Don't Our Families Have Value?
By Josh Aterovis

The Conservatives would like the world to believe that they've cornered the market on morality. They loudly trumpet their family values, which they claim include honor, integrity, monogamy, and decency. Someone needs to remind them that actions speak louder than words. These are the same men and women who are constantly being caught in lies, affairs, and scandals.

It always interests me that they're so concerned about the sanctity of everyone's marriage but their own. These same Defenders of the Faith also claim that same-sex couples are the downfall of the institution of marriage -- which I guess would explain the more than 50% divorce rate among heterosexual couples. Somehow, the icky gays are to blame. Hey, it all makes sense to them.

It's an election year, and that means the Republicans have stepped up the antigay attacks. They're a bit desperate to shift the attention off their growing scandals and poor records, so they start riling up their conservative support with diversionary tactics. It worked for them last time, so why not try it again?

Senator Bill Frist has vowed to bring the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage back up for vote on June 5. It will be one of his last acts as Senate majority leader before he leaves to focus on his 2008 presidential bid. Everyone knows they don't have anywhere near the required two-thirds majority needed to pass the proposal, but that's not the point. The point is to use the gay community as a wedge issue once again.

Of course, gay marriage isn't the only hot-button issue right now. Gay adoption is the new gay marriage. More than a dozen states are currently working to ban or restrict adoption by gays and lesbians. Another 2008 presidential hopeful, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, is making headlines with his attempts to circumnavigate the state's equal rights adoption laws. Of course, despite evidence to the contrary, they claim that children are better off in homes with heterosexual couples, that gays and lesbians are unfit to raise a family.

As usual, the underlying message of all this talk of family values is that gay families have no value.
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