At the New Hampshire Republican debate on January 7, any hope that LGBT people would have any rights left if a Republican is elected President in 2012 were blown away. They spent nearly one-quarter of the debate talking about the “Right to Privacy,” affirmed by the Supreme Court in the 1965 Griswold decision, Roe v. Wade, and same-sex marriage.
The “Right to Privacy” decisions of the Supreme Court, first in Griswold and then in Roe v. Wade in 1973, provided the foundation for the Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003 that ruled sodomy laws unconstitutional. Removing the barrier of our sexual behavior being criminal in many states is considered a foundation for other LGBT rights now and in the future.
Mitt Romney, the front-runner and presumed future nominee, believes that Roe was incorrectly decided and wants to overturn it. He wants a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Rick Santorum, who tied Romney in Iowa but placed a dismal fifth in New Hampshire, goes even further. He believes the Supremes were wrong on the right to privacy, thinks states should ban contraception, and wants to overturn Roe. Worse, he believes in a federal ban on same-sex marriage, and the couples who are already married in the five states that allow it are just out of luck. “They wouldn’t be married,” he said.
Jon Huntsman, who isn’t going anywhere in this race, supports civil unions; somewhat enlightened, he said he doesn’t believe that his marriage is threatened by gay people having civil unions. Newt Gingrich believes same sex couples should have some rights, like hospital visitation and inheritance, but apparently doesn’t support even civil unions. Rick Perry, also a non-starter, wants a constitutional amendment. Ron Paul doesn’t want a constitutional amendment, but believes the issue should be left to the states – an easy position, because something like 45 states ban same sex marriage by law or by constitutional amendment.
If we look at the whole spectrum of these extreme views regarding the rights of LGBT folks, we can easily conclude that if marriage is banned federally, we remain second class citizens forever. And if they appoint more Robert’s, Alito’s and Scalia’s to the Supreme Court, the stage would be set for an overturn of the foundation of our rights – the Right to Privacy. I can see a return to same-sex intimate sexual behavior bans in many states, and even a ban on business and governments extending domestic partner benefits to same sex couples.
Every one of these candidates has a view of the LGBT community that ranges from the simply conservative to the irrationally extreme. When the most critical issue facing us is the economy, the best these guys can do is spend one-quarter of a two hour debate talking about our rights.
I don’t much care for President Obama’s stance for civil unions against same-sex marriage, but his record in other LGBT areas is stellar: the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the enforcement of rights of partners to visit their partners in the hospital, the appointment of many LGBT people to positions of responsibility; and the inclusion of sexual orientation in the hate crimes law, all are great accomplishments given the right-wing Republican opposition to our rights for the last two decades.
We must all pay very close attention to what this collection of nuts is saying, fight them over their extreme positions, and encourage to President to support even more of our rights with the passage of ENDA, and the repeal of DOMA. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m voting for Obama this fall. –Rob Howard, Political Columnist-The Gayly
The “Right to Privacy” decisions of the Supreme Court, first in Griswold and then in Roe v. Wade in 1973, provided the foundation for the Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003 that ruled sodomy laws unconstitutional. Removing the barrier of our sexual behavior being criminal in many states is considered a foundation for other LGBT rights now and in the future.
Mitt Romney, the front-runner and presumed future nominee, believes that Roe was incorrectly decided and wants to overturn it. He wants a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Rick Santorum, who tied Romney in Iowa but placed a dismal fifth in New Hampshire, goes even further. He believes the Supremes were wrong on the right to privacy, thinks states should ban contraception, and wants to overturn Roe. Worse, he believes in a federal ban on same-sex marriage, and the couples who are already married in the five states that allow it are just out of luck. “They wouldn’t be married,” he said.
Jon Huntsman, who isn’t going anywhere in this race, supports civil unions; somewhat enlightened, he said he doesn’t believe that his marriage is threatened by gay people having civil unions. Newt Gingrich believes same sex couples should have some rights, like hospital visitation and inheritance, but apparently doesn’t support even civil unions. Rick Perry, also a non-starter, wants a constitutional amendment. Ron Paul doesn’t want a constitutional amendment, but believes the issue should be left to the states – an easy position, because something like 45 states ban same sex marriage by law or by constitutional amendment.
If we look at the whole spectrum of these extreme views regarding the rights of LGBT folks, we can easily conclude that if marriage is banned federally, we remain second class citizens forever. And if they appoint more Robert’s, Alito’s and Scalia’s to the Supreme Court, the stage would be set for an overturn of the foundation of our rights – the Right to Privacy. I can see a return to same-sex intimate sexual behavior bans in many states, and even a ban on business and governments extending domestic partner benefits to same sex couples.
Every one of these candidates has a view of the LGBT community that ranges from the simply conservative to the irrationally extreme. When the most critical issue facing us is the economy, the best these guys can do is spend one-quarter of a two hour debate talking about our rights.
I don’t much care for President Obama’s stance for civil unions against same-sex marriage, but his record in other LGBT areas is stellar: the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the enforcement of rights of partners to visit their partners in the hospital, the appointment of many LGBT people to positions of responsibility; and the inclusion of sexual orientation in the hate crimes law, all are great accomplishments given the right-wing Republican opposition to our rights for the last two decades.
We must all pay very close attention to what this collection of nuts is saying, fight them over their extreme positions, and encourage to President to support even more of our rights with the passage of ENDA, and the repeal of DOMA. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m voting for Obama this fall. –Rob Howard, Political Columnist-The Gayly
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