The Morning After

It seems clear to me that the leadership couldn't attract enough votes (101) to pass their bill so they adjourned until March 11th, much to my dismay. In fact the internal state house news says, "Lacking the votes to pass a
constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman only
while authorizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, House and
Senate leaders let their proposal wilt without a vote Thursday night.

The move underscored the inability of legislators over two full days to
draft a consensus marriage amendment. After three close votes and endless
behind the scenes negotiations, it became clear that the Legislature is too
divided right now to make progress on any amendment."

In the meantime, we continue to get gems such as these:

"God, very specifically, told Adam and Eve (one man & one woman) to 'be fruitful and multiply.' Two men or two women cannot do that. God did not intend that. Please stand against same sex marriages and please stand up for the Lord and what he tells us to do. Like I tell my children all the time, think about the end results of your actions. America was very fast to pray to God when the tragedies of 9/11 happened. Will God continue to protect us if we continue to ignore his teachings? Maybe so, because he's God, and He loves us no matter what. But, maybe not because he loves us. Tough Love, ya know? Please vote against such a law as licensing gay marriages. Thank you, Dianne Latour, LA "

So are you planning on annulling marriages between infertile or impotent couples? It is ok to be married as long as there is viagra? Calling ex-Sen. Bob Dole Are people like Senator Kerry, who have had prostate cancer and had their "tubes tied" effectively be operations unable to continue to be married? I think not. Marriage is about a lot more than procreation. True that is important, but I feel that with 7 billion or so people on the planet, humans are far from being extinct any time soon.

Marriage is about mutual commitment, love and responsibility between two invididuals that does not, dramatically increase the likelihood of genetic abnormalities due to a kiddie-sized gene pool. This definintion precludes poligomy, beastiality, sibling/parental marriages, marriages between children or adults and children, and so on. There is no slippery slope that some folks talk about. We are never going to have to amend the constition to allow people to marry their animals or multiple partners or whatever.

I would also like to give a shout out to my boss, without naming, of course. Great speech over these last two days. We have already gotten several emails from around the country (Alabama, Pennslyvania, Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts) praising the speech. This is from a man in Alabama:

"I want to thank you for your comments when you addressed your colleagues at approximately XXXX [blacked out to preserve boss' identity]. Your words were very inspiring and I truly appreciated them after hearing so much spin regarding the issue of gay marriage on most of the cable news networks. I felt that you cut through to the essence of the issue. Hearing you speak made me more proud to be a citizen of this nation than I've felt in some time. You are indeed a credit to your district and they should be proud to have you serving them.

Perhaps some day the socio-political climate in this beautiful State I live in will allow for the same level of measured, open-minded, and open-hearted discourse as I witnessed tonight.

Thank you for being a voice of reason, a champion for the dignity and liberty of ALL people. Thank you for holding up a light of hope in a time when the darkness of fear leads some to say that gay marriage threatens the very foundation of our society. It is sadly ironic that an amendment which would enshrine discrimination of any form in the Constitution would in fact threaten the true foundation of our society: the equality of ALL people."

This is from a constituent:

"Dear X,

I just finished watching this evening proceedings at the State House. I wanted to drop you a note to say that I am extremely proud to have you as my X. What you spoke about tonight must have taken serious courage. I would imagine the pressures of local, state and national religious and "family" groups must be very strong, but you have stuck by your convictions and I appreciate that.

I actually have wanted to send you a note many times lately to tell you that I think you have done a wonderful job. I know that I supported Chris in the election, he is a close friend, but you have certainly proven yourself far more than worthy of the position. If there is anything I can do to help you in your future elections please let me know.

One final note; when I moved out to San Diego for graduate school, I received my Master's Degree in Leadership Studies. My favorite professor of Leadership used to say that true leadership is the rubbing up against the defined/standard morals and values of society to bring upon positive change. This is exactly what I heard in your speech tonight. This fight that you have taken on will positively impact many generations of people in our state and country.

Again, I am very proud to have you as my State X. Your leadership has not gone unnoticed.

Bob"