One of the things that irritate me most in the world is how conservative authoritarians have hijacked the word "family". The ridiculous phrase "family values" - as though all families had the same values, or should - is a textbook example. So I cheered last night when I read Jon Rowe's post that nailed the failed attempt to amend the constitution to ban gay marriages perfectly:
Lets be straight: The now failed FMA was fundamentally an anti-family amendmentone that insulted all gay families as well as every straight family containing an actual gay family member. Even straight families with no gay family members should likewise be insulted by the notion that gay couples getting married threaten their families in any way.
Hear, hear. Try telling a child raised by a loving gay couple that they don't have a real "family" or that their parents can't be married because it's against "family values". Such absurd euphemisms only work in the abstract.
I also thank Jon for providing a link to this excellent essay by Richard Epstein, the libertarian law professor from University of Chicago.
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Thanks!