Pumpkin Palin and Prop 8

With all of the Prop 8 information floating around our campus, it’s interesting to see the presidential candidates’ opinions on it. For non-California voters, Prop 8 would amend the California constitution to make gay marriage illegal. Prop 8 would be the first time civil rights were limited in California (see here for more information).It’s such an important proposition, because both sides know that if California goes gay, the rest of the country will follow.

A New York Times article outlines the differences between Obama’s and McCain’s disapproval of gay marriage. Fortunately, neither supports a ban on gay marriage, but both also would rather have civil unions rather than gay marriage.

Obama bases his opposition on religion—as a proud Christian, he believes that “marriage is a sacred union.” McCain on the other hand, bases his opposition on “generational and cultural experiences,” according to his advisors.

In California, Obama has spoken against Prop 8 and its opponents. McCain agrees with Prop 8, but as a federalist republican, would not support a federal amendment to ban gay marriage.

Sarah Palin follows McCain’s disapproval of gay marriage and support for Prop 8, but probably for reasons other than the generational gap. Now, I can’t speak for Palin, but I assume that stems from her conservative religious views. My question is, if the biggest reason to oppose gay marriage is because of religion, what happened to a separation of church/state? I thought we were trying to get religion out of politics. Or even the argument, “I can’t even imagine myself doing that!” Well duh, don’t do it then. But look at history: we banned persons of color from marrying whites, and look how well that turned out. I’m a product of an interracial marriage, and I look back on those laws and see how ridiculous they were. Hopefully, generations from now will look back on the days when homosexual couples weren’t able to get married and raise a family together, and see how ridiculous it was.

On an unrelated note, Palin looks amazing as a pumpkin.