On NY Marrige Ruling

(posted on The Dark Wraith Forums BB)

I missed this little detail....it dovetails with my own theory that the wingers fear gay marrige because their own marriges are so crappy, they are afraid the gays will show them up...gotta be a real fear factor to be in a blah to blech relationship, hanging in there because it is "proper", "godly", or because of the kids, , to see a couple of guys who've been together twice as long with NONE of the social or legal supports you've had. Anyway, this is kinda funny...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/opinion/14yoshino.html?th&emc=th

Too Good for Marriage
By KENJI YOSHINO
Published: July 14, 2006
New York's highest court ruled that marriage is built to protect unstable heterosexuals.

New Haven - LAST week, New York’s highest court voted 4-to-2 that a legislative ban on same-sex marriage did not violate the state Constitution. In doing so, it added to the patchwork of state rulings on the issue, including those of Indiana and Arizona (which similarly upheld legislative bans) and Massachusetts (which struck down a legislative ban).

What’s noteworthy about the New York decision, however, is that it became the second ruling by a state high court to assert a startling rationale for prohibiting same-sex marriage — that straight couples may be less stable parents than their gay counterparts and consequently require the benefits of marriage to assist them.

The critical question, expressed in a plurality opinion by three members of the New York court, is whether a “rational legislature” could decide that the benefits of marriage should be granted to opposite-sex couples but not to same-sex couples. The opinion then answered in the affirmative with two different arguments. While both related to the interests of children, they differed significantly in vintage and tone.

The more traditional argument stated that the Legislature could reasonably suppose that children would fare better under the care of a mother and father. Like most arguments against gay marriage, this “role model” argument assumes straight couples are better guides to life than gay couples.

And like other blatantly anti-gay arguments, it falls apart under examination. In a decision last month in a case concerning gay foster parents, the Arkansas Supreme Court found no evidence that children raised by gay couples were disadvantaged compared with children raised by straight couples.

But the New York court also put forth another argument, sometimes called the “reckless procreation” rationale. “Heterosexual intercourse,” the plurality opinion stated, “has a natural tendency to lead to the birth of children; homosexual intercourse does not.” Gays become parents, the opinion said, in a variety of ways, including adoption and artificial insemination, “but they do not become parents as a result of accident or impulse.”

Consequently, “the Legislature could find that unstable relationships between people of the opposite sex present a greater danger that children will be born into or grow up in unstable homes than is the case with same-sex couples.”

To shore up those rickety heterosexual arrangements, “the Legislature could rationally offer the benefits of marriage to opposite-sex couples only.” Lest we miss the inversion of stereotypes about gay relationships here, the opinion lamented that straight relationships are “all too often casual or temporary.”

Letter to a DINO

I sent the following to Congressman Rick Boucher. Granted, then man has helped folks I know cut thru crap and get help when nothing else worked, but, my dad WORKED for a congressman. That's part of congressman's job. The rest is supporting the constitution and their party. One out of three is not a good thing in my mind.

Dear Congressman,

You recently asked me as a Democrat and a past supporter for money. I wrote back that between what the Republicans had done to the economy, and the fact that I was unsure given some of your recent stances that you were representing my interests and beliefs as a moderate to liberal Democrat, I could not give any money at this time.

Your vote to amend the Constitution in a manner to LIMIT rights of an entire demographic is truly the last straw. I will no longer support someone who calls himself a Democrat yet does nothing to help the discriminated against. I was raised by old time Great Society color-blind all people derve equal treatment and equal opportunity Democrats. I still believe in those ideals. I believe in equal treatment of religions-I'll happily perform a marrige for my gay friends. My religious affiliation permits this. But you would not recognize this legally. THIS IS WRONG!. Denying longterm partners the same rights you automatically give to heterosexuals that marry on a whim is wrong. Trying to negate legal marriges performed in other countries because you are pandering to fearful bigots is wrong.

In short, you sir, are a red state republican. It is time you started calling yourself one. A Democrat does not countenence bigotry and unequal treatment under the law. You have lost my vote, just as Hillary Clinton has no chance of my vote in 2008 after her cautions that we need to avoid inflaming the republican base.

