P
Patriot Games
Guest
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Gore_Touts_Support_for_Ho/2008/01/30/68596.html
Gore Touts Support for Homosexual Marriage
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Al Gore, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and self-proclaimed "inventor of
the Internet," has earned a new moniker: champion of homosexual marriage.
And while some observers are excited about Gore's endorsement of same-sex
marriage, the laws at the state level show overall that traditional marriage
is supported by a vast majority of Americans and legislatures.
"I think gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men
and women - to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join
together in marriage," Gore said in a video he posted recently on the
Current TV Web site. "I don't understand why it is considered by some people
to be a threat to heterosexual marriage ...."
Advocates for changing laws to create homosexual marriage welcomed the
unequivocal support of the former vice president, who also won an Academy
Award for his documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth."
"Gore is again pointing the way - and ending exclusion from marriage is one
climate change the world will be better for," said Evan Wolfson, executive
director of Freedom to Marry, a pro-homosexual marriage group, on its Web
site.
But Gore is simply "reading right off the playbook of the far left,"
according to Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, a
conservative group that opposes the homosexual agenda.
"This is what we predicted two or three years ago - that it wouldn't take
long for the liberals who went for civil unions or domestic partnerships to
move on to so-called gay marriage," LaBarbera told Cybercast News Service.
As vice president, Gore publicly supported the federal Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA), which passed Congress in 1996 and was signed into law by
President Clinton. In 2000, when he ran for president, Gore announced his
support for civil unions.
LaBarbera said it is easier for liberals to make the jump from support of
civil unions to support for full-scale same-sex marriage than it is to go
"from zero to marriage."
"Anybody who is being realistic would see that the liberals are trending
toward homosexual marriage," he added.
The state of the states on marriage
Even with high-profile support from liberals like Gore, the same-sex
marriage juggernaut of the last decade may be running out of steam.
At present, only one state - Massachusetts - allows same-sex marriage.
Another state, Rhode Island, recognizes homosexual marriages performed in
other states.
Four others - Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire - allow
civil unions. Christine Nelson, program manager for the National Conference
of State Legislatures, said lawmakers in Vermont, which became the first
state to adopt civil unions in 2000, are examining whether to convert civil
unions to marriage.
"Civil unions involve the full range of benefits of marriage but without the
word marriage or without what we would call the 'solemnification' of the
relationship," Nelson said.
But while civil unions may constitute a slippery slope towards homosexual
marriage, they may also be the best that homosexual activists can expect to
attain, Nelson said.
"I actually think the movement now is on the other side of things - that
there are more states looking at how you can, frankly, side-step the issue
of marriage and simply provide benefits to people who want to be in same-sex
relationships," she told Cybercast News Service
Many states have used domestic partnership laws to grant some of the
benefits of marriage, with California and Oregon awarding the majority of
marriage benefits to domestic partners.
More importantly, however, a whopping 41 states have passed laws defining
marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman - thanks to the same
federal Defense of Marriage Act Gore supported in 1996.
"The federal DOMA didn't provide much of a safeguard for states in terms of
limiting marriage, so shortly after Congress passed the federal DOMA, states
went out on their own accord," Nelson said.
Thus far, 27 states have actually amended their state constitutions to
protect marriage:
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
More states could eventually end up with constitutional amendments on the
ballot, but Nelson said those measures have to be passed by the state
legislatures in successive legislative sessions and are years away from
consideration.
Only one state, Arizona, rejected a state DOMA amendment when put to a
statewide vote. And only three states - New Mexico, Rhode Island and New
York - currently have no laws on the books taking a position on homosexual
marriage.
Moreover, efforts to further protect marriage with an amendment to the U.S.
Constitution have been stymied, Nelson said. The Federal Marriage Amendment,
which was last voted on in spring 2006, has never been approved.
"It really hasn't come close to passing either house," she said, adding that
there is currently no move afoot to bring the amendment back to Congress
during this election year.
