The Peoria Journal Star Editorial - Same-sex marriage referendum a divisive distraction
The Peoria Journal Star joins the Chicago Sun-Times, State Journal Register, Daily Herald and the Quad Cities Times in opposing the Illinois "Family" Institutes' anti-gay initiative.
Editorial
Peoria Journal Star
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Same-sex marriage referendum a divisive distraction
The signatures of nearly 350,000 Illinoisans can't be ignored. Nor can the 11,500 volunteers who circulated petitions to put an advisory referendum on the ballot seeking to outlaw same-sex marriages in the Land of Lincoln. It's too bad. Their time and effort could have been spent on issues that actually need attention.
Indeed, Illinois already has a law that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman, so this is redundant. Gay couples haven't exactly been lining up outside Illinois courthouses demanding the right to marry, so where's the precipitating crisis? Heterosexual couples didn't forego the altar in Massachusetts after it became the only state to recognize same-sex marriages. If there's a threat to families in Illinois, it comes from heterosexual divorce and dysfunctional homes.
The November referendum is only advisory, intended to pressure Illinois lawmakers to put another referendum on another ballot to change the state constitution. At best, it's an effort to reinforce traditional values. At worst, it's a transparent scheme to pander to social conservatives and get them to turn out in greater numbers at the polls this fall. On that score, first lady Laura Bush said last weekend that gay marriage shouldn't be used as a campaign tool.
It's a shame that petition organizers didn't put their substantial grass-roots skills toward other family-friendly issues, like pressuring the General Assembly for a more equitable formula to fund Illinois schools or giving poor families greater access to health care. Maybe they could have advocated for fixing a public pension system rated worst in the nation, a real crisis that, if not remedied, will make more state attention to family-friendly programs all but impossible. Perhaps they could have championed meaningful reforms in the way Illinois political campaigns are financed. The criminal convictions of three of the last seven elected governors in this state make it clear that our children could use far better adult role models.
Instead, Illinois will likely get more rhetoric of the kind already uttered by David E. Smith, project director for Protect Marriage Illinois: "This (same-sex marriage) is an infection that is dangerous to the absolute institution of marriage." Ahh, the demonizing has begun. Now there's a Christian attitude.
Illinois may not be quite ready for the legalization of same-sex marriage, although the recognition of domestic partners on such issues as health-care benefits has already begun. On the same day the referendum petitions were filed, Gov. Rod Blagojevich extended those benefits to managers and other state employees not covered by union contracts. Many private employers do the same. No new law will change that.
What Illinois is ready for is a focus on issues that make a real difference in people's lives, not unnecessary and divisive distractions. This referendum is the latter.
Editorial
Peoria Journal Star
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Same-sex marriage referendum a divisive distraction
The signatures of nearly 350,000 Illinoisans can't be ignored. Nor can the 11,500 volunteers who circulated petitions to put an advisory referendum on the ballot seeking to outlaw same-sex marriages in the Land of Lincoln. It's too bad. Their time and effort could have been spent on issues that actually need attention.
Indeed, Illinois already has a law that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman, so this is redundant. Gay couples haven't exactly been lining up outside Illinois courthouses demanding the right to marry, so where's the precipitating crisis? Heterosexual couples didn't forego the altar in Massachusetts after it became the only state to recognize same-sex marriages. If there's a threat to families in Illinois, it comes from heterosexual divorce and dysfunctional homes.
The November referendum is only advisory, intended to pressure Illinois lawmakers to put another referendum on another ballot to change the state constitution. At best, it's an effort to reinforce traditional values. At worst, it's a transparent scheme to pander to social conservatives and get them to turn out in greater numbers at the polls this fall. On that score, first lady Laura Bush said last weekend that gay marriage shouldn't be used as a campaign tool.
It's a shame that petition organizers didn't put their substantial grass-roots skills toward other family-friendly issues, like pressuring the General Assembly for a more equitable formula to fund Illinois schools or giving poor families greater access to health care. Maybe they could have advocated for fixing a public pension system rated worst in the nation, a real crisis that, if not remedied, will make more state attention to family-friendly programs all but impossible. Perhaps they could have championed meaningful reforms in the way Illinois political campaigns are financed. The criminal convictions of three of the last seven elected governors in this state make it clear that our children could use far better adult role models.
Instead, Illinois will likely get more rhetoric of the kind already uttered by David E. Smith, project director for Protect Marriage Illinois: "This (same-sex marriage) is an infection that is dangerous to the absolute institution of marriage." Ahh, the demonizing has begun. Now there's a Christian attitude.
Illinois may not be quite ready for the legalization of same-sex marriage, although the recognition of domestic partners on such issues as health-care benefits has already begun. On the same day the referendum petitions were filed, Gov. Rod Blagojevich extended those benefits to managers and other state employees not covered by union contracts. Many private employers do the same. No new law will change that.
What Illinois is ready for is a focus on issues that make a real difference in people's lives, not unnecessary and divisive distractions. This referendum is the latter.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 7:34 AM
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