Now I'm gone, you're tossing and turning in your sleep
Having some trouble sleeping... not bee related, just other stuff. Somebody commented on a Cleo vid on youtube, and it always kills me to click on it to respond. I have to stop it before it starts playing, but I get tearful and start crying anyway. A lot of cat related stuff still does that.... which is why its crazy when people suggest we get a
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“But I also believe that the federal government should not stand in the way of states that want to decide on their own how best to pursue equality for gay and lesbian couples - whether that means a domestic partnership, a civil union, or a civil marriage.”
What he should have said is that the Constitution does not give the Federal Government any power to influence or define anything like marriage. Thus, as per the 10th Amendment, it is a power reserved for the States or the People. It was Bill Clinton who was actually the first to try to get the Federal government to codify "marriage" in the "Defense of Marriage" act. In that document are 2 key points:
1. No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need recognize a marriage between persons of the same sex, even if the marriage was concluded or recognized in another state.
2. The Federal Government may not recognize same-sex or polygamous marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.
The Constitution is very carefully put together in order to keep the Federal government from exercising too much control over your day-to-day life. The powers of Congress are defined and then it goes further to say that if the power Congress is tryong to gain is not in the list of powers they get then they are out of luck....or should be.
Bear in mind that I am a straight man married to a bisexual woman and in a triad relationship with another bisexual woman so, our lots are very similar. I feel your pain as I cannot openly discuss the nature of my relationship (I have been married to my wife for 12 years and intimately involved with the other for almost 2 years). We cannot get married the three of us.....but I cannot agree with a "let the Federal Government fix it" approach. By turning over the definition of marriage to them, we let the people of Massachusetts decide what is best for the people in Alabama and that is just not the way of things.
To do the thing you would like, what is needed is an Amendment to the Constitution, not a particular person to be President.
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With even interracial marriages only really being legal as recent as 1967, I don't actually expect the feral government or the states to really do anything to help us anytime soon. In writing this letter, I really just want to keep him honest about what he's saying. He can't claim to aim to lift us out of second class citizen status while also saying it's fine that the law treat us differently from regular citizens.
The whole "definition of marriage" thing in and of itself is, imho, moronic. It's simply a matter of people wanting to have their cake and eat it to. Is it a civil matter? Then it is an issue for the federal government. Is it a religious matter? Then legal marriage rights shouldn't exist in the first place. I believe it really is that simple.
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