One of the problems with the modern Republican Party (the party I belong to) is a stubborn refusal to back gay marriage. The few Republicans that do (Rudy Giuliani) are spoken of as hippy liberals.
The Republican Party has framed itself as a party that supports individual decision-making. Well, gay marriage falls under that. The Republican Party frames itself as traditional. Well, it seems like homosexuality has been around forever and has been practiced in every society, so how much more traditional can you get?
I know that a lot of people frame this in a religious context. Now, injecting religion into politics is very dicey for me. However, there is nothing in the New Testament that bans homosexual relationships. The Libertarian wing of the party supports individual freedoms, but many of these same people feel that gay marriage will damage 'traditional marriage.' Divorce rates are over 50%. Can gay folks do worse than straight folks on this? If gay people are able to build stable families with kids and be homeowners, isn't that good for America? Besides, married people with kids that own houses tend to be overwhelmingly Republican anyway.
The Republican Party in the last eight years has stood up for the little guy abroad. Why not do the same at home?
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2 comments:
You list a few good and logical reasons for Republicans to support gay marriage, but you seem to forget that mainstream Republican support for the institution would split the Republican party maybe not down the middle but would fracture it in such a manner as to lose the evangelical vote for good and would ensure a generation of electoral defeats. It's almost as if your party is wedded, excuse the term, to bigotry for the good of it's mere existence. It's too bad, really, because mainstream Conservatism (the limited government, interventionist foreign policy variety) has a lot to contribute, substantively, to our national debate. You've just allowed yourselves to be hijacked by bigots who've defined you not as a group devoted to actual conservative ideals, but rather as a constituency that votes on divisive and ultimately unresolvable social issues, to the detriment of every American, liberal, conservative, or otherwise.
I think it's high time for the GOP to encourage the splintering away of evangelical voters. Yes, that may mean future defeats for GOP candidates but the party needs reform, badly. This recent national election is proof.
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