Thursday, May 31, 2012

GAZETTE COLUMN: EQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL – INCLUDING GAYS! by John P. Flannery

Delgaudio's on line photo album


Virginia may say it’s for lovers but oh how our elected officials love to hate.
We have an orange-hatted hate-monger, Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene “gotta go” Delgaudio, who spews poisonous epithets wide and far attacking any and all things gay, claiming to reach 300 million “love thy neighbor” Americans, because he’s afraid of the species that will evolve from gay marriages.  (Incidentally, I didn’t know that Delgaudio believed in evolution.) 
Delgaudio’s vehicle for distributing his propaganda, the Public Advocate, was declared an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Way to go, Gene!
When Delgaudio attacked the President for supporting gay marriage, Delgaudio charged that supporting same sex marriage “disrespects women.”  Somebody tell Gene that same sex marriage means women too. 
Delgaudio says that respecting gay men and women violates God’s values.  Really!  Is it the one that says love thy neighbor as thyself?  
Supervisor Delgaudio can’t sleep at night because there are 3,350 same-sex couples in Virginia raising more than 6,000 children.
Nor is Delgaudio alone.  Delegate Bob Marshall can’t abide gays either.  Last week, Marshall led the legislative charge that blocked a Richmond prosecutor and former Navy vet from becoming a General District Court Judge because, in Marshall’s words, he was an “aggressive activist for the pro-homosexual agenda.”    Bile-meister Marshall insisted, “Sodomy is not a civil right.”  Can you feel the love? 
Some individuals like Delgaudio espouse religious views to support their discrimination; there are, however, religions and priests and ministers who sanctify same sex unions.
Some ask why isn’t it enough if we allow gay couples to have domestic partnerships?  What’s “separate” and different is not “equal.”  Partnerships lack the meaning conveyed by marriage signifying love and commitment.
In the California trial court decision, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, upheld on appeal, attacking Proposition 8 for insisting that the only valid marriage is between a man and a woman, U. S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker reviewed the arguments and evidence for discriminating against same sex marriage.
Kristin Perry, the lead plaintiff, explained that the law denied her the ritual and language necessary to define and acknowledge her familial relationship as a lifetime commitment – and as a part of the social fabric. 
Psychologist Gregory Harek testified at that trial that homosexuality is a normal expression of human sexuality, and that most gays and lesbians have little or no choice in their orientation, and efforts to change their orientation have been found to pose a risk of harm. 
Historian Nancy Cott testified that civil law, and not religious custom, has always defined marriage in the United States and, most significantly, she said, “one’s ability to consent to marriage is a basic civil right.” 
Marriage has shed other discriminatory practices since colonial days.  Race is no longer a valid restriction, no woman is subsumed into a male-dominated relationship, the spouse’s sex does not define that spouse’s work, births occur outside of marriage, adoption is accepted and even encouraged, and we have no fault divorce and a somewhat alarming divorce rate. 
Judge Walker rightly concluded that the prohibition against same sex marriage was a private moral view that did not advance any legitimate government interest, and the constitutional right to marry protects an individual’s choice of the marital partner regardless of gender.  Six in Ten persons under 30 years of age agree with this assessment.  More should respect this personal choice, even as it differs from their own, as this is truly nothing more than another discriminatory practice tardily headed to the dust bin of history. 
Delgaudio and Marshall embrace the darkness while we can hope society turns toward the light.

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