WORD COUNT 693                                                                                                                                                                            JUNE 25, 2008

POLS USE GAY MARRIAGE AS A DISTRACTION – by Martha Burk 

Legalized gay marriage and the ceremonies started in California June 16. First across the threshold were Del Martin and Phyllis Leon, two women in their 80s. Omigod – civilization as we know it is coming to an end. No telling what these wild blue-hairs will do now that they’re legal after 50 years together. The celebrations all over California (with the exception of a couple of counties who quit performing all marriages to get around the law) can’t possibly be matched by the angst and anger of right-wing anti-gay groups and grandstanding politicians. 

To hear the homophobic politicians tell it, Americans are obsessed with banning gay marriage. Some are – there are a number of ballot initiatives planned for November that would amend state constitutions to enshrine marriage as strictly a man/woman thing. But for most citizens, gay marriage falls way down on the list of most important problems facing the country. And depending on how the questions are asked, it doesn’t even show up on the radar most of the time. 

Banning gay marriage is what I call a “False Prophet” issue for crusader candidates and those already in Congress who go into hysterics at the thought that someone could love another of the same gender. The FPs don’t really want to solve the “problem” of gay marriage – if they did they wouldn’t have anything to run on next time. What they do want to do is whip up emotions so we won’t notice that we’re five years into two futile wars, gasoline is nearly $5 bucks a gallon, food is both scary and skyrocketing in cost, and more and more Americans are doing without health care. 

The rights of gay Americans to marry each other or form same-sex legal unions emerged in a big way in the 2002 elections, with conservative candidates stumping for a constitutional ban. President George W. Bush took up the call in his State of the Union address of 2004. In 2006, conservatives placed bans on gay marriage and/or same sex unions on the ballots in eight states. Seven passed, although by smaller majorities than in the past. A majority of voters defeated the ban in Arizona because it would also have taken rights away from cohabiting heterosexual retired couples. While national polls indicate that a bare majority (51 percent) is still opposed to gay marriage, opposition has declined significantly from 63 percent in February 2004. And no poll has shown that a federal anti-gay amendment has anywhere near the level of support needed to secure two-thirds approval in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states. 

Women support gay marriage in greater numbers than men (41 percent to 31 percent) do. Fewer people overall oppose civil unions (granting legal status without state-approved marriage), and there is an even larger gender gap. Women are considerably more inclined to support civil unions than men (51 percent to 39 percent). In any case, banning gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is extremely low on the priority list of most pressing issues facing the country — it doesn’t make the list at all when pollsters ask the open-ended question "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" When “Social issues such as abortion and gay marriage” is specifically included in a list of desirable top priorities for the federal government, only 3 percent of respondents choose that option. 

False-prophet issues are also called wedge issues -- “hot button” social issues, calculated to divide voters along false fault lines. They are almost always presented simplistically or outright dishonestly. Some other examples? Banning abortion. Building a border fence. Gun control. And the silliest of all –– tort reform. When was the last time you sat around the supper table and lamented the poor corporations getting hauled into court for bad products (pass the tomatoes please) by out-of-control lawsuit-wielding citizens? 

When you hear FP candidates pontificating about gay marriage or any of the other wedge issues, ask yourself why they are talking about these issues in a misleading way, or why they seem obsessed with them while ignoring problems about which voters really care. But don’t get mad, get even. You’ll have your chance on November 4. 

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Martha Burk is author of “Your Money and Your Life: The High Stakes for Women Voters in '08 and Beyond.” A photo of Martha Burk is available CLICK HERE

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