June 17, 2008 - 2:56pm
Smith comments on ‘clumsy and regrettable’ statement on gay marriage
By Danny ReiterFrank Dixon, the Democratic Party of Oregon’s first vice-chair, is calling on U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) to clarify remarks he made last week during a panel discussion on gay rights at the Center for American Progress.
“It appears as though Gordon Smith is equating gay marriage with polygamy. Senator Smith owes an explanation to me, my partner and to every Oregonian for these comments. He needs to directly address his confusing and offensive statements,” said Dixon in a press release.
The DPO first vice-chair and former president of GLBT caucus continued: “By his words, Senator Smith may be defending polygamy and suggesting that it was wrong to define marriage in the first place, but only Senator Smith can explain that for sure. If Smith is willing to speak at a forum on gay rights in Washington, D.C., surely he can explain what he was talking about to his Oregon constituents. We deserve a direct explanation. No more emailed statements from your staff, Senator Smith.”
Smith responded to Dixon in an email to PolitickerOR.com: “I was making a historical reference to a non-traditional practice of marriage that was banned by the Mormon Church. It was a clumsy and regrettable way to make the point that a definition of marriage beyond one man/one woman can have unintended consequences. I am sorry if I offended any of my friends in the gay community with this reference.”
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Gay marriage is wrong
Personally, I don't see much wrong with comparing gay marriage to polygamy although I probably feel that gay marriage is worse. Get over it, liberals. Most of us out there think gay marriage is an abomination.
Gay marriage
Although I am sympathetic to those who believe in tradition and those with strong religious beliefs about marriage, I think it is strange having our government or church determine who can, and who can not, enter into that very personal bond. I know many gay and lesbian couples, conservative and liberal, for whom their partnerships are every bit as important as those who are religious and/or traditional. So, I guess my opinion on this would be, who the heck do these so called conservatives think they are telling other people how to run their lives? I don't think being gay is anything new, unusual, or particularly sinful.
Gay Marriage Smokescreen
In response to "Concerned" I would say that governments and churches do not determine "who can, and who can not, enter into that very personal bond (of marriage)". But governments and churches DO determine what it is that they SANCTION as marriage.
In other words, anyone can form a committed relationship and call it marriage, but churches or governments are not obligated to recognize it as valid FOR THEIR PURPOSES unless the union comports with the standards or laws of that body.
When Gordon Smith mentioned historic polygamy, Frank Dixon jumped in to criticize Sen. Smith for even mentioning polygamy in the same breath as same-sex marriage, claiming that the gay community was owed an apology for his having offended them. What a crock!
It is perfectly reasonable, when discussing state-sanctioned marriage, to consider how the government has approached the subject in the past. However, same-sex marriage cannot stand up in light of such comparisons. The GLBT Lobby knows this, so it must quash any such discussion by feigning outrage whenever the subject of polygamy comes up.
Meanwhile, it is deemed OK for the gay lobby to link their agenda to the African-American civil rights movement.
A blind man who leans
A blind man who leans against a wall imagines that it's the boundary of the world. 张家界旅游
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