Gotta Love the Divine Miss M!!
A LETTER FROM BETTE TO THE IDIOT IN THE WHITE HOUSE:
Dear President Bush,
Today you called upon Congress to move quickly to
amend the US Constitution, and set in Federal stone a
legal definition of marriage. I would like to know
why.
In your speech, you stated that this Amendment would
serve to protect marriage in America, which I must
confess confuses me. Like you, I believe in the
importance of marriage and I feel that we as a society
take the institution far too lightly. In my circle of
family, friends and acquaintances, the vast majority
have married and divorced - some more than once.
Still, I believe in marriage. I believe that there is
something fundamental about finding another person on
this planet with whom you want to build a life and
family, and make a positive contribution to society. I
believe that we need more positive role models for
successful marriage in this country - something to
counteract the images we get bombarded with in popular
culture. When we are assaulted with images of
celebrities of varying genres, be it actors, sports
figures, socialites, or even politicians who shrug
marriage on and off like the latest fashion, it is
vitally important to the face of our nation, for our
children and our future, that we have a balance of
commitment and fidelity with which to stave off the
negativity. I search for these examples to show my own daughter, so that she can see that marriage is more than a disposable whim, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
As a father, I'm sure you have faced these same
concerns and difficulties in raising your own
daughters. Therefore I can also imagine that you must understand how thrilled I have been over the past few weeks to come home and turn on the news with my family. To finally have concrete examples of true commitment, honest love, and steadfast fidelity was such a relief and a joy. Instead of speaking in the hypothetical, I was finally able to point to these men and women, standing together for hours in the pouring rain, and tell my child that this is what its all about. Forget Britney. Forget Kobe. Forget Strom. Forget about all the people that we know who have taken so frivolously the pure and simple beauty of love and tarnished it so consistently. Look instead at the joy in the beautiful faces of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon - 51 years together! I mean, honestly Mr. President - how many couples do you know who are together for 51 years? I'm sure you agree that this love story provides a wonderful opportunity to teach our children about the true meaning and value of marriage. On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, rose petals and champagne, suits and veils, horns honking and elation in the streets; a celebration of love the likes of which this society has never seen.
This morning, however, my joy turned to sadness, my
relief transformed into outrage, and my peace became
anger. This morning, I watched you stand before this
nation and belittle these women, the thousands who
stood with them, and the countless millions who wish
to follow them. How could you do that, Mr. President?
How could you take something so beautiful - a clear
and defining example of the true nature of commitment
- and declare it to be anything less? What is it that
validates your marriage which somehow doesn't apply to
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon? By what power, what
authority are you so divinely imbued that you can
stand before me and this nation and hold their love to
a higher standard?
Don't speak to me about homosexuality, Mr. President.
Don't tell me that the difference lies in the bedroom.
I would never presume to ask you or your wife how it
is you choose to physically express your love for one
another, and I defy you to stand before Del Martin and
Phyllis Lyon and ask them to do the same. It is none
of my business, as it is none of yours, and it has
nothing to do with the "sanctity of marriage". I'm
sure you would agree that marriage is far more than
sexual _expression, and its high time we all started
focusing on all the other aspects of a relationship
which hold it together over the course of a lifetime.
Therefore, with the mechanics of sex set aside, I ask
you again - what makes a marriage? I firmly believe
that whatever definition you derive, there are thousands
upon thousands of shining examples for you to embrace.
You want to protect marriage. I admire and support
that, Mr. President. Together, as a nation, let us
find and celebrate examples of what a marriage should
be. Together, let us take couples who embody the
principles of commitment, fidelity, sacrifice and
love, and hold them up before our children as role
models for their own futures. Together, let us
reinforce the concept that love is about far more than
sex, despite what popular culture would like them to
believe.
Please, for the sake of our children, for the sake of
our society, for the sake of our future, do not take
us down this road. Under the guise of protection, do
not support divisiveness. Under the guise of unity, do
not endorse discrimination. Under the guise of
sanctity, do not devalue commitment. Under the guise
of democracy, do not encourage this amendment.
