Biased AP Coverage Tries to Goad Republicans

Liz Sidoti, Associated Press writer, looks at how the marriage neutering push interacts with party politics in the USA. Notice the erroneous "banning gay marriage" language throughout her piece.

Gay marriage legalization in several states and the public's growing acceptance of same-sex unions have Democrats sensing political opportunity and some Republicans re-evaluating their party's hard-line opposition to an issue that long has rallied its base.

Ah yes. It is "hard line" sticking to the kind of thing that has served every society in the world well for thousands of years. It is "hard line" to affirm the will of the voters. We must keep repeating the mantra that marriage neutering is inevitable, and maybe, just maybe, it will happen. Calls that the Republicans should "get with it" completely ignore that many Democrats, including President Obama, publicly declare the majority public opinion – that marriage is between a man and a woman. And here's the 2008 GOP platform wording on this issue. Note there is nothing denouncing domestic partnerships or civil unions. Hardly hard line.

Polls show younger Americans are far are more tolerant on the issue than are older generations.

Tolerant? How is sticking up for marriage not tolerant? Forcing a fundamental reordering of society on an unwilling populace is certainly not tolerant.

Oh, and all younger generations become older generations. People who are young, especially if they are unmarried and childless, often don't grasp these ideas as well as they will later in their lives.

[The rest is below the fold if you care to read it.]

For now at least, the public is much more focused on the troubled economy and two wars than on social issues.

Yes, but not the marriage neutering advocates, including the ones on the bench and in the legislatures. They have plenty of time to advance their agenda.

In addition, over the past decade, public acceptance of [brideless or groomless] marriage has changed dramatically.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that a majority of people questioned, by a 55-38 percent margin, oppose gay marriage. But it also found that people, by a 57-38 percent margin, support civil unions that would provide marriage-like rights for same-sex couples, indicating a shift toward more acceptance.

That's still a majority opposition to neutering marriage. And don't act like civil unions are the same as marriage – because if they were, most, if not all, of the states who have neutered marriage licensing wouldn't because they already had those designations. We are a very tolerant people and have backed civil unions and domestic partnerships in a vain attempt to address the concerns of homosexuality advocates. And they were all too happy to use those Trojan horse. CUs and DPs are not the same things as marriage, but they are for different kinds of voluntary associations than marriage.

Democrats have a broader base filled with more accepting younger voters, as well as flexibility on the issue. Hard-core liberals support gay marriage, while others, including President Barack Obama, take a more moderate position of civil unions and defer to states on gay marriage.

Don't forget his definition of marriage – that it is between a man and a woman. Bigot? Or is he lying about what he believes?

Conversely, the GOP base is older, smaller and more conservative.

And in line with the majority on this issue. Seems to me like a winner for the GOP, even though articles like this are designed to get Republicans to jump on the relatively tiny (but loud) marriage neutering bandwagon.

Despite the changes, gay-marriage opponents are buoyed by a voter initiative in California that blocked the state from allowing gay marriage, and by the 29 states where voters have approved state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage.

"Gay marriage opponents"? Uh, so because I recognize that circles are round, am I a "square circle opponent"?

At the end are links to the Log Cabin Republicans and the Human Rights [Homosexuality Advocacy] Campaign websites, but no link to any marriage defending websites. Interesting.