One of the issues that helped President Bush win reelection on November 2 was whether same-sex couples should have equal rights – including the right to marry .
Ohio, Michigan and nine other states
approved constitutional amendments that would ban same-sex
marriages, limiting the ability of those states to grant benefits
afforded heterosexual couples….The ballot referendum may have helped boost turnout of
evangelical Christians in Oregon, Michigan and Ohio — three
states that were closely contested by Bush and Kerry in their
campaigns.Republicans have been emphasizing social issues to capture
more low-income voters to replace white women suburban voters
alienated by the party’s positions on gay marriage and abortion,
said Charles Cook, who edits the Cook Political Report, in a
speech at the same lunch.
Some of the referenda approved by voters go far beyond prohibiting marriage between same-sex couples: they take away the right of gay couples to receive partner benefits and to inherit property. One of the key organizers in Ohio is on a holy mission to criminalize homosexualtiy:
"Even if Ohio would
be better off, gays should not be allowed to marry," he says, because
homosexuality is a sin that "merits discrimination." In fact, he says,
"I support and endorse the criminalization of homosexuality."
In fact, this same leader has called homosexualtiy a "capital offense" that is eligible for the death penalty.
As one of his first post-election actions, President Bush has decided to reward the evangelical Christian voters that put him back into office for four more years by pushing for the constitutional ban on gay marriages (the"Hate Amendment").
Sebastian Hesse in his Tageschau blog took note of Bush’s political tactic of using discrimination against gays to mobilize the republican base.
Bush zieht als kompromissloser Machtpolitiker seine Agenda durch.
Voellig unnoetig diskriminiert er Homosexuelle, nur um mit der
Schwulenehe endlich ein gesellschaftsliches Reiz-Thema fuer die
religioese Rechte zu haben
But what about gay marriage in Germany? The topic has not ignited the same heated debate in Germany – so far, at least. It appears that legislation has moved progressively to providing for civil unions between same-sex couples. The week before the US election the Bundestag expanded the civil union rights:
German lawmakers expanded the rights of same-sex
couples Friday, allowing registered domestic partners to adopt each other’s
children and making rules on splitting up and alimony similar to those for
heterosexual marriages
Parliament’s lower house passed the changes drafted by Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder’s center-left government over the objections of opposition
conservative
"This is a good day for gays and lesbians," Green Party lawmaker
Volker Beck told his colleagues. "We are making another step on the long
road to equal rights."The new law stops short of giving gays, who are legally recognized as couples
under Germany’s domestic partnership law, full rights to adopt children. But if
one partner has children or brings them into the partnership, the other partner
can now legally adopt them if neither parent objects.
So adoption is the one area where gay couples in the US currently have more rights (in some some states) . But how long will this hold now that the Republicans have their "mandate"? The official platform of the Republican Party not only urges the constitutional ban, but also rejects civil unions. Furthermore, it states that children " should be nurtured by their mother and father anchored in the bonds of marriage."
