Santorum booed off stage for irrational ‘gay marriage = polygamy’ argument
Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum was in New Hampshire Thursday trying to impress voters at an event called the New England College Convention. He was reportedly asked by one man about his opposition to same sex marriages.
Santorum attempted to make an argument about boundaries on the definition of marriage by likening the inclusion of same-sex couples to polygamous relationships. People in the audience objected and told the former Pennsylvania Senator that polygamy was not part of the question. Santorum insisted that he was presenting a rational argument, and appeared perturbed by catcalls as he seemed to lose some of the audience’s respect. One woman tried to play along with his line of questioning, but he only replied with arguments about God’s design for marriage needing “privileged” status from society. He was booed loudly at the end of his discussion amid light applause.
Santorum’s conflation of gay couples’ rights and polygamous marriage interests is common among gay foes. These religious conservatives typically add in arguments about child rearing and make calls for Constitutional Amendments that will define and “protect” marriage as being between a man and woman only.
The Boston Globe quotes Santorum as doing exactly that. At the NECC, he called for a Constitutional Amendment to prevent “50 different definitions of marriage in this country.” He also argued that by allowing same-sex couples to be parents, those children are denied a superior “birthright” of a biological mother and father, and that will, in some way, harm society.
In an MSNBC video Santorum is seen repeating the same arguments used by Maggie Gallagher of NOM in Maryland last year. These foes of marriage equality seem to cloak themselves in the most narrow definitions of parental legitimacy, claiming that man-woman marriage alone “uniquely” provides procreation and rearing of children by both biological parents. Then they back it up by claiming that every society everywhere has agreed on this for thousands of years. Their argument of universal concensus on the definition and value of marriage falls flat in many ways. Several countries and U.S. states have already welcomed legalization of gay marriages since 2001. Also, these anti-gay conservatives tend to ignore the fact that child bearing is not required for marriage. They also ignore Census data that indicates out-of-wedlock births are nearing 50% in many US states today; that heterosexual couples are choosing not to marry in increasing percentages; and that nearly half of those who do end up choosing divorce.
New Hampshire has had legalized gay marriages for only one year. And there is currently an effort to overturn same-sex marriages in that state. All of the major Republican Presidential candidates have repeated their opposition to gay and lesbian marriage during speeches, media interviews and debates. Santorum recently stated that all same-sex marriages that have taken place over the past 10 years will be made “invalid” if he is elected President. Santorum’s leading Republican rival, Mitt Romney, looked like an idiot last month when he told a NH Vietnam vet and his husband, to their faces, that their marriage rights should be repealed.
Video via ABC News:
Video from Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, which is one group trying to beat back the repeal effort by anti-gay forces.
The National Organization for Marriage is working hard to overturn same-sex marriage in New Hampshire. Check out their list of talking points. Most of the leading candidates have signed a “pledge” from NOM to pursue a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriages, and specifically to overturn gay marriage rights in the District of Columbia. These candidates include Santorum, Romney and Newt Gingrich. Ron Paul has been disparaged by NOM for not signing their Presidential pledge. The group posted this edited version of CNN’s video of the candidates debating last year:
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