You are going to send me a nice position statement telling me you support tradional marrige. Oh yay. Guess what? I support it too, the whole 'till death do us part" and "in sickness" stuff- the stuff most heterosexuals seem to ignore as they merrily practice serial monogamy.

In just this surrounding area, I personally know at least five families with children headed by two mothers. What are you doing to protect their rights and their children's rights? Does it matter at all that pushing their families further outside the law by writing discrimination into the US Constitution makes things like wills and custody issues even more difficult than they are already? What harm does a loving, stable and supportive family that just happens to be headed by two members of the same sex do to anyone else's family? By legalizing gay relationships-by any name- you suddenly have children with officially one parent who now has two-this would save on social service benefits being paid to these 'single parent" families that in practice and reality have two parents. It enriches society to have happy, healthy kids in stable two parent households. You encourage stable households by giving benefits like those conveyed by marrige. It enriches the lives of all to find love and happiness. What sex your true love is really is beside the point in this day and age. Unless you want to ban heterosexual couples who are sterile from the benefits of marrige, then this whole amendment is simply trying to make our gays and lesbians into 2/3 a person. That got thrown out as applied to the negro. I hope to God Almighty that He opens the eyes of those the false prophets have conned, and this discriminatory political distraction dies a quiet death, and fairness and God's love becomes once again the rule in this country.

Goat Update

The goats made a hole in the fence. The two miniature goats we are goat sitting are back where they belong, but the 3 big ones have wandered off in the rain. I hope they wander back in the morning when it is light (I was out with a garden solar lantern at the edge of the woods going "NaaaAAaahh,NaaaAAaahh" at midnight-no response).

I'm either very worried, or very annoyed, I'm not sure which.

My Pet Goat(s)

Well, a few weeks back, Imp... tells me she is getting another goat from the lady that gave us Jasper. The woman has too many goats and hates to take them to the meat market. Then, as time draws nearer, she asks if we'll take his half sister too, with the caveat that if we breed her, we do it to one of hers and she gets the babies. Okay, cool. We bring home two 3-4 month old goats in the back of the station wagon. They've been named Rosemary and Coriander (Rose and Corey) and are slowly getting less skittish.

Well, there's this sweet old black man that raises goats that comes into my store. He gets 2 $1 lottery tickets a day to scratch for entertainment, and my standing joke has been that when he hits it big we're running off together. He comes and gets the stale bread from Subway for his goats. It seems that after Jasper was killed, he set out taming a youngster to give me. THis fellow is wild-he's a meat goat, part Boer-his daddy looks like someone crossed a mountain goat with a miniature ox-and is strong and stocky while the ones we have are sleek and skinny milk goats-alpine crosses. They are taller at 4 months than he is at 9, but he outweighs them. But I think it is so sweet that one of my customers tamed me goat because my buddy had gotten killed.

New goat is white with a brown head and neck except for a white blaze. Each foot is brown, so he looks like he's wearing shoes. He has a few brown spots on his underside. But his leaps to avoid being loaded into a station wagon, and the dogs when he got home, are incredibly powerful and graceful and reminded me of male ballet dancers. Decided he needed a dancer's name and so he has been christened Bojangles. He does not like the beagle dog, but both outweighs him and has horns he isn't afraid to use, so I think Casper is gonna learn pretty quick.

He was a good passenger until Imp... got a flat on the way home. Of course the spare is under the goat. I am left holding the goat, who is quite unhappy, next to a busy highway while she and Implet(6 1/2) changed the tire. Well, the MU's dad showed up and helped by holding the Mu, who wanted no more of this car seat, thank you very much. I am just strong enough to keep a panicking goat on a leash from running into the highway. I have to wonder what passers-by thought-two women, a man,a goat and two kids, two station wagons and a Camry perked on the shoulder of the highway. He was actually a pretty good passenger except for loading him back up after the tire was changed too. Rose and Corey have become old hands at car rides, and load pretty easily now.

This could only happen to us.