Posted on 02/25/2004 12:10:20 PM PST by demlosers
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley supports same-sex marriage, he said at a press conference Feb. 18. “[Cook County Clerk] David Orr can do it any way he wants. That would be up to him. I have no problems with that issue at all,” Daley said when asked about the ongoing issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in San Francisco.
“A lot of people are opposed to it. So be it,” Daley said. “But again, you have to point out the strength of this community—they’re your doctors, your lawyers, your journalists, politicians.
They’re someone’s son or daughter, they’re someone’s mother or father. They’re parents. And I have been with them, they’ve adopted children, they have wonderful children. And to me, we have to understand this is part and parcel of our families and extended families. ... They love each other just as much as anyone else. They believe that the benefits that they don’t have, they should have. And so I have a very open mind on it.”
Daley got testy when asked if same-sex marriage will undermine traditional marriage.
“Marriage has been undermined by divorce,” the mayor said. “So don’t tell me about marriage. You’re not going to lecture me about marriage, or anyone else. People should look at their own life and look in their own mirror. I think marriage has been undermined for a number of years, if you look at the facts and figures on it. So don’t blame the gay, lesbian, transgender, transsexual community, please don’t blame them for it.”
The following day, County Clerk Orr told the Chicago Sun-Times he is “game to looking at options.”
“I’m fed up with people being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation,” Orr said. “Whether or not, here in Cook County, we should be considering a San Francisco or other kind of protest, that is what some of us are discussing. I’m quite interested in exploring that with key players in the city and county.”
That same day, in a coincidence of timing, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations [CHR] unanimously passed a resolution “that we ... hereby record our opposition to any amendment to either the Illinois Constitution or the United States Constitution that defines marriage as ‘the union of a man and a woman’ and thereby denies equal rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and their families.” The CHR’s Advisory Council on LGBT issues had passed the resolution in January and sent it to the full CHR for approval Feb. 18.
“The right to legal protection including marriage should not be limited,” said commission Chairman Clarence Wood. “The time has come for fair-minded persons to step up and uphold everyone’s right to fully and equally participate in society.”
Brandon Neese, the openly gay Deputy Cook County Clerk, said Monday that a group of activists and attorneys were meeting informally and off the record to discuss the County scenarios. He said the clerk is an administrative officer who must follow the direction of the Cook County Board. Orr will not go forward without backing from the necessary elected officials in the city and county, Neese said.
“I think what happened in New Mexico is what happens with an action that is not coming from the municipal corporation,” Neese said. It got shut down by the sheriff.
But some local gay leaders say it is important to focus on the state gay-rights bill, Senate Bill 101, before trying to push marriage at the county level.
Ald. Tom Tunney, the city’s first and openly openly gay alderman, said that while he is excited about the marriages in San Francisco, he would love to see local Democratic politicians such as Daley and Gov. Rod Blagojevich putting their full force behind SB 101.
“Of course I support [gay marriage]. But the most important thing is getting a new president of the United States. If this takes us down a road that will ultimately ensure [Bush’s] victory in November ... I am very concerned that we’re gonna have four more years of Bush and three new Supreme Court justices. That will do a lot to undermine our rights overall. We have to strategize the timing. In San Francisco, these people were in violation of laws. ... We’re being very optimistic on this issue. But I am very concerned that Republicans are using this as an issue that will split Democrats.”
“I suppose nothing should surprise us anymore, but what is going on that Mayor Daley is turning out to be a more vigorous advocate of equality for gay people than Tom Tunney, Chicago's first elected openly gay alderman?” said activist Susana Darwin. “One hopes this is a coordinated good cop/bad cop, visionary/pragmatist shtik, but it’s alarming to think it might not be. Our best hope has always lain in persuading the majority to the truth of the cause, but we can't afford to totally cede leadership on issues of such consequence. We should be expressing our gratitude to Mayor Daley and Mayor Newsom of San Francisco and doing everything we can as individuals and as members of the community to add our energy to the fight for fairness.
“We should also be asking what is going on that Illinois Democrats have control of four of five executive offices and control of both houses of the legislature, and yet even as basic a bill as SB 101 can’t get passed,” Darwin said. “Democrats from the governor on down need to be challenged to work harder and smarter to secure the rights of everyone in Illinois to pursue lives unimpeded by bigotry.”
Meanwhile, First Lady Laura Bush called same-sex marriage “a very, very shocking issue to some parts of the American people,” in an interview with the Associated Press Feb. 18.
“It’s an issue that people want to talk about and not want the Massachusetts Supreme Court, or the mayor of San Francisco to make their choice for them,” Bush said. “I know that’s what the president thinks. I think people ought to have that opportunity to debate it, to think about it, to see what the American people really want to do about the issue.”
President Bush also commented on the issue, saying he is “troubled.”
“I have watched carefully what’s happening in San Francisco, where licenses were being issued, even though the law states otherwise,” he said. “I have consistently stated that I’ll support law to protect marriage between a man and a woman. Obviously these events are influencing my decision. I am watching very carefully, but I am troubled by what I’ve seen.”
Shtik? You mean they're not calling it a dildo anymore?
If we had a more gutsy Cardinal he would be denied church sacraments.
Must have been a goy who wrote that, it's spelled SCHTICK. Oy vey.
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