Kerry Opposes Gay Marriage Despite Court Ruling

Reuters ^ | 02/05/04 | David Alexander

[Pikamax]

Kerry Opposes Gay Marriage Despite Court Ruling Thu February 05, 2004 08:00 PM ET

By David Alexander PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner John Kerry said on Thursday he favored letting homosexuals enter into civil unions and disagreed with a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling granting gays the right to marry.

But the Massachusetts senator added the issue should be addressed at the state level and not by the federal government.

Some political analysts say with his Massachusetts background, Kerry is vulnerable to Republican attacks trying to link him to the ruling and picturing the senator as too liberal for the American mainstream.

Speaking after a rally in Maine for his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kerry told reporters his position was no different than that of Vice President Dick Cheney and he warned Republicans against trying to turn it into an election-year issue.

"If they want to choose some kind of wedge sort of issue and distort my position I will fight back very clearly," he said.

"They ought to talk to Dick Cheney their own vice president before starting to play games with this and we'll find out just how political and how craven they are. Vice President Cheney has the same position I do."

The Massachusetts high court on Wednesday ruled nothing short of marriage, including civil unions, would comply with the court's earlier ruling on marriage between homosexuals

"I personally believe the court is not right," Kerry told reporters.

"I support equal rights, and the right of people to have civil union, equal partnership rights. I don't support marriage. I never have. That's my position," he added.

INTELLIGENCE INVESTIGATION

On the commission being formed to investigate failures by U.S. intelligence agencies ahead of the Iraq war, Kerry said it should be independent and not appointed by the president.

"There's a story today to the effect that (George) Tenet, the head of the CIA, insists that the CIA never made any assertion to the White House that there was an imminent threat posed by what was happening in Iraq," Kerry said.

"Notwithstanding that, the White House used the words to the American people and to the Congress 'urgent threat' and 'imminent threat' and a number of other words ... that would demand a sort of immediate and significant response," he said.

"I think this underscores why it is really important to have an independent commission, not a commission just appointed by the president."

Kerry spoke to reporters after addressing 300 enthusiastic supporters at the Boys and Girls Club in Portland, Maine, telling a cheering crowd that included grandparents, Vietnam veterans, school children and toddlers, "I'm here to mark with you the beginning of the end of the Bush presidency."

One Vietnam-era veteran in the crowd, Paul Carey, said he liked what he heard and viewed Kerry as "serious and down-to-earth.

"He'll take off his jacket but he doesn't roll up his sleeves and scream," said Carey, referring to the famous yell by Kerry's Democratic opponent Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor.

Kerry later traveled to New York before turning his attention to Michigan, the largest prize in the election to date, with nearly double the delegates of any state contested so far. Michigan voters will choose 128 delegates to the national nominating convention on Saturday and Washington will choose another 76.

A candidate needs 2,162 delegates to win the nomination. Kerry won 119 delegates on Tuesday to take a lead in the delegate race with 262, according to an MSNBC tally.

[Huck]

All I read was the headline. Smart move by Kerry. And me, I'll bet.

[Cubs Fan]

He figures he has the nomination wrapped up, so now he'll try and play the middle.

[Henchster]

Kerry told reporters his position was no different than that of Vice President Dick Cheney and he warned Republicans against trying to turn it into an election-year issue.

Election year issue? I'll give you one Kerry. Ironclad's poster says it all, Americans don't want a billionaire gigolo for their President.

[Unam Sanctam]

This is absolutely meaningless unless he is willing to do something real about it, like supporting amending of the Massachusetts constitution. I doubt he will do that. He can just blame the court but tell proponents that he's secretly for it anyway and thus play both sides of the street.

[sgtbono2002]

I just read the headline too. Heres how this plays out Kerry says he was for Civil Unions that lets him get by with the gays. he says he was against gay Marriage , that gets him by with the straights. Its all water over the Dam now a done deal so he gets away clean and these statements have no meaning. Pretty slick. Nobody said the man was stupid, just that he is so left he is close to sliding off the edge.

[Lysandru]

Bravo Sierra!

I watched Rudy Giuliani doing the same song and dance on Bill O'Reilly's show recently. This is a distinction without a difference.

What's next, polygamy?

[cinFLA]

All I read was the headline. Smart move by Kerry. And me, I'll bet.

He was interviewed but hedged it so you could believe he was for it or against it, whatever. I think he believes that the state should honor the marriage but the church does not have to.

