Like a lot of people, we rolled our eyes in disgust when financial guru and freshly outed lady lover Suze Orman justified her quest for gay marriage by lamenting the potential loss of her millions. She griped to The New York Times' Deborah Solomon:
[My lover KT and I] have millions of dollars in our name. It’s killing me that upon my death, K.T. is going to lose 50 percent of everything I have to estate taxes. Or vice versa.
Alright, that's kind of a gross justification, but not as sickening as ex-gay and Exodus International leader Randy Thomas' uncivil statements.
Thomas writes on his blog:
[Orman] does not help some in the gay activist community with their attempts to make this battle, over redefining marriage, a "civil rights" issue. Suze and her partner worrying over their "millions" doesn't have the same ring or impact as watching young black people being knocked down by fully opened fire hoses and mauled by tax payer funded police dogs. I don't think [she] would ever make that comparison but some in the activist community do equate the marriage battle with the civil rights battle of the African American community and that is tragic.Marriage might be a policy battle but it is not a civil rights issue.
Hmmm, is this a game of who's suffered the most? If so, then Thomas is correct in saying gays haven't been as oppressed as say black slaves, but unfortunately he misses the mark, because there's no Kinsey scale for civil rights. You either have equal rights or you don't. Period. It's kind of like having a heart. Or a soul. There's really no in-between…
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Japhy Grant Editorial Director
David Hauslaib Publisher
Jossip Initiatives
Jim Borroway's response to Randy is worth reading as well:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2007/02/26/231
Read more on the 'sell out' by Suze Orman.
http://neveragaindebt.blogspot.com
As far as I know, even when African Americans were getting hosed down, THEY COULD STILL GET MARRIED!
I agree that suffering is not a competitive sport and this guy is bitter that others dare to accept themselves as they are, unlike him.
What's so wrong with Suze being upset that she or her partner will lose half of the money they've worked for upon the other's death? 1) She's a financial advisor! It's her business to find ways to make/keep as much money as you can. 2) A benefit of marriage IS that a surviving spouse doesn't lose the assets they hold.
Furthermore, Suze didn't say losing the money is the ONLY thing she'd be upset about when her partner dies, but it certainly is something that would piss ME off! Why should a gay couple lose their money, but not a straight one? Marriage protects them, and gays should have the same protection by being allowed to marry. That's the point she was making.
yeah, i feel for you suze….i know that when i go
that the government will take most of the
$65.00 savings account, leaving him with just enough to buy a 12 pack.
lifes a bitch, then you die, then even death is a bitch.
jack jett