Ohio Senator Rob Portman recently came out in support of same-sex marriage because his son came out as gay.
In other words, big frickin deal.
“B-b-b-ut…HE OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE ONCE”, the media screams.
So what? President Clinton did too…and he actually signed the law banning same-sex marriage. He received exceptional praise for changing his mind.
Senator Portman has been barraged with snide remarks in just a matter of hours, such as from Gawker’s Max Read:
Portman’s reversal, unsurprisingly, does not mean he will propose a bill in the senate, or advocate the Supreme Court—marriage equality “should come about through the democratic process in the states,” he writes.
Heaven forbid the poor bastard support the democratic process.
Rather, the senator joins a long line of Republicans whose understanding of equal rights and dignity under the law is limited more or less by the boundaries of their immediate families and social circles.
How is there no dignity under the law? Because it doesn’t support your point of view?
While this is good news for the long-term prospects of gay rights it seems unlikely that Republicans will be willing to work productively on other issues until their progeny start coming out as poor, unemployed, uninsured, or undocumented.
The analogy that Republicans wouldn’t work on poverty, unemployment, lack of insurance, or illegal immigration unless their kids were poor, unemployed, uninsured, or illegal is completely false.
You’re not born unemployable. Nor are you born uninsurable, nor unable to become wealthy, nor unable to become a citizen.
You can choose to change all of the above in your life.
Portman says that, for his son, being gay was not a choice.
So how is being gay being the same as being illegal, unemployed, uninsured, or poor, all of which are changeable?
Furthermore, since when is being gay a negative thing? You don’t see pride parades for being unemployed, uninsured, poor, or illegal. It sounds like Max Read is saying that being gay is something to be ashamed of, unlike Gov. Portman, who is proud of his son and unafraid to volunteer it.
Like Dennis Prager says:
Every parent owes the same love and support to a gay child as to a straight child. In fact, all of us, parents or not, owe the same respect to gays as individuals as to heterosexual individuals. That does not mean, however, that marriage needs to be redefined. It does not mean that, all things being equal, it is not best for a child to have a male and female parent.
But the media would prefer to push the “heartless Republican changes mind after it hits close to home” message because they want anyone that opposes their agenda to suffer.
Remember: these are the people who claim to feel your pain. And if you don’t feel their pain, they will make you feel their pain by force. Instead of finding ways to help themselves and others, they’re more content with everyone being equally miserable.
