- I would be much more charitable about the politics of this if the governor had not put his boyfriend on the state payroll. This kind of corruption, low-grade and usual for New Jersey, according to some commentators, is the stuff that eats away at a democracy. I am a firm believer that government service is a high calling. People who work in it should treat the experience as sacred. Our government belongs at all levels, ultimately, to the people, not to the officeholder or to a party.
- There were some excellent comments about this story. Chris had good points about coverage here and here. Fools Blog also has a good response to someone missing the point completely. Hank Stuever in the Washington Post had an essay about the closet case.
- Which reminds me of another reason (besides equality) why the battle for same sex marriage is an important one. To actively place legal obstructions for gay families has a price. Our society doesn't know what to do with its gay folk. But the society is affected by its negative and or indifferent response to us. Look at the governor yesterday, and his wife standing next to him. I have no idea what she was thinking as he announced that he was gay, but I would assume she wished he had figured out a lot sooner that he was gay -- actually he probably figured it out along time ago, he just could not deal with it. Want to defend straight marriage? Don't act as if gay folk don't or shouldn't exist within society. That world of straight appearance, gay on the side, affects lots of families. I think I've thought this was for the generations ahead of me that had few choices. But its still happening.
- Shelley (who is back at her blog again - yea!) has this post about Missouri and its voters, particularly in relation to the recent anti-same sex marriage amendment. I will be interested in her thoughts as she teases out what happened in her state. My own sense is that one never wants to have his or her basic civil rights on the ballot. Activist judges (to use the president's term) threw out bans on interracial marriage. The Congress overturned voting, housing and employment discrimination that was tolerated at the state and local level. None of these things were put up to a vote by the general population.
Friday, August 13, 2004
notes on yesterday
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4 comments:
Good points on all fronts. But, what a brave person his wife is to stand there in front of the media while her husband admits on national tv that he cheated on her and has been lying to her for so long.
I don't know what it's like to be a gay man, much less what it's like to be married to one, but you have to think that she knew on some deep level that he was, and either just couldn't admit it herself or was unsure about it.
Credit to all wives who are still willing to stand alongside their husbands (and vice versa) after adultery, particularly adultery this public.
Watching this story break on the CBS Evening News, I found it most disturbing that they noted that the governor is Catholic. If ever I felt a chilling confirmation to the fear that the current theocracy in power wants to divide our country by religious sects, this was it. I will be listening to the news more carefully than ever to see if this trend is picked up.
I've had relationships with men, some intimate, some not, who were gay. My reaction was to realize that they were the same person that I loved. My knowing or not knowing did not change who they were. But their sharing with me, their faith in me, forged a closer bond.
I would guess that the adultery, which is often a secret betrayal, would be the more difficult news to deal with, if it is news. However, these types of relationships tend to form more elastic bonds. Think of Lytton Strachey, Carrington, and Ralph Partridge.
M. Sinclair Stevens @ wordsintobytes
Interesting post, but I enjoy any kind of sex scandal and only wish it was our governor so I could enjoy it firsthand. gay rumors have surrounded several very high profile indiana elected officals for decades... who knows, who cares? but i love a good sex scandal. as long as it involves someone else, that is.
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