Clay Aiken is speaking out against North Carolina’s Amendment 1, a ballot measure which would ban same-sex marriage in the Tar Heel State.
But the NC native and former American Idol runner-up isn’t exactly standing up for his right to marry the man of his dreams. Says Aiken in the video:
“Families look different—they always have looked different. You have single-parent families, you have families with parents of different races, you have families with parents of different religions. No matter what we might want a family to look like, we can’t put into a constitution, a document that’s supposed to protect our rights, one narrow definition…
“It’ll take away protections from kids who right now may have access to health care because one of their parents has health care at work. But when this amendment goes into place… it’ll take away some of those protections from kids.”
To be fair, the text of the measure declares that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State,” so it’s true some children in alternative parenting situations will suffer.
But the main argument against Amendment 1 we’d think a gay man would make, loud and clear, is, “I want the right marry the man I love, whether I have kids or not.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Stephen
Good on you, Clay. Well said.
Daniel
He doesn’t have a current boyfriend so his focus is on his son. He said he wants a world where his son can grow up safe and happy, whether he is straight or gay. Good goal Clay.
Danny
Never been a big fan of Gayken (tm Kathy Griffin) but the first paragraph of his statement about not being able to put a narrow definition of a family into the constitution is so spot on! I love it! I just gained some respect for the dude.
Fred
Good for Clay to speak out He is a great spokesperson as he is articulate and intelligent.
Don
Evan, I think the argument actually more effective if he doesn’t make it about him. If you’re advocating for a cause, it shouldn’t be soley because YOU have something to gain from it. Clay knows that. Its not about HIM wanting to get married. Its about all the gay families in NC that are fighting for equality. The ad is trying to be inclusive.
Shannon1981
Good for Clay. Though, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think it will make a difference what he or anyone else says, the Amendment will pass. The only way to make it happen in this are of the country is to have the Feds order it. I tell every queer around here if you can, get the hell out of the Bible Belt. I sure am.
hyhybt
@Don: That, and knowing your target audience. North Carolina voters are more likely to be swayed by “this thing that’s supposed to protect children would harm them instead” than “but I wanna,” no matter how many good reasons the former leaves out.
Shannon1981
@hyhybt: I honestly believe that trying to sway people here is futile. I have lived here my entire life, save 7 years in my 20’s in NY and CA. Came back, got my degree (came in the mail today, yay!) and now going back to CA with my partner. These people haven’t changed a bit in the last 30 years, and they won’t.
Joe stratford
He is speaking to North Carolinians the way he thinks will get their attention – by talking about his son.
Cam
Actually I think what he said, as an American is more than valid. He is talking about how the Constitution shouldn’t be perverted from a document to guarantee rights, freedoms, and a guidebook for governing, shouldn’t be shredded just to appease some bigots who want to attack others.
We fought a civil war ending slavery and then spent the next 100 or so years trying to repair things the LAST time that a group was specifically singled out as “Less Than” by a Constitution. You would think that a state on the losing side of that conflict would remember just how difficult that was. (Oh but that’s right, they glorify those days in North Carolina don’t they?)
Also, the state of Alabama voted nearly 40% in the year 2000 to keep an anti-interracial marriage law on the books even though Federal Law superseded it, so when it comes to these low I.Q. bigots nothing surprises me.
the crustybastard
North Carolina wants to redefine the word “equality.”
Again.
CHIP1218
He also doesn’t want to become too “activisty”, cuz if he ends up in the Final 2 of Celebrity Apprentice, the Donald might let the whole gay thing get in the way of choosing him as the winner.
Queer Supremacist
I just left this state after 28 miserable years. I hated it there. I hate the phony liberalism, bourgeois Bohemianism and champagne socialism I was exposed to my whole life almost as much as I hate the redneck cracker breeders infesting every part that wasn’t the Triangle or Asheville. I am never going back if this passes, not even to visit my family.
We need another Reconstruction to disenfranchise all the “straight” Christian boys (I refuse to call any ungay male a “man”) that have taken this country to Hell in a handbasket. And since they were not gay, that handbasket was probably cheap, ugly and mass produced in a Communist dictatorship.
We’re the only ones who should be allowed to get married or raise kids. You know it, I know it, and we’re going to make them realize it. We’re the reason Western Civilization is anywhere near civilized.