Help me understand Kerry and his position on same sex marriage

[Cptn Kirk]

I am uncertain exactly where Kerry stands here. For one thing, he says (now) that he opposes same sex marriage and supports civil unions. Yet, he voted against DOMA in congress, and has a generally liberal voting record. I have read everywhere he supports GLBT rights.

So my question is this - is Kerry just BSing about the marriage issue in order to appeal to moderates that lean right with hopes of getting more votes? Or does he actually oppose same sex marriage?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. From 365gay.com

Kerry was asked: "I'd like to turn to the subject of gay marriage. The highest court in your home state of Massachusetts has said that same-sex couples do have the right to marry. I know you've said that you oppose gay marriage, but would you support a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a heterosexual union?"

He replied: "Well, it depends entirely on the language of whether it permits civil union and partnership or not. I'm for civil union. I'm for partnership rights.

"I think what ought to condition this debate is not the term marriage as much as the rights that people are afforded," Kerry continued. "Obviously under the Constitution of the United States you need equal protection under the law. And I think equal protection means the rights that go with it. I think the word marriage kind of gets in the way of the whole debate, to be honest with you, because marriage to many people is obviously what is sanctified by a church. It's sacramental. Or by a synagogue or by a mosque or by whatever religious connotation it has. Clearly there's a separation of church and state here. ... Marriage is a separate institution. I think marriage is under the church, between a man and a woman, and I think there's a separate meaning to it."

Kerry said this holds true even for civil marriages that are not conducted in a house of worship.

"Even for those that aren't, there's still two meanings," he said. "I mean, the state picked up the concept afterwards. It's a latecomer to the state."

The day after the NPR interview, Kerry's campaign said he was talking about amending Massachusetts' constitution not the U.S. Constitution. On Feb. 4, Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court mandated that the state offer regular marriage to same-sex couples by May 17, and some state legislators hope to amend the state constitution to block that ruling.

"Senator Kerry opposes a federal constitutional amendment, he has always opposed a federal constitutional amendment on gay marriage, and if someone listened to an NPR interview and believes otherwise, then he was reacting to a different question, a question about a Massachusetts amendment, not a federal constitutional amendment," Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Elmendorf said in a telephone call to this reporter.

Several hours later, the campaign e-mailed this reporter multiple copies of a new press release quoting Kerry as saying, "I remain firmly opposed to any federal amendment on this issue."

Asked if it wouldn't be odd of Kerry to oppose amending the U.S. Constitution but not the Massachusetts constitution, Elmendorf said: "The federal Constitution and the state of Massachusetts constitution are two different constitutions. The state constitutional amendment has not been written -- it is a hypothetical -- and we're going to wait and see what it is. ... The Constitution of the United States of America is entirely different. He does not think the U.S. Constitution should be tampered with over an issue like this."

http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/021004kerry.htm

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. He's a shrewd politician and a skilled manipulator of language

As seen in the example above, he is an expert at the technique of saying something both sides of an issue can seize on and say "ooh, he agrees with me!" while carefully avoiding an unequivocal answer.

This particular question is a challenge even for a playa of Kerry's talents, however, since past a certain point, which imminently looms, it is impossible to avoid the core issue, which has nothing to do with either sexual preference or marriage: namely equal protection under the law, or not. Not a separate status, not a colored waiting room, not a second class or a second tier or the back of the bus. Equal.

The second core question, which the anti-equal protection squad has chosen to lump this one with: Is the Us a secular state? Or a theocracy with doctrines of a particular religious sect hardwired into its constitution?

Both open doors that many have long wanted open, and both will require, when the question comes to congress, a single, non-eloquent "yea" or "nay."

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. Interesting that Kerry focuses on what you call the core issues

and you characterize it the exact opposite way.

lol

[TheDonkey]

3. I really believe Kerry is taking a "safer route"

message. For better or worse, he is a massachusetts senator and has to be mindful of being painted as a pro-gay marriage flaming french liberal.

I don't agree with it, but it is a smart thing to do in this bigoted country.