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Exploits a Hot-Button Issue in the African American Community Critics Calling Bush Promise 'A Marriage Counselor in Every Pot' National Gay and Lesbian Task Force |
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"It is cruelly ironic that even just days after Bush and Cheney endorsed an amendment that would write discrimination into the Constitution and prevent courts from granting the most basic forms of recognition to gay couples -- even things that cost nothing, such as hospital visitation rights -- Bush wants to throw billions to marriage counselors as an alleged solution to problems married couples face. Gay people who want to marry are not a threat to straight couples, and billions for marriage counseling are not the solutions to the problems straight couples are experiencing. What struggling families really need are jobs, health coverage and decent schools for their children." "This administration knows that a Democrat cannot win in the fall without overwhelming African American support and turnout, like that enjoyed by Al Gore in 2000, who got 90% of black votes. They also know that surveys show that support for equal marriage rights for gay people is significantly lower in the African American community. Presto! They plan to pit two of the Democratic Party's most solid blocs of support - the African American and gay communities (70% of gay voters backed Gore in 2000) - against each other and wedge off the votes they need to stay in power. They are grand masters at this kind of divisive politics. In past elections they have successfully scapegoated immigrants and poor women, and exploited issues of race and choice. This time around, they are trying to make gay marriage the Willie Horton of the 2004 election cycle. "This is not the first time President Bush has attempted to pit African Americans against gays, as if these are mutually exclusive categories. Last June the Bush Administration sent a memo to Congress portraying local and state gay rights laws as a hindrance to meeting the service needs of 'this country's black and brown urban poor.' The administration urged Congress to allow faith-based service providers to discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation for jobs paid for with public funds, which it portrayed as essential to preserving the 'civil rights and religious liberty' of these religious groups." * Pundits who think this proposal is an attempt to satisfy the President's base on the extreme political and religious right are sadly mistaken. No matter how much rhetorical red meat or how many billions the President sends their way, they will never be satisfied until the President bows and expresses his unequivocal support for the constitutional amendment." Media Reports on Marriage Promotion Plan The Bush administration is preparing to unveil a $1.5 billion proposal to "sustain marriage." Media reports say that this proposal is a result of intense pressure by conservatives seeking to "defend traditional marriage" which has increased since the recent decision of the Massachusetts supreme court that denying gay couples the right to marry is unconstitutional. The ultimate goal of this broad coalition of conservative religious organizations is getting the President to fully support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would deny the right to marry to same-sex couples and restrict the recognition of relationships outside of marriage, such as domestic partnerships and civil unions. (On December 15, the President said he would support the amendment "if necessary.") According to Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary of the health and human services department, the marriage promotion programs will "help couples, especially low-income couples, manage conflict in healthy ways." Mr. Horn said that money for marriage promotion would only be available to heterosexual couples, citing a 1996 federal law that seeks to define and limit marriage to between persons of the opposite sex. Today's New York Times quotes administration officials saying that during the re-election campaign the President will likely "visit programs trying to raise marriage rates in poor neighborhoods." An anonymous White House source states, "The president loves to do that sort of thing in the inner city with black churches and he's very good at it." For detailed critical analysis of the forces behind marriage promotion and its rationale, see a December 2001Task Force report on welfare reform that examines the Marriage Movement and the Fatherhood Movement (founded by Wade Horn, now the architect and key policymaker of Bush's $1.5 billion marriage promotion proposal), state experimentation with marriage promotion, and how these policies hurt gay families, especially lesbian mothers. Leaving Our Children Behind: Welfare Reform and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community, can be found at: http://www.ngltf.org/downloads/WelfRef.pdf |
George W. Bush is promoting marriage, but this proposal is for straights only