President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president.
In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this place, based on conversations with his own staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and conversations with his wife and own daughters.
"I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told Roberts, in an interview to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday. Excerpts of the interview will air tonight on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer.”
Continue reading President Obama Affirms His Support for Same Sex Marriage
The government should not be involved in marriage, period. The laws of government regulation of marriage should all be repealed, and the power should reside with the people themselves, per the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution.
I would point out that when the state gets involved in marriage, someone's rights are always trampled.
Many "conservative Christians" today wouldn't speak out about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz having an interracial marriage, but when I Love Lucy was produced in 1952, over half the states would not have recognized their marriage as legal.
Also, I would point out that laws regulating marriage are the cause of a significant drain on the welfare system.
The laws against bigamy, for example, do not prevent bigamy. People like those polygamist Mormon sects still do it, but then every wife past #1 is a "single unmarried mother", which qualifies for everything from WIC to food stamps to Medicaid for herself and the kids.
These religions drain the Medicaid and Food Stamp funds from people who really need it and refer to it as "draining the beast". (Because they consider the Federal government to be evil as they live off of it.)
Same-sex marriage laws (against) are ineffective and also cause some disastrous social issues.
Consider the example where two people on Social Security (old age retirement or disability) marry, and the government decides to cut their social security checks. That can't happen with a same-sex couple because the Federal government can't recognize their marriage even if it is legal in the state they live in. They could also get food stamps x2 by going and telling the FSSA that they are "roommates" that buy groceries separately. (That would be difficult for a married couple to do.)
These laws are an unconstitutional restriction on the liberties of private citizens, and an unconstitutional violation of Equal Protection since it restricts same-sex couples from many of the rights and responsibilities afforded to their opposite-sex couple counterparts.
It is also, clearly, an unconstitutional infringement of personal liberties because it is a government exercise in enforcing primarily religious concepts of morality in statutory and constitutional law.
Even worse, it is akin to state-sponsored religion that the founders of this country so abhorred. (Think about the persecution done to them by the Church of England in those days, which is why the Establishment Clause exists.)
The "religious morality" these laws seek to enforce elevate some religious beliefs over others (or lack thereof).
I don't know how I can make it any clearer that these laws are wrong. They are wrong ethically, they are bad social policy that costs the state a lot of money with unintended side effects, and they are unconstitutional in many different ways.
Posted by: Ryan Farmer | May 09, 2012 at 06:02 PM