Father Explains Gay Marriage Fight

Father knows best in Wisconsin. Straight gay marriage defender Bill McConkey garnered more press for his fight against the Badger State’s ban on same-sex nuptials. The Associated Press recently talked shop with McConkey, whose lesbian daughter birthed his activist spirit.

Q: You’ve described yourself as a Christian, straight, married, father of seven. You’re kind of an unlikely figure to be leading the charge on gay rights.

A: I’ve also been a Republican all my life, and people have said, that’s certainly a conflict but I don’t think so. The reason I don’t is because it’s consistent with my view of human dignity and human rights as opposed to government and the power of government. This is really an overreaching amendment.
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Q: What remedy would you like to see if your suit is successful? Do you want gay marriage to be legal or do you simply want another vote on two separate questions?

A: That is one that I struggle with. I think ultimately I would say under the U.S. Constitution, the way it’s written, we cannot constitutionally deny the right of gay people to be married. Neither can the government order a church and say you have to marry gay people. That’s an important difference to me. With that caveat, I would say I think that gay marriage should be allowed. It makes me kind of uncomfortable when I say that because I’ve been raised differently. But that’s where I’ve come after prayer and after thought – a great deal of hard thought – there is no constitutional way to do that.

If only more Republicans were as rational…