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Loading...Santorum: Gay Partnerships Don’t Benefit Society
Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, continuing his already well established anti-gay rhetoric, told a gay man at a campaign stop in Fulton, Missouri, on Friday that marriage is a “privilege” that only heterosexuals get because it is only the “intrinsic good” of their unions that benefit society.
When asked by a gay audience member why gay couples don’t deserve equal rights when it comes to marriage, Santorum said that gay people are not entitled to “special” treatment under the law and went on to say:
[Marriage is] not a right, it’s something that has existed since the beginning of human history as an institution where men and women come together for the purposes of forming a natural relationship as God made it to be. And for the purposes of having children and continuing that civilization. It is an intrinsic good…And as a result of that, we extend a privilege. We extend certain privileges to people who do that because we want to encourage that behavior. [...]
Two people who may like each other or may love each other who are same-sex, is that a special relationship? Yes it is, but it is not the same relationship that benefits society like a marriage between a man and a woman.
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Sadly, and ignoring the inaccuracies Santorum offered about the history of marriage and the circular logic he uses to back up each and every anti-gay argument, candidate Santorum’s assertions regarding same-sex marriage not benefiting society are demonstrably false.
Firstly, marriage is classed as a civil right. It may not have explicit constitutional reference but the freedom to marry has consistently been upheld by courts across America. Thus, there does exist a state sanctioned right to marry that is quite apart from the issue of how various religions choose to recognize and sanction marriage.
Secondly, married same-sex couples pay, on average, higher levels of tax and are forced to claim fewer benefits than their heterosexual counterparts thanks to the federal ban on gay marriage (DOMA), and this is further compounded for gay and lesbian couples in long-term relationships living in states where they cannot marry at all. If anything, in economic terms married gay couples are forced to contribute more to society.
Further, many same-sex couples are today raising children who have been shown in studies to do at least as well as their peers and, according to some studies, have demonstrated slightly elevated levels of social adjustment. This even in the face of their parents being thoroughly disadvantaged by prejudicial laws. Clearly, if having children and continuing the human race is the “intrinsic good” then gay couples have it in plentiful supply and Santorum’s argument falls down under a most basic test. Another quick consideration is that of heterosexual couples who cannot or do not want to have children. They are, if one follows the logic, also substandard in Santorum’s view.
This isn’t the first time Santorum has attacked gay couples of course. The former senator surprised many during a question and answer session in New Hampshire last month when he declared that research shows children do better in families where a father is incarcerated and has abandoned his child than those in a same-sex parent household. No such research is thought to exist.
Santorum, who believes he’s been pretty restrained on gay rights issues, also recently said that he would “invalidate” all same-sex marriages, seemingly abandoning his small government ideals when it benefits his agenda. Read more on that here.
Related Reading:
6 Things You Could Marry if Gay Marriage is Legalized
Read more: 2012 presidential election, gay marriage, gay rights, iowa, lgbt rights, rick santorum, same-sex marriage
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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149 comments
+ add your own@ john c. it is nice to see that there are still some real Christians, like you. Green *
SANTORUM - the savior of the conservative party.his statement that "GAY
PARTNERSHIPS DON'T BENEFIT SOCIETY", how would he know, has he
had a gay relationship. it is very easy for a person, such as he to make these
statements but he has no practical knowledge, other then to once again, hide
behind religion. iam also a Roman Catholic, heterosexual male who from birth
was raised as a Catholic and never had i heard so much about same sex
relations as i have over the past decade. i think Santorum ought to go back to
catechism classes to learn about our religion, Christ's laws not the Church's
laws (man made). we are all only people, cut me and i will bleed red, physically
hurt me and i will feel pain do something extremely generous for another without
gain for one;s self, and you feel a special warmth inside. we were not put on this
earth to judge, that's for God and Christ, we were put on earth to love and honor
them and one another, nothing else.
Exactly what does overpopulation do to"benefit society"? As a progressive lesbian from Pennsylvania, I'm glad I'm young enough that I didn't elect this guy.
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
THE SECOND COMING
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
The far right is that rough beast..
A recent poll showed that more Catholics preferred Romney. Frothy can't even appeal to his own church. Pathetic.
Someone needs to remind this blind idiot that his God is not a member of any level of U.S. government as per the Establishment Act and what his God says is right or wrong has no bearing on the country as a whole.
Rick Santorum and his 17th century puritan attitudes does not benefit modern society.
There are only 2 things which can get me to vote for King Barack the Corrupt.
Sarah Palin or Rick Santorum as the Republican nominee.
Rick Santorum and his 17th century puritan attitudes does not benefit modern society.
There are only 2 things which can get me to vote for King Barack the Corrupt.
Sarah Palin or Rick Santorum as the Republican nominee.
@ Mari G. There is a major flaw in right-wingers like Santorum, no common sense.
it scares the piss out of me that this guy is trying to run for president, both as lesbian and a woman. if someone truly believes that no true deep loving bond can be formed between members of the same sex, the same kind of bond that can be formed by members by the opposite sex, that 10% of the population chose a life that means discrimination or kids wanted to be bullyed and harmed to the point of suicide, then this man is insane. no one wants to be discriminated against and if it were as simple as making a choice, why would anyone choose a life where they never know if they will have hate spewed at them? where coming out might mean some nut case physically attacks them, burns down their home or damage their property?
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