Clinton and Obama on Equal Marriage Rights

True progressives, like Russ Feingold, are not afraid to stand up and say clearly that it’s wrong to forbid people to get married, even when they have children together, just because they are of the same gender. Unfortunately, Russ Feingold has decided not to run for President of the United States. Feingold’s voice won’t be heard much in 2008.

So what does that leave us with? Consider the equivocation of the top two Democratic contenders:

Barack Obama refuses to support same-sex marriage, though he will support other arrangements to give marriage-like rights to same-sex couples. “I’m a Christian, and so although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman,” Obama says. Obama’s position gets more troubling when he echoes Dick Cheney’s position that “decisions about marriage should be left to the states”. The idea behind this position is that in Alabama, gay and lesbian Americans shouldn’t have equal rights, while in Vermont, they should. That doesn’t fit very well with the principle that Constitution applies in all 50 states. The Constitution clearly declares that all people must have equal protection under the law, no matter where they live.

Hillary Clinton says that she supports civil unions for same-sex couples, but supported the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Van Capelle of the Empire State Pride Agenda wrote of Clinton earlier this year, “Supporting an LGBT fundraiser for Hillary Clinton will actually hurt our community. It will send a message to other elected officials that you can be working against us during this critical time and not suffer a negative pushback from the gay community. We have become a community that throws money at politicians and we demand nothing in return. And that’s what we get — nothing. It’s the wrong message to send.”

Without Feingold in the race there is no strong voice on equal marriage rights in the running. Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton play a manipulative dance in which they promise just enough to keep marriage rights groups off their backs but refuse to take a meaningful stand that could lose them the votes of the bigot constituency. Will a pro-rights candidate get up on the starting block any time soon? Don’t bet on it.