Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation

Introduction

As far as I was concerned marriage was between a man and a woman -- and they could have it. I knew that marriage was a product of the patriarchy. And I had broken free!

My older lesbian friends predicted that gay marriage would someday be legal. Some even had ceremonies. I attended a few. Pat and Carol wore matching white tuxes. They had both been married before (to men) and had adult children. I respected their vows -- but thought of them as quaint. A decade or so later, the younger women started having ceremonies. They graced the cover of glossy lesbian magazines in their white bridal dresses. I respected their choices also -- but, at the same time, I thought they were misled. Fifty percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages -- down slightly from 53% last year, but marking only the second time in Gallup's history of tracking this question that at least half of Americans have supported legal same-sex marriage. Forty-eight percent say such marriages should not be legal. The Democratic Party's platform, formally adopted at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 4, supports "marriage equality," a phrase used by those who wish to redefine marriage to include homosexual couples. The platform, which outlines the party's official views on a variety of subjects, called for the full repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for federal purposes and protects states from being forced to recognize the gay unions of other states.

Discussion and Analysis

It also noted that the administration has redefined the word "family" in immigration regulations to include homosexual relationships. 

Affirming its support of abortion with no ...