Gore Touts Support for Homosexual Marriage
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Al Gore, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and self-proclaimed "inventor of
the Internet," has earned a new moniker: champion of homosexual marriage.
And while some observers are excited about Gore's endorsement of same-sex
marriage, the laws at the state level show overall that traditional marriage
is supported by a vast majority of Americans and legislatures.
"I think gay men and women ought to have the same rights as heterosexual men
and women - to make contracts, to have hospital visiting rights, to join
together in marriage," Gore said in a video he posted recently on the
Current TV Web site. "I don't understand why it is considered by some people
to be a threat to heterosexual marriage ...."
Advocates for changing laws to create homosexual marriage welcomed the
unequivocal support of the former vice president, who also won an Academy
Award for his documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth."
"Gore is again pointing the way - and ending exclusion from marriage is one
climate change the world will be better for," said Evan Wolfson, executive
director of Freedom to Marry, a pro-homosexual marriage group, on its Web
site.
But Gore is simply "reading right off the playbook of the far left,"
according to Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, a
conservative group that opposes the homosexual agenda.
"This is what we predicted two or three years ago - that it wouldn't take
long for the liberals who went for civil unions or domestic partnerships to
move on to so-called gay marriage," LaBarbera told Cybercast News Service.
As vice president, Gore publicly supported the federal Defense of Marriage
Act (DOMA), which passed Congress in 1996 and was signed into law by
President Clinton. In 2000, when he ran for president, Gore announced his
support for civil unions.
LaBarbera said it is easier for liberals to make the jump from support of
civil unions to support for full-scale same-sex marriage than it is to go
"from zero to marriage."
"Anybody who is being realistic would see that the liberals are trending
toward homosexual marriage," he added.
The state of the states on marriage
Even with high-profile support from liberals like Gore, the same-sex
marriage juggernaut of the last decade may be running out of steam.
At present, only one state - Massachusetts - allows same-sex marriage.
Another state, Rhode Island, recognizes homosexual marriages performed in
other states.
Four others - Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire - allow
civil unions. Christine Nelson, program manager for the National Conference
of State Legislatures, said lawmakers in Vermont, which became the first
state to adopt civil unions in 2000, are examining whether to convert civil
unions to marriage.
"Civil unions involve the full range of benefits of marriage but without the
word marriage or without what we would call the 'solemnification' of the
relationship," Nelson said.
But while civil unions may constitute a slippery slope towards homosexual
marriage, they may also be the best that homosexual activists can expect to
attain, Nelson said.
"I actually think the movement now is on the other side of things - that
there are more states looking at how you can, frankly, side-step the issue
of marriage and simply provide benefits to people who want to be in same-sex
relationships," she told Cybercast News Service
Many states have used domestic partnership laws to grant some of the
benefits of marriage, with California and Oregon awarding the majority of
marriage benefits to domestic partners.
More importantly, however, a whopping 41 states have passed laws defining
marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman - thanks to the same
federal Defense of Marriage Act Gore supported in 1996.
"The federal DOMA didn't provide much of a safeguard for states in terms of
limiting marriage, so shortly after Congress passed the federal DOMA, states
went out on their own accord," Nelson said.
Thus far, 27 states have actually amended their state constitutions to
protect marriage:
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
More states could eventually end up with constitutional amendments on the
ballot, but Nelson said those measures have to be passed by the state
legislatures in successive legislative sessions and are years away from
consideration.
Only one state, Arizona, rejected a state DOMA amendment when put to a
statewide vote. And only three states - New Mexico, Rhode Island and New
York - currently have no laws on the books taking a position on homosexual
marriage.
Moreover, efforts to further protect marriage with an amendment to the U.S.
Constitution have been stymied, Nelson said. The Federal Marriage Amendment,
which was last voted on in spring 2006, has never been approved.
"It really hasn't come close to passing either house," she said, adding that
there is currently no move afoot to bring the amendment back to Congress
during this election year.