[Tempest]

DON'T WORRY GIVE IT A FEW HOURS AND GOOD OLE' BLOWING IN THE WIND kERRY WILL MODULATE HIS MESSAGE TO BE SOMETHING AMBIGUOUS ENOUGH TO APPEAL TO HIS BASE AND MODERATES.

Whoops! Sorry about the cap lock. :(

[jpsb]

kerry is a hoe, if his lips move he's lying. Bush may be an empty suit, (and he is) but kerry is a dispicable hoe, on he's best day kerry isn't good enough to shine W's boots.

[goldstategop]

Jean F. Cheri is apparently in favor of separate but equal with regards to marriage. The liberals on the Massachusetts Supreme Court rightly regard it as untenable. Consider the Senator voted against the federal Defense Of Marriage Act in 1996. How can he claim to be in favor of something the Supreme Court of his own home state said flatly is unconstitutional while at the same time opposing gay marriage? I'll tell you why the French looking (and thinking) putative Democratic presidential nominee is trying to have it both ways: he doesn't want to offend the gays and at the same time he's seeking to convince swing voters he's against gay marriage. Its called talking out of both sides of your mouth at once. If Cheri were principled, he'd embrace the Supremes decision and let the political chips fall where they may. But he knows if he were honest, he'd lose by an even bigger margin in November. So if you're a Massachusetts liberal you have to equivocate or lie. Let's just say in the cultural divide in this country, Cheri's enlisted on the wrong side and is too afraid for his political viability since its not a popular position with most of the American people to believe judicial tyrants should ram gay marriage down their throats over the expressed objections of their elected representatives.

[GeronL]

He said he did not agree with it but he wouldn't do anything to stop it

So he does not oppose it, he just doesn't support it.

So the media is still lying.

[mabelkitty]

Smart move. Imitate a Republican and keep the active Left at home.

[oceanview]

there is a BIG difference between some accomodation for civil union and full gay marriage.

[oceanview]

did Kerry vote for the federal defense of marriage act? does he aupport it now? saying its a states right issue and being against the federal DoMA means you are for gay marriage everywhere.

[Dog Gone]

I just read the headline too.

It baffles me why many Freepers do just that. Is your attention span only two seconds long? Is it too much to ask that you read the entire article before responding?

How about reading the entire thread before responding to see if 85 people have already made the same point you want to make after reading only the headline?

[puroresu]

Exactly! If Kerry's elected, we'll have gay marriage for sure because his Supreme Court appointees will be Margaret Marshall clones. It's clear the Demo-Rat strategy is to feign opposition to the Massachusetts court ruling, while doing absolutely nothing to stop the ruling from taking effect. Their immediate goal is to kill the federal marriage amendment by asserting that marriage should be a state issue. That sounds conservative and will successfully appeal to the more short-sighted conservatives. Once the federal marriage amendment is defeated, then the libs will go about their real agenda of using the courts to impose gay marriage on the nation. Kerry won't ever have to actually vote for gay marriage since the courts will do the job for him.

Kerry is lying. He fully supports gay marriage and is determined to spread it nationwide. The one thing that frightens the pro-gay marriage forces most is the federal marriage amendment. It's the one thing that can thwart their agenda. They'll be doing their damndest to kill it, particularly by luring some conservatives into opposing it on states' rights grounds. Once the federal marriage amendment is dead, nationwide gay marriage is a virtual inevitability. The courts will impose it on us, one way or another, within five years maximum.

[Young Rhino]

If a civil union dissolves, who gets custody of the gerbil? Will palimony be paid? Someone should ask Barney Frank about his position on Kerry's views. Although he is irrelevant, Metrosexual Dean's comments would also be amusing to hear.

[puroresu]

Kerry voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, calling it a form of "gay bashing".

Kerry favors gay marriage. He's lying about it now to get elected. His goal, and the goal of all gay marriage proponents, is to kill the federal marriage amendment (defining marriage as between one man and one woman). Kerry and the gay lobby want that amendment dead and buried. They're counting on tricking some conservatives into opposing it on states' rights grounds. Once the amendment is dead, the courts have a clear line to impose gay marriage on us.

[goldstategop]

He voted AGAINST it. The thing is the same liberals who are in favor of states' rights on gay marriage are the same liberals who thought the SCOTUS was right to hold states' right was not a valid justification to preserve sodomy laws. Hypocrites!