Monday, April 08, 2013

Mary Landrieu: ISBL Asshat Of The Week


Support for marriage equality is up, not only among Americans, but also among our elected officials. It seems we can’t go a day without another politicians, mostly Democrats, though a couple of republicans are joining in, coming out for full marriage equality for same-sex couples.

In fact, now there are just four Senate Democrats who have not backed marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples: Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. But this post just concerns Landrieu.

See, Mary Landrieu believes in marriage quality, and she’s all for same-sex couples having the full rights, benefits, and privileges of marriage that are currently only enjoyed by opposite-sex couples. She told CNN that she thinks "people should love who they love and marry who they want to marry."

Lovely, no? No. See, Mary Landrieu won’t come out in full political support for same-sex marriage because she’s from Louisiana and the people of Louisiana have said time and again that they don’t want The Gays getting married, so Mary will toe the line of the people of Louisiana:
"My state has a very strong constitutional amendment not only against gay marriage but against gay partnerships. So I'm looking at the people of Louisiana trying to represent their interests."
Nice sidestep, Mary, except you were also elected to lead the people of Louisiana, and to stand up for the people of Louisiana, even the gays ones. Maybe if you had a spine, you could take that step towards equality, and maybe, maybe, the good people who elected you might follow suit. But, Mary, it’s not about equality, and it’s not about what’s right, it’s about you getting to keep your job by not rocking the Homophobia Boat and upsetting your constituents, who might decide that, come next election cycle, to put you out of work.

It’s also not about The People of Louisiana, it’s about you, Mary Landrieu. And your job, with its healthcare and its pension, and making sure that you’re protected even while some folks in your state are not. So, with all due respect, Mary Landrieu, take your half-assed proclamation about being for marriage equality and shove it until, you can actually stand up for it.

4 comments:

  1. Change the word 'gay' and you've got your answer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:03 AM

    It's been awhile since we've had an Asshat Of The Week but she's deserving of the honor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This could be Mary Landreau's first step towards supporting marriage equality, IF her constituents ask her to do more.

    Louisiana, outside of New Orleans is not a progressive state. It also has a high percentage of small black churches, lead by vocal ministers who still see same sex pairings, let alone marriage, as an abomination. Louisiana also has a very high percentage of white underclass that hate queers, and by extension, they hate people who like queers.

    What this is telling me is that "I am testing the waters to see what the reaction is to my statement." And I think when you walk a tenuous line as she does, she needs support to come all the way in.

    ReplyDelete

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