Thursday, March 28, 2013

Bigoted?

"We're all the products of our backgrounds and environments, and the issue of marriage for same-sex couples is a complicated nexus of love, identity, politics, ideology and religious beliefs. We should think twice before using terms like 'bigoted' to describe the position of those opposed to same-sex marriage or 'immoral' to describe the position of those in favor, and always strive to cultivate humility in ourselves as we listen to others' perspectives and share our own."
- Will Portman, son of the Ohio senator
See the Yale Daily News for Wills origional letter to the editor http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/03/25/portman-coming-out/

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

One Republicans about face

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio announced that he is now a supporter of gay marriage rights.

So, what changed?  The good senator from the buckeye state has voted against gay rights in the recent past. Turns out that his son, a sophomore at famed Yale, is gay, and dad is just now finding out. 

First of all, thanks to the son for coming out so publicly and letting his dad know that his sexual orientation is not a choice for him anymore than it was for his dad.

Second, good for the dad for allowing himself to re-think and re-consider his original position based on new facts and information.

"I have come to believe" said good ol' dad, "that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married."
 
Senator Portman's recent about face looms large because he the highest ranking republican to support gay marriage. 
 
See this article on CNN - understanding that it is usually as liberal as Fox is conservative.
 

LDS News Release

New LDS Temple in Honduras
News Release — 26 March 2013
In response to media requests, the following statement was issued today by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

"Today the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments regarding the definition of marriage in this country.

"We firmly support the divinely appointed definition of marriage as the union between a man and a woman because it is the single most important institution for strengthening children, families, and society.

"We hope the court will agree, and we look forward to the decision on this important matter.
"


http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-issues-statement-supreme-court-hearing

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Watch for what's coming next:  What the passing of Marriage Equality may mean for the LDS church

='s all around

Gay marriage is going to win.  I am not saying that I agree or disagree with it.  I am just saying that I think that, eventually -- even if the Supreme Court avoids making a decision on it this year -- men will be able to marry men and women will be able to marry women based on American law.

As I have followed the issue for my little writing space set up in my house with a window looking out onto  the front yard and my neighborhood, I have been amazed at our speed getting where we are with gay rights.  Civil rights, women's issues, nothing has moved at greater speed to resolution, even with a probable year added on.

Is this your sign?

I don't have much to support my stance. I am not one to be able to read the statistics and make sense out of them, but I do know that a whole bunch of states have recently passes or upheld laws that deny marriage privileges universally.

For me, a key issue to passing this key issue is that minds are changing as regular folk discover that they are related to, or friends with, a homosexual. Conservative republicans have only, within the last ten years, had to take a public stand for or against gay marriage -- usually against.  Before that, the standard was always implied by politicians, inferred by the public)

In the last year gay marriage as a civil right won, and in several states. The whoosh of sweeping public opinion is getting louder and it is happening at a notable pace -- at least a talking point regardless of the side on which we have taken refuge. 

The pendulum has nowhere left to swing but towards liberals.  Conservatives say no.  Most states have said no already. Unless they add really, really no, or a more strong no, republicans don't have much more to say.

In 2008 California's proposition 8 passed in a real cat fight.  But with changing public opinion, would it pass if it were voted on today? A lot of the polls indicate that, yes.
 
And a lot of the changing is going to be coming from Conservative republicans. Liberals wont change their mind in favor of more bans.  In order for republicans to make headway with younger generations of voters, there stance will have to soften, or the republican party will handicap itself.

Is Marriage equality/gay marriage as an issue a deal breaker? I believe that it's starting to be. The young will not vote against it, and the old, in order to stay in office will have to follow suit just to survive.

As a people, we are evolving on gay marriage. Sooner or later, it will pass, and I believe it will be sooner.  The Supreme Court may blow us out of the water with a ruling that marriage is a constitutional right turning sooner into today.  Regardless of what side you are on, it seems clear that gay marriage will have more wins in its column that losses.

What does that mean for the LDS church and it's members -- me included?


http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/26/what-is-the-red-equal-sign-all-over-facebook-and-twitter/