Connecticut pro-family activists ask lawmakers to protect traditional marriage

Posted on March 26, 2007
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Pro-family activists in Connecticut have an opportunity today to personally ask lawmakers in that state to protect traditional marriage. A legislative committee hearing is taking place at the state capitol focusing on a proposed bill that would legalize same-sex  marriage.

Concerned Christians are being encouraged to attend the hearing in Hartford and speak out on the issue. The Family Institute of Connecticut says pro-family activists in the state must be vocal and encourage lawmakers to protect traditional marriage.

Executive director Brian Brown says the legalization of same-sex marriage would impact all aspects of society. “This changes everything as far as what our society teaches about the importance of marriage, the importance of mothers and fathers.” He explains that he and other family advocates in Connecticut have been fighting this battle for a long time.  “When this issue first came up, proponents of same-sex marriage said that it is all about rights and benefits. Well, they got civil unions in Connecticut, and it’s no longer about rights and benefits. It is all about redefining marriage for everyone.”

Source: Journal Chrétien

The Institute spokesman says the issue must be resolved by the people — not by the politicians or the courts. Lawmakers could vote on the bill within the next two weeks.

 

A grandmother speaks out in favor of gay marriage

Posted on February 11, 2007
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To start the discussion on Connecticut’s marriage-equality bill, let’s turn to Alexandrina Sergio of Glastonbury. In closing her impassioned speech in support of the bill’s launch last month, Sergio held up a family Christmas picture of her daughter Lauren; her daughter’s spouse, Margaret; and their children (Sergio’s grandchildren), Lindsay, 21/2, and Alistair, 4 months.

“We have met the enemy,” Sergio said over the cheers, “and this is not it.” Earlier, Sergio read a portion of a letter she wrote to Gov. M. Jodi Rell - proud grandmother of Tyler - who has vowed to veto any marriage-equality bill passed by the legislature this session.

“I fear for Lindsay and Alistair if they must grow up in a society where their family cannot enjoy the respect, the rights, the benefits and the protections enjoyed by Tyler’s family,” Sergio wrote. (Last week, she received a reply from the governor’s office that said, in part, “The Governor opposes any form of discrimination against any person or group.”)

What Sergio didn’t mention in her speech, husband David said later, is that their daughter and her family live in Canada, which recognizes same-sex marriages. As long as the family stays north, they will continue to enjoy an environment similar to that of Tyler’s family - but not here.

Two years ago, Connecticut legalized civil unions between same sex couples. It was a historic step, but it was only a step. A civil union in Connecticut does not a civil union make in, say, Missouri. This also makes things difficult if a couple moves, and then wants to dissolve their union. And what about children like Lindsay and Alistair? What good is gained by giving their families second-class status?

But this discussion isn’t really about marriage, or the children of same-sex families, as Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, astutely noted at the same press conference where Sergio spoke. On the same day that people spoke in favor of equality, others at a Family Institute press conference spoke against it. Sen. Louis DeLuca, R-Woodbury, intoned that marriage deserves special protection because the institution goes all the way back to Jesus, a supposition that would come as a huge surprise to people like David and Solomon, who, pre-Jesus, were known to vigorously practice marriage.

But this isn’t about sacred texts, either - at least, not really. There were plenty of clerical collars supporting the marriage equality bill. I sat by one. I know her, and I can guarantee you that in a Bible throw-down, she would win.

Nor is the discussion really about any threat to the institution. Let’s say this next part together. Ready? All threats come from within. The only thing that threatens marriage - individual ones and the institution - is people who practice it dishonestly. So let’s leave that rhetoric aside as well, shall we?

One by one, over the years, arguments against rights for homosexuals have fallen by the wayside. What the same-sex marriage issue boils down to, says Lawlor, is homosexuality. And prejudice and fear.

We can’t, says Sergio, seriously argue that homosexuality is a perversion, or that same-gender couples can’t raise children. Children from same-sex parents do just fine, thanks, and the only perversion in the debate is when someone stands between two adults and declares, “No, you can’t love one another.”

The slippery slope argument - that marriage equality will open the door for things like polygamy - is, as Sergio says, a “cheap and very nasty rhetorical trick.” There’s simply no comparison. As the mother of a lesbian, Sergio knows people who are uncomfortable talking about homosexuality. She has always tried to be gentle when she, for example, points out the shoddy Biblical scholarship that goes into arguments against marriage equality. Everyone - gay and straight - must come to an understanding about homosexuality. I just wish some of us would move a little quicker on this. Sergio is getting tired of her own gentle approach. “I am getting impatient. I am getting old. I am old. I have this urge to march around saying, `We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.’”

Source: Hartford Courant

 

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