The arguments against marriage equality are so filled with loopholes, it’s surprising that videos from Queerty favorite Rob Tisinai shooting down the myths are able to make things even more black and white. But if you’ve got 10 minutes, Rob’s new clip is an excellent pairing with Jonathan Chait’s piece in The New Republic, which he brands “The definitive case against gay marriage critics.” The only fault in either of their arguments, perhaps, is focusing too much on Carrie Prejean, who unfortunately (or fortunately for us?) has become a face of the gay marriage debate. But then we’re just nitpickers.
One of our new favorite ways to reframe a rebuttal, courtesy Chait:
In a liberal society, consenting adults are presumed to be able to do as they like, and it is incumbent upon opponents of any such freedom to demonstrate some wider harm. The National Organization for Marriage, on its website, instructs its activists to answer the who-gets-harmed query like so: “Who gets harmed? The people of this state who lose our right to define marriage as the union of husband and wife, that’s who.” Former GOP Senator Rick Santorum, arguing along similar lines, has said, “[I]f anybody can get married for any reason, then it loses its special place.”
Both these arguments rest upon simple tautologies. Expanding a right to a new group deprives the rest of us of our right to deny that right to others. If making a right less exclusive devalues it, then any extension of rights is an imposition upon those who were not previously excluded–i.e., women’s suffrage makes voting less special for men.
And this nugget from Tisani, refuting down the ridiculous premise that same-sex marriage leads to human-animal marriage (a theory pedaled by brilliant minds like Maggie Gallagher and Bill O’Reilly): “A goat would be more likely to eat a marriage license than to sign one.”
Kid A
From the screencap, it looked like Anderson Cooper dyed his hair black…
These kind of “debate point compilation” videos are great, in that they give us easy to remember, simple retorts to arguments that might fluster the less-debate-savvy supporters.
Jesse Ventura said recently, “If waterboarding isn’t torture, why don’t cops do it?” Sometimes it takes a quick, simple truism to speak to the heart of an issue, just like “A goat would be more likely to eat a marriage license than to sign one.”
JD
He’s adorable.
Nickadoo
Rob Tish’s videos are always awesome.
Darrien
Great mind. Great looks. Great voice. This man is wonderful.
MakeItNotBeTrue
Heteros should not have the monopoly on being miserable. Everyone should be able to marry whomever they want and suffer.
InExile
Awesome video and perfect arguments against the gay haters! Very well spoken young man also!
Bri
This guy is great.
tavdy79
Very well spoken young man also!
InExile
He’s 47.
He also has a blog that’s worth checking out. He’s doing a sponsored bike ride from San Francisco to LA in aid of AIDS soon and is looking for sponsors. (I can’t donate as I’m outside North America so don’t have a useable credit card.) There’s more info at his blog.
Bri
@tavdy79: AIDS LifeCycle I take it. That’s cool, thanks for pointing that out. I’m gonna check out his blog now.
I’ve been following the AIDS lifecycle for a little while now…might want to try it someday. Maybe next year. I noticed Queerty hasn’t written very much about it over the years. Might want to get on it, Queerty. 😛
ChristopherJ
Thanks for posting.
dgz
i have NEVER seen any commentators on TV speak this articulately on this issue. he should become a fixture on cable news.
Rasa
This is great! Thanks, Rob, and thanks to Queerty for posting this.
tavdy79
@dgz: If they don’t speak that articulately it’s often largely because they can’t get a word in edgeways when Maggie Gallagher is in the studio. Mike Signorile is pretty good, but even he struggles against the verbal steamroller. The only person I’ve seen hold their own against the thagomiser-tongued NOM rep is Perez Hilton, and he just doesn’t quite match up to Robtish (though I may be a little biased where Rob is concerned).
joe27
@InExile: As someone on the opposite side of the debate I’d like to see a new niche. I don’t believe in gay marriage but I consider myself the very opposite of a “gay-hater”. Do you believe that this is possible? I’d really like to know. And if not, why not?
Jack
@joe27: You haven’t given us enough info. WHY are you “against” gay marriage? What is the thinking behind your opinion? Perhaps you’re not a foaming-at-the-mouth, bigoted hater – perhaps you’re just misguided, or perhaps you just don’t understand the issue you’re battling against. But we can’t tell until you explain your warped logic.