Bette Midler
Dear President Bush,
Today you called upon Congress to move quickly to
amend the US Constitution, and set in Federal stone a
legal definition of marriage. I would like to know
why.
In your speech, you stated that this Amendment would
serve to protect marriage in America, which I must
confess confuses me. Like you, I believe in the
importance of marriage and I feel that we as a society
take the institution far too lightly. In my circle of
family, friends and acquaintances, the vast majority
have married and divorced - some more than once.
Still, I believe in marriage. I believe that there is
something fundamental about finding another person on
this planet with whom you want to build a life and
family, and make a positive contribution to society. I
believe that we need more positive role models for
successful marriage in this country - something to
counteract the images we get bombarded with in popular
culture. When we are assaulted with images of
celebrities of varying genres, be it actors, sports
figures, socialites, or even politicians who shrug
marriage on and off like the latest fashion, it is
vitally important to the face of our nation, for our
children and our future, that we have a balance of
commitment and fidelity with which to stave off the
negativity. I search for these examples to show my own daughter, so that she can see that marriage is more than a disposable whim, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
As a father, I'm sure you have faced these same
concerns and difficulties in raising your own
daughters. Therefore I can also imagine that you must understand how thrilled I have been over the past few weeks to come home and turn on the news with my family. To finally have concrete examples of true commitment, honest love, and steadfast fidelity was such a relief and a joy. Instead of speaking in the hypothetical, I was finally able to point to these men and women, standing together for hours in the pouring rain, and tell my child that this is what its all about. Forget Britney. Forget Kobe. Forget Strom. Forget about all the people that we know who have taken so frivolously the pure and simple beauty of love and tarnished it so consistently. Look instead at the joy in the beautiful faces of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon - 51 years together! I mean, honestly Mr. President - how many couples do you know who are together for 51 years? I'm sure you agree that this love story provides a wonderful opportunity to teach our children about the true meaning and value of marriage. On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, rose petals and champagne, suits and veils, horns honking and elation in the streets; a celebration of love the likes of which this society has never seen.
This morning, however, my joy turned to sadness, my
relief transformed into outrage, and my peace became
anger. This morning, I watched you stand before this
nation and belittle these women, the thousands who
stood with them, and the countless millions who wish
to follow them. How could you do that, Mr. President?
How could you take something so beautiful - a clear
and defining example of the true nature of commitment
- and declare it to be anything less? What is it that
validates your marriage which somehow doesn't apply to
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon? By what power, what
authority are you so divinely imbued that you can
stand before me and this nation and hold their love to
a higher standard?
Don't speak to me about homosexuality, Mr. President.
Don't tell me that the difference lies in the bedroom.
I would never presume to ask you or your wife how it
is you choose to physically express your love for one
another, and I defy you to stand before Del Martin and
Phyllis Lyon and ask them to do the same. It is none
of my business, as it is none of yours, and it has
nothing to do with the "sanctity of marriage". I'm
sure you would agree that marriage is far more than
sexual _expression, and its high time we all started
focusing on all the other aspects of a relationship
which hold it together over the course of a lifetime.
Therefore, with the mechanics of sex set aside, I ask
you again - what makes a marriage? I firmly believe
that whatever definition you derive, there are thousands
upon thousands of shining examples for you to embrace.
You want to protect marriage. I admire and support
that, Mr. President. Together, as a nation, let us
find and celebrate examples of what a marriage should
be. Together, let us take couples who embody the
principles of commitment, fidelity, sacrifice and
love, and hold them up before our children as role
models for their own futures. Together, let us
reinforce the concept that love is about far more than
sex, despite what popular culture would like them to
believe.
Please, for the sake of our children, for the sake of
our society, for the sake of our future, do not take
us down this road. Under the guise of protection, do
not support divisiveness. Under the guise of unity, do
not endorse discrimination. Under the guise of
sanctity, do not devalue commitment. Under the guise
of democracy, do not encourage this amendment.
Bette Midler