[Vision2020] Idaho House OKs Gay Marriage Ban Amendment.

[Melynda Huskey]

According to a piece in the Statesman, 53 House representatives voted 
yesterday to approve a constitutional amendment against gay marriage in 
Idaho.  The debate lasted 20 minutes.

"Rep. Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, who co-sponsored the bill, said America 
is moving into the second generation of the sexual revolution and the result 
is a rejection of Christian values and an embracing of situational ethics. 
That, in turn, Denney said, has led to an increase in unstable homes.

" 'We have to protect the family,' said co-sponsor Denney in his closing 
remarks.

" 'If we donīt set boundaries, we lose our structure and all we have is 
chaos. We can and we should legislate morality.' ”

Now of course I've got a horse in this race:  I've been married without 
portfolio for 12 years, and we've got two kids to protect.  But help me to 
understand, as we say in the conflict resolution business, what Idaho 
families could possibly gain by keeping me legally single and our kids 
without legal relationships with their parents?  Marriage is not, as far as 
I know, a zero-sum game.  Unlike moose tags, no lottery is required for 
conservation purposes.  For Heaven's sake, 13-year-old first cousins can 
marry in Idaho--in striking contrast to most other states.

Whether Lawerence Denney likes it or not, I've got a family, and it's not 
going anywhere.  It's an Idaho family--three people in it were born in 
Moscow, and both of the adults in it are voting, tax-paying citizens of 
Idaho.  It's lasted 6 years longer already than 50% of first marriages in 
the U.S.  It does not sow chaos, or even untidiness, in my town.  I have 
never for even one moment disturbed the flow of heterosexuality around me.  
Mr. Denney vastly overestimates my powers if he thinks I can degrade 
marriage further than, say, Britney Spears has.

I don't know if I can even convey how insulting and painful it is to be the 
object of this kind of legislative conversation--but I'd like to invite 
every heterosexual person on Vision 2020, whether married or not, to imagine 
for a moment how you'd feel if it were your family, or your marriage, that 
was targeted by not just a law, but a constitutional amendment.  If you've 
got kids, think about how you'd explain to them that your family is so 
unwelcome in your state that the Constitution needs to say so.

Melynda Huskey

_________________________________________________________________
Get some great ideas here for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day - and 
beyond. http://special.msn.com/network/celebrateromance.armx