Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus (what a name!) said on Meet the Press yesterday that while he supports “dignity and respect” for the LGBT community, marriage is still a man-woman thing:.
“People in this country, no matter straight or gay, deserve dignity and respect. However, that doesn’t mean it carries on to marriage. I think most Americans agree that, in this country, the legal and historic and religious union, marriage, has to have the definition of one man and one woman.”
Most? Guess Priebus didn’t hear the recent polls that say 51% of Americans are in favor of same-sex marriage.
Priebus did say he favored equality for gays and lesbians “in regard to, say, discrimination in the workplace, issues [that] Mitt Romney has pointed out numerous times, [like] hospital visitations. I think that for the sake of dignity and respect, sure. But if you’re defining marriage as a civil right, then no, I don’t think people who are of the same sex should be married under our laws.”
Question: If the chairman of the RNC believes in visitation rights and job protections, why is it no Republican has ever introduced a hospital-visitation or anti-discrimination bill? Why does the party keep trying to sabotage ENDA?
How about we take this to the next level?
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What would be worse: To not believe gays and lesbians deserve full equality or to believe they do but not think it’s important to do anything about it.
dee-dee
Does anyone know where a name that weird comes from???
Shannon1981
Should have saved this one for Douche of the Week, Queerty. Even his name is douchey.
1equalityUSA
There may be a financial element to their being so reluctant to extend equality to such a large number of people. From the cradle to the grave, LGBT are charged more to exist. Why would a greedy party want to change that?
Uncle Mo
From the party the has openly sanctioned discrimination, the backpedaling thus begins. I Guess it is finally dawning on them that they will look astonishingly stupid in 20 years time, reduced to being the George Wallaces of the 21st Century.
Steve
I have a very hard time understanding how people can support “EQUAL RIGHTS”, but then claim that some particular RIGHT should not be included. The contradiction is so clear and obvious, the even a complete idiot has to understand it. Yet, they claim they don’t.
“EQUAL RIGHTS” means, just what it says: “EQUAL” and “RIGHTS”. Every single RIGHT must be included, or it is not EQUAL. The right to marry is a RIGHT, not a privilege. SCOTUS has decided, several times, that marriage is “one of the fundamental rights of man”.
Cam
So basically he claims to believe that gays deserve respect…although gays are fired from the Romney campaign because the GOP base doesn’t like it, and the GOP has fought against ENDA, and against the repeal of DADT.
He can lie all he wants, but he is just another hypocritical bigot.
Danny
Remember the GOP enjoys killing off older people by denying them benefits and healthcare and only protecting the rich while endangering Social Security and Medicare with reckless privitization plans. So ironically, the GOP is killing off the group which contains the most anti-gay people (i.e. older people) which in turn is strangely accelerating acceptance even in states were the GOP dominates. So the GOP is working against themselves when it comes to many demographics and losing support at both ends of the age spectrum. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot while cutting off your nose to spite your face. Double whammy.
jason
Reince Priebus? Darling, with a name like that, I don’t think you should be allowed to inseminate…..
jason
Marriage is already a civil issue. Hasn’t he heard of civil marriages? They happen every day.
JEFFERY REDDICK
IT’S ALWAYS BEEN: GROW, FALL IN LOVE,GET MARRIED AND HAVE KIDS—WHERE, PLEASE TELL WHERE IT SAYS IN OUR CONSTITUTION THAT MARRIAGE IS BETWEEN OPPOSITE GENITALS AND NOT TWO PEOPLE IN LOVE. MY FIANCE` AND I ARE GROWN UP, WE’VE FALLEN IN LOVE, WE ARE GONNA BE MARRIED, AND IF WE WERE YOUNGER MAYBE EVEN ADOPT A CHILD OR TWO THAT YOUR “BREEEDERS” (SAME GENITAL COUPLES) THAT YOU ARE SO DAMNED PROUD OF, HAVE THROWN AWAY BC THEY WERE A MISTAKE OR THEY CAN’T TAKE CARE OF THEM. GUESS WHAT? THREE WORDS FOR YOU: VASECTOMY, ABSTINENCE, AND HYSTERECTOMY…………GET THE POINT? HELL NO, OF COURSE YOU DON’T BC YOU THINK YOU’RE RIGHT, WELL STOP THINKING FOR ME—I CAN DO IT MYSELF, THANK YOU…….
Marie Cohn
Rancid Shotbus: ping. ping. ping. ping.
Troglodyte
The irony here with these comments is that marriage is a religious ceremony. You should only desire to wed if you want your union recognized in the eyes of God. You people are just a bunch of spoiled children who want something just because you’re told you can’t have it. Unless you embrace the church that sanctifies marriage, you should want nothing to do with marrying. However, I suspect if gay men were told they couldn’t get vasectomies, there would be a major political movement demanding we also have the right to not reproduce. Ah, the nature of the immature mind.
Big Ben
@dee-dee: I think his name comes from the same Book of Bizzarro Names that Obama’s mother used.
Qwerty
@Troglodyte: Marriage is NOT a religious ceremony, that is one completely optional component of marriage. In fact, organized religions (specifically, Roman Catholicism) only started in the marriage business 1000 years after the life of their main deity walked the earth – when they realized it was a money-maker.
In more modern times, as soon as the government started basing benefits on marital status, that took marriage out of the realm of the religious. Sure, lots of people get married in a church, but for such a marriage to be legal and legitimate, they have to obtain a CIVIL marriage license from the state.
Andy
Never forget that in 2004 the Republican strategy was to demonize gays and take away their rights so that they could turn bigots out to vote for George W. Bush. Never forget.
PTBoat
Funny, the RNC thought that gay people should be prosecuted just a few years ago. Heck, they were up in arms about Lawrence v Texas, which eventually led to Santorum’s Google problem.
desdemona
Way to contradict yourself, saying gays deserve dignity and respect- but not their relationships and lives. I’d almost rather deal with someone that hates gays outright, not someone who pretends not to but is passively aggressive in their prejudice.
Big Ben
Fact is, it’s religious bigots who are against us, not the Republican party. Much like all liberal factions are not super-gay-friendly (I’m talkin to YOU, Louis Farrakhan!).
Angry
Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus said on Meet the Press:
“People in this country, no matter straight or gay, deserve dignity and respect. However, that doesn’t mean it carries on to marriage. I think most Americans agree that, in this country, the legal and historic and religious union, marriage, has to have the definition of one man and one woman.”
Okay fine, then you don’t need our tax money either. We have paid enough for you to enjoy 1,049 federal benefits for being married. This does not even take in to account the various benefits states give too.
What the heck, why not make divorces illegal and when married (1 man & 1 woman) if one or the other commit adultry, go to jail. After all, that is your religion.
jj
@Big Ben: You mean the Bible? Barack or Barak means ‘lightning’ in Hebrew. The name Barak is also mentioned in the Bible in the book of Judges. Barak was part of the story of the prophetess Deborah.