Two Moments of Light Amidst this Past Week's Political Slugfest
This week sure is shaping up to be an interesting one in the world of politics. Two of the leading Democratic presidential candidates have been locked in a bitter back and forth, the once leading GOP presidential candidate is seeing his lead slip in the "must win" state of Florida, and for the first time in a while, Congress and the White House are working together in a bipartisan fashion. While I could go on at length about any of the above topics, I thought I'd bring you some political news that you may not have seen in the headlines this week.
First, former Vice President Al Gore came out with a new video blog post today about his views on same-sex marriage. In the video, Gore speaks out in favor of marriage equality, and gives some good reasons to back up his views.
One argument he gives which is particularly potent is that expanding marriage to gays and lesbians would help encourage stability in same-sex relationships. In his words, "shouldn't we be promoting the kind of faithfulness and loyalty to one's partner regardless of sexual orientation?" To me, this argument doesn't sound like some far left bologna. It actually sounds fairly (gasp) conservative. The truth of the matter is that marriage gives heterosexual couples something to aspire to, something to reach for to continue to strengthen their relationships. In most states, gay and lesbian couples still don't have anything to reach for, although hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples (according to 2000 U.S. Census Data) are trying despite the institutionalized discrimination against them.
I found it interesting and quite exciting to see such a high profile individual speak out for marriage equality. Now if only more elected officials would have such courage to stand up for true equality, instead of going the politically correct route of "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships." The key here is that what we're talking about is civil marriage, a legal contract created by the government.
In other GLBT news in the political sphere, Sen. Barack Obama spoke this past Sunday at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once led services. In his address to the church, he talked about the current divides in the country, and the need for unity to solve our common problems.
One thing he included in his speech that particularly caught my ear was when he spoke about the need for some members of the African-American community to overcome their own prejudices. They included unease about immigrants, anti-Semitism, and also a feeling that some had "scorned [their] gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them." It was inspiring to hear a presidential candidate speak up for acceptance of GLBT individuals, especially in a moment when there was no pressure for him to do so.
Oftentimes when politicans speak up for GLBT individuals it's in a debate setting where they've been prompted to speak about the issue or at events that are specifically focused toward GLBT voters. They also do so for political gain, with some speaking in favor of GLBT rights when speaking to more socially liberal voters, and others speaking against GLBT rights when speaking with more socially conservative voters. It's truly amazing to see two prominent politicians take a stand umprompted, and it gives me hope that things are moving in the right direction.
While both of the above moments received some good airtime here and there, we're likely to see mainly the bickering and infighting in the mainstream media over the next few days leading up to the Democratic Primary in South Carolina and the Republican Primary in Florida. I'm personally getting a little worn down with this primary season in light of recent skirmishes, but it will be interesting to see where the dust settles on February 5. At least there have been some moments of light in all of this political rancor.
