Matt Gunterman October 11th, 2007

Did you see where Dear Abby endorsed gay marriage this week?

And what happened? The nation — or the national majority — just yawned.

Yes, I know, the right-wing, conservative fringe probably got upset.

Once upon a time, conservatives believed that ethnic minorities and women weren’t whole or rational people. In fact, the proud fascist and anorexic Ann Coulter recently reiterated that she still strongly believes so (and just today said that the nation would be better off without Jews).

Many, many conservatives still believe these things, but they are shunned as a dangerous fringe. Such views were, sadly, mainstream back in the day. Yet, happily, our nation matures and such views don’t inform how we forge a common future.

Today’s conservatives — Republicans and some Democrats — are still hung up on same-sex marriage, but the nation as a whole is waking up to how conservative arguments about marriage don’t make sense. Marriage in the United States is a secular, legal arrangement.

Yes, conservatives will scream louder and louder about same-sex marriage as it increasingly but gradually becomes a reality across the nation. Kentucky will probably not be at the forefront of that movement, but it will happen. Soon-to-be governor Steve Beshear will not be the one to legalize it. This movement will be one that comes from below, as movements for justice almost always are. It will take a half generation or so.

What conservatives don’t realize is that, even though they’re screaming louder, fewer and fewer people will be screaming with them.

Today’s homophobe will one day soon occupy his or her place among the dark annals of American history where slavery proponents, suffrage opponents, and segregationists reside.

Until then, however, we’ll have more of what’s below from desperate conservatives, like Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) and Rep. Stan Lee (R).

From the always insightful Pat Crowley:

How low can you go

I thought I had seen about everything in a politics, but the Fletcher campaign is hitting a new low in gay bashing. Check out this release; I’m waiting for a response from the Beshear campaign.

In spite of the fact that 75% of Kentuckians voted for a 2004 amendment defining marriage in the Commonwealth as an institution between one man and one woman, Steve Beshear’s latest campaign finance report listed two male individuals as spouses to one another.

“Steve Beshear’s liberal agenda for Kentucky has been exposed yet again,” said Jason Keller, Communications Director for Governor’s Fletcher’s campaign. “While Beshear likes to talk about his conservative roots, it’s clear he departed from that course long ago.”

Keller continued, “Steve Beshear’s recent finance report shows two things; one, that it sure takes a lot of money to hide a liberal record from Kentuckians, and two, that Steve Beshear and his cronies obviously believe that the marriage amendment was a farce.

“Beshear signed his name to a document, under the penalty of perjury, swearing that he believed the contents of the report were accurate. When he signed that document, he violated the Kentucky Constitution’s definition of marriage in the Commonwealth,” concluded Keller.

• Ernie Fletcher , Homophobia , Steve Beshear
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