Wednesday, September 13, 2006
craven
I knew more than a year ago that the push for a state Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage had nothing at all to do with marriage. It was to be a craven attempt at turning out the righty base to help build a veto-proof legislature.
But the results of yesterday's Republican primary for Governor adds another layer to that story, one of blatant ambition. Len Munsil, the winner of yesterday's primary, resigned from his job to run for Governor. His job? Founder and Executive Director of the benignly-named Center for Arizona Policy, which developed the language and is the primary proponent of what is now Proposition 107.
It is now clear that the primary purpose of this proposition drive is to advance Munsil's personal political aspirations. Prop 107 certainly has nothing to do with actually protecting marriages or defending marriages. Nobody's marriage is threatened now, except through domestic violence or divorce. If Munsil really cared about marriage, he'd work on strengthening the state's below-par domestic violence laws and practices.
As a member of the LGBT community, I'm in the minority when I say that I don't support same-sex marriage. I have no interest in assimilating and being just like straight people. I'm a whole, legitimate person without mimicking different-sex relationships. But I also can't abide withholding rights from people for senseless reasons.
And Prop 107 makes no sense.
If two consenting adults in a loving, committed relationship want to call that relationship marriage, there's no rational reason to deny them that right. And what's worse, Prop 107 would take away rights and benefits that counties and municipalities have already given their residents in same-sex and different-sex domestic partnerships. Prop 107 will hurt a lot of people, gay and straight, and could potentially weaken existing domestic violence laws (as happened in Ohio when they passed a state Constitutional amendment with nearly identical language).
Prop 107 WILL destroy families, NOT protect them.
So Munsil masterminded a divisive wedge proposition to "protect marriage", knowing it would energize a mouth-foaming base, because he planned all along to run for Governor. He's never done anything else for marriage, but he's done plenty for partisan politics. This guy is selfish, craven and deserves to be crushed come November - much like his destructive ballot proposition.
But the results of yesterday's Republican primary for Governor adds another layer to that story, one of blatant ambition. Len Munsil, the winner of yesterday's primary, resigned from his job to run for Governor. His job? Founder and Executive Director of the benignly-named Center for Arizona Policy, which developed the language and is the primary proponent of what is now Proposition 107.
It is now clear that the primary purpose of this proposition drive is to advance Munsil's personal political aspirations. Prop 107 certainly has nothing to do with actually protecting marriages or defending marriages. Nobody's marriage is threatened now, except through domestic violence or divorce. If Munsil really cared about marriage, he'd work on strengthening the state's below-par domestic violence laws and practices.
As a member of the LGBT community, I'm in the minority when I say that I don't support same-sex marriage. I have no interest in assimilating and being just like straight people. I'm a whole, legitimate person without mimicking different-sex relationships. But I also can't abide withholding rights from people for senseless reasons.
And Prop 107 makes no sense.
If two consenting adults in a loving, committed relationship want to call that relationship marriage, there's no rational reason to deny them that right. And what's worse, Prop 107 would take away rights and benefits that counties and municipalities have already given their residents in same-sex and different-sex domestic partnerships. Prop 107 will hurt a lot of people, gay and straight, and could potentially weaken existing domestic violence laws (as happened in Ohio when they passed a state Constitutional amendment with nearly identical language).
Prop 107 WILL destroy families, NOT protect them.
So Munsil masterminded a divisive wedge proposition to "protect marriage", knowing it would energize a mouth-foaming base, because he planned all along to run for Governor. He's never done anything else for marriage, but he's done plenty for partisan politics. This guy is selfish, craven and deserves to be crushed come November - much like his destructive ballot proposition.
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
Don't get too discouraged by Munsil's primary victory and by the presence of Prop 107 on the November ballot.
Up here in Scottsdale, we had a ballot question name Prop 401.
Last December, the Mayor and the City Council passed a new ordinance that was basically designed to put "sexually oriented businesses" (aka -strip clubs) out of business.
The strip clubs (all 2 of them) promptly gathered enough sigs to force a referendum on the issue.
Len Munsil's CAP came out strongly in favor of the new ordinance, as did most of the Rep political establishment up here.
In many ways it was viewed as a dry run for November, as the issue should have crossed-boosted turnout by the theo-con wing of the Rep party.
The Prop should have drawn out supporters for Munsil, and since he won, it may have, and Munsil's presence on the ballot should have brought out support for the Prop.
It still lost. It was fairly close - 1200 vote margin out of just under 26000 votes cast.
It still lost.
Up here in Scottsdale, we had a ballot question name Prop 401.
Last December, the Mayor and the City Council passed a new ordinance that was basically designed to put "sexually oriented businesses" (aka -strip clubs) out of business.
The strip clubs (all 2 of them) promptly gathered enough sigs to force a referendum on the issue.
Len Munsil's CAP came out strongly in favor of the new ordinance, as did most of the Rep political establishment up here.
In many ways it was viewed as a dry run for November, as the issue should have crossed-boosted turnout by the theo-con wing of the Rep party.
The Prop should have drawn out supporters for Munsil, and since he won, it may have, and Munsil's presence on the ballot should have brought out support for the Prop.
It still lost. It was fairly close - 1200 vote margin out of just under 26000 votes cast.
It still lost.
Yeah, I'm not terribly concerned that Munsil will win or that Prop 107 will pass. I wrote the post to point out that Munsil is an opportunist and his real intention in pushing Prop 107 is to activate his base for his own ill-fated electoral hopes.
Support Arizona Together to fight Prop 107 and Governor Napolitano to fight Munsil.
Support Arizona Together to fight Prop 107 and Governor Napolitano to fight Munsil.
Oh yeah, and I'm glad 401 failed in Scottsdale. I had a friend and colleague who was advising that campaign, so even feminists are split on "sexually oriented" anything. Some of us believe sex is healthy and an inherent natural part of life and others believe it is inherently exploitative, regardless of whether money is involved or not.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
<< Home
