Politicians speak

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama officially declared his opposition to a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples in California. He stated his opposition to the marriage ban (Proposition 8) in a letter read at the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club breakfast in San Francisco:

Dear Friends,

Thank you for the opportunity to welcome everyone to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club's Pride Breakfast and to congratulate you on continuing a legacy of success, stretching back thirty-six years. As one of the oldest and most influential LGBT organizations in the country, you have continually rallied to support Democratic candidates and causes, and have fought tirelessly to secure equal rights and opportunities for LGBT Americans in California and throughout the country.

As the Democratic nominee for President, I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I support repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, and the passage of laws to protect LGBT Americans from hate crimes and employment discrimination. And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.

For too long issues of LGBT rights have been exploited by those seeking to divide us. It's time to move beyond polarization and live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. This is no less than a core issue about who we are as Democrats and as Americans. Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks. My thanks again to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club for allowing me to be a part of today's celebration. I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years, and I wish you all continued success.

Sincerely,
Barack Obama



Conversely, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced his support for the marriage ban initiative in an email sent to anti-gay group ProtectMarriage.com:

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona," McCain said in a message widely distributed via PRNewswire. "I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

No, judges should definitely NOT be making these decisions! What experience do they have at decision-making? They're only judges.

But in reality, I agree with Senator McCain that judges shouldn't have to be making such decisions. The Federal Government should make the decision to grant legal marriage to same-sex couples in all of the United States.

It seems that the family values Republicans in the Senate have introduced yet another proposed Constitutional amendment to "protect marriage" from the scary homosexuals. (Remember, we fear everyone who is not like us. And please don't remind us that more than 1/2 of the Senators have divorced and remarried - two and three times - and that the only thing marriage needs to be protected from is divorce; NOT the gays. That really upsets us.)



And which of our lovely and esteemed Senators are sponsors of the bill? Why, none other than David Vitter and Larry Craig! You might remember their names, since both were in the news last year for eledged sex scandals. Oh, the irony of it all. You know, the guilty are usually the most vocal opponents.



The following 'posters' were found on Patriot Boy's blog and I found them too funny not to re-post. Enjoy.

So there you have it: our politicians speak!

Crush du Jour: Frayne Rosanoff