I love this op ed piece someone recently sent me (there's even some theater tie in):
BILL MAHER
Valentine's Day, that great state holiday
By Bill Maher, 2/14/2004
NEW RULE: You can't claim you're the party of smaller
government, and then clamor to make laws about love. If
there's one area I don't want the US government to add
to its list of screw-ups, it's love.
On the occasion of this Valentine's Day, let's stop
and ask ourselves: What business is it of the state
how consenting adults choose to pair off, share
expenses, and eventually stop having sex with each
other?
And why does the Bush administration want a
constitutional amendment about weddings? Hey,
birthdays are important, too -- why not include them
in the great document? Let's make a law that gay
people can have birthdays, but straight people get
more cake -- you know, to send the right message to
kids.
Republicans are always saying we should privatize
things, like schools, prison, Social Security -- OK,
so how about we privatize privacy? If the government
forbids gay men from tying the knot, what's their
alternative?
They can't all marry Liza Minnelli.
Republicans used to be the party that opposed social
engineering, but now they push programs to outlaw
marriage for some people, and encourage it for others.
If you're straight, there's a billion-five in the
budget to encourage and promote marriage -- including
seed money to pay an old Jewish woman to call up
people at random and say "So why aren't you married,
Mr. Big Shot?"
But when it comes to homosexuals, Republicans sing "I
Love You Just the Way You Oughta Be." They oppose gay
marriage because it threatens or mocks -- or does
something -- to the "sanctity of marriage," as if
anything you can do drunk out of your mind in front of
an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas could be considered
sacred. Half the people who pledge eternal love are
doing it because one of them is either knocked-up,
rich or desperate, but in George Bush's mind, marriage
is only a beautiful lifetime bond of love and sharing
-- kind of like what his Dad has with the Saudis.
But at least the right wing aren't hypocrites on this
issue -- they really believe that homosexuality,
because it says so in the Bible, is an "abomination"
and a "dysfunction" that's "curable": they believe
that if a gay man just devotes his life to Jesus,
he'll stop being gay -- because the theory worked out
so well with the Catholic priests.
But the greater shame in this story goes to the
Democrats, because they don't believe homosexuality is
an "abomination," and therefore their refusal to
endorse gay marriage is a hypocrisy. The right are
true believers, but the Democrats are merely
pretending that they believe gays are not entitled
to the same state-sanctioned misery as the rest of us.
The Democrats' position doesn't come from the Bible,
it's ripped right from the latest poll, which says
that most Americans are against gay marriage.
Well, you know what: Sometimes "most Americans" are
wrong. Where's the Democrat who will stand up and go
beyond the half measures of "civil union" and "hate
the sin, love the sinner," and say loud and clear:
`There IS no sin, and homosexuality is NOT an
abomination' -- although that Boy George musical Rosie
O'Donnell put on comes close. The only thing
abominable about being gay is the amount of time you
have to put in at the gym.
But that aside, the law in this country should reflect
that some people are just born 100 percent
outrageously, fabulously, undeniably Fire Island gay,
and that they don't need re-programming. They need a
man with a slow hand.
http://www.danperezgallery.com
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