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“’Live Free or Die’ isn’t just the official motto for a great state. As the 62nd Republican National Committee Chairman, I think it’s a mantra our party should live by.” So begins Kel Mehlman’s call for the GOP not to “strip citizens of their right to marry,” speaking of HB 437, which would repeal the recent extension of marriage to homosexual unions in New Hampshire. It is a noble sentiment to wish greater freedom for all citizens, and I whole-heartedly back that sentiment – but at the same time, to frame the debate over gay marriage as freedom versus non-freedom is to grossly misunderstand what the debate is even about, and to miss exactly why it is that so many people are against gay marriage.
I have been told it was one of John Kerry's greatest gaffes during the presidential campaign of 2004. During a debate with President Bush, Senator Kerry criticized Bush's stance on same-sex marriage. While doing so, he brought up Dick Cheney's openly gay daughter. Republicans everywhere were outraged that Kerry would drag family members into the media spotlight just to score political points.
At least part of the problem in the debates over allowing gays to marry is a failure to understand the different positions. On the one hand, homosexuals feel unfairly discriminated against for something that is nobody's business but their own. This is perfectly understandable to me. I fully agree that any sort of "bedroom behavior" or whom we choose to socialize with should not be subject to regulation, but what many "homosexuality activists fail to understand is the opposing position.
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AuthorHi, I'm Dan. I like chocolate, hiking, and politics. Archives
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