Just was flipping through the internets today and came upon this essay in the Boston Herald about gay marriage. It makes a good point - gubernatorial candidates in Massachusetts should be asked whether they would support a referendum on gay marriage, or some sort of ballot question addressing the 2004 court ruling. But then it makes a detour into Crazytown.While defending Republican governor Mitt Romney's choice to attend a religious rally against gay marriage, the author Joe Fitzgerald has this to say: "Critics say Romney trashed Massachusetts. Please. When it comes to homosexual matrimony, Massachusetts deserves trashing. That’s like saying Martin Luther King trashed Alabama. On the issues of his day, it needed trashing, too."
Um.... Huh. A comparison between America's strongest fighter for equal rights, and a man who is doing his best to remove rights already given to a previously unprotected minority. You're losing us.
Fitzgerald then goes on to say that gays are uniformly against a referendum, without quoting a single gay person, publication, or poll: "This community that once pleaded for tolerance has become the most intolerant of all, especially now that it’s been emboldened by four anarchical judges, answerable to no one."
Um... Huh. It's funny, because a lot of gays DO want a referendum, especially since many straight Bay Staters have seen that the legalization wasn't the apocalypse at all. More people than ever live near, or know, committed gay couples. Sure, the court case was a bonus, but we really want to have our unions legitimized by everyone, not judges. So actually, the ball's back in your court, Fitzgerald. You can try the old Republican trick of spinning the word "tolerance" to your benefit, but lately, that old card is working less and less. So don't make assumptions about the opinions of a community you clearly know nothing about.
To paraphrase something another loudmouthed old white Republican once taught us, "When you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME."
Somehow we can also imagine President Bush attempting to make that joke. And screwing up the punchline.
1 comment:
"Critics say Romney trashed Massachusetts. Please. When it comes to homosexual matrimony, Massachusetts deserves trashing. That’s like saying Martin Luther King trashed Alabama. On the issues of his day, it needed trashing, too. "
WOW, this is one of the most obtuse, poorly constructed arguments EVER. also, fitzgeralds posturing on judge appointments is not only tired, but indignant. its a spoil of the system...look how well it worked for pataki.
this would ALLL be solved if everyone just wore the ribbon.
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