me knows that.

Therefore I feel I understand how uncomfortable a changing world is to people. The idea of men marrying men and women marrying women is pretty foreign to a great deal of people.

I appreciate that. I just feel that so many of the most virulent folks on this issue are just so far from the message of Jesus that GPS might not be able to save them. Jesus was clear, hate the sin, not the sinner. Even if you believe that someone is sinning the hate you see some folks spew on gay people is a sign of fear or anger over more than just the fact that two people in love want to get married. It is a sign of uncomfortableness with the modern world.

That too I can appreciate. We must remember, however, that the leading indicator of a person's position on gay rights is the exposure they have had to gay people. I have to say that for me too that has been the case. I also try to ask myself if my son or daughter came to me and was gay. Would I want them to feel second class, like they were somehow dirty and thus could not be married in society.


I would not. I do not have to be totally comfortable with the modern world to understand that for most folks who want to be married all they want to is to proclaim their love for someone. To be gay is not a choice. I do not believe anyone thinks that anymore.


Love is Love. Or as Bill Maher said last week..." Let gay people get married, They should be as miserable as the rest of us."


That was a joke by the way. I love my wife more each and every day. Being married to her is a joy of my life. Should not gay folks have the same ability to love and feel blessed.