Kerry on marriage: we need less profile, more courage

I want John Kerry elected just as much as the next guy, and I'm doing everything I can to make it happen.

But I want it to be noticed that Kerry is giving me and my fellow queers shit for thanks for our support. In an interview saying he will return to Washington if necessary to vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment this week, Kerry added, "Let's be very firm about it. Both John and I believe firmly and absolutely that marriage is between a man and a woman." Thanks a lot, John, for that courageous position.

Although it's important to point out that Bush, with his radio address about traditional marriage, is fiddling while Al Qaeda plots, opposing the amendment is not the same as advocating for full marriage equality. Going out of his way to say he is against same-sex marriage isn't some kind of savvy political maneuvering: it's taking an anti-gay position, not to mention giving one of the most pro-Kerry voting blocs, as I said before, shit for thanks.

In the words of Dennis Kucinich, speaking at Boston's gay pride parade on June 12: "The right to marry ought to be clear, unambiguous, emphatic, and non-contradictory. It should not be minimized, given an asterisk, or subject to political sacrifice at political conventions."