With the New York victory for same-sex marriage fresh on the minds of homosexual activists, former Obama administration Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (left) wants his town — and state — to keep up with the Big Apple. As reported by CNN, Emanuel “showed his support for the recently passed New York same-sex marriage law, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer – he would support similar legislation in Illinois.”
Obamas friend and political ally told Blitzer that he thought same-sex marriage is a significant issue, and he hoped Illinois would move in the same direction as the Empire State. Tremendous progress has been made across the country on a value statement and I think thats very important, Emanuel added.
Homosexual activists have expressed their disappointment at the Presidents reluctance to come out solidly in favor of a nationwide legalization of homosexual marriage. During a fundraiser in New York City within hours of the states passage of the historic same-sex marriage bill, all Obama could bring himself to say was that he believed gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country. Nevertheless, the President has been a solid ally of homosexual activists, who know they will be able to count on his administration to do all it can to undercut traditional marriage and family values. As Emanuel told Blitzer, We know we have a hate crimes legislation nationally that was passed and signed by President Obama, [and] that he repealed Dont Ask, Dont Tell. We finally have a law that’s in line with our values.
During a White House press conference just days after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the new same-sex marriage bill into state law, Obama called the measure a good thing, adding that homosexuals have got to be treated like every other American.
Illinois made news earlier this year when it passed a civil unions measure, which, while falling short of full legalization of same-sex marriage, is a huge step in that direction. As a mayoral candidate Emanuel was at the front of the line in cheering for the civil unions measure, and boasted to Blitzer of officiating at a civil union ceremony of one of his top aides, David Spielfogel, shortly after taking office:
Within the first 30 days, I see a union between my senior advisor, he and his partner. Later that day, the governor and I went to a ceremony in Millennium Park where 30 couples, another member of my cabinet was getting married to her partner. They were getting joined in a civil union.
It appears that Emanuel is hoping to ride the political freight train that is gathering speed as homosexual activists have been energized by the New York victory to take their marriage campaign to other vulnerable states.
Time magazines Alex Altman noted that New York is the sixth state to permit same-sex marriage, and with more than 19 million residents, the largest, more than doubling the gay number of Americans with equal marriage rights, from 16 million to more than 35 million. Altman wrote that New Yorks size, as well as its stature as a bellwether for progressive causes, makes a particularly potent statement about the gay-rights movements momentum, providing the impetus homosexual activists in other states need to pressure their legislators for similar measures. New York is such a powerful stage, Evan Wolfson of the pro-homosexual group Freedom to Marry told Altman. Its a powerful opportunity that is going to ripple through the country and the world.
Baptist Press News reported that with same-sex marriage front and center nationwide, the issue could very well find its way on the ballot in as many as five states, with two of them (Maine and Oregon) possibly legalizing it, and two (Minnesota and North Carolina) looking at changing state constitutions to define marriage as between a man and a woman. Additionally, a same-sex marriage measure would appear on the ballot in a fifth state, Maryland, if a bill legalizing gay marriage passes and citizens try to reverse the law.
But while there is a sense, even among conservative, pro-family groups that the momentum has shifted in favor of same-sex marriage, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), told Baptist Press News that a majority of Americans still want to defend traditional marriage. Noting that homosexual marriage was defeated in California in 2008 and Maine in 2009, Brown told the conservative Christian website that traditional marriage has never lost a popular vote. New York was a big loss, but it was unique because it involved the corruption of Albany and Republicans being willing to sell out their voters for promises of money.
He noted that in Rhode Island, homosexual activists had hoped to pass a gay marriage bill, but were forced to settle for civil unions instead. [T]hats a pretty stunning defeat for supporters of same-sex marriage, he said, adding that Rhode Island is one of the most Democratically controlled states in the country.
Looking ahead, pro-family groups such as the National Organization for Marriage have already begun to target state legislators who were elected on a conservative platform, but who have caved in to homosexual activists on the marriage issue. Those include the Republican senators in New York whose votes made the difference in passing the gay marriage bill in that state. In New York alone NOM has pledged at least $2 million to help defeat Republican lawmakers who voted for gay marriage.
Warned NOMs Brown: Politicians who campaign one way, and vote the other, can expect consequences come election time.
