One day after the California ruling overturning the ban on gay marriage, Star Trek's original Sulu George Takei announced his intention to marry his long-term partner Brad Altman. Takei wrote on his website:
"The California Supreme Court has ruled that all Californians have a fundamental right to marry the person he or she loves. Brad and I have shared our lives together for over 21 years...He is my love and I can't imagine life without him. Now, we have the dignity, as well as all the responsibilities, of marriage."
Good for him! I hope this overturn sticks and we can all move past this issue. If two people really love and are devoted to each other they should be able to get married.
YEAH!
ReplyDeleteI say why should straight people be the only ones who get the pain and suffering of marriage?
ReplyDeleteI keed, I keed...but yeah, it's an outdated idea that needs to go. If someone wants to marry another person, fine. It's when they start talking trees and sheep you need to step in and say wait a second...
I met Brad once. Nice guy. Good for him, and great for CA.
ReplyDeleteWhat do people think about the media saying this will be a presidential issue now?
George Takei is the coolest. One of my probably-should-be-guiltier pleasures is listening to the Howard Stern Show (on Sirius Satellite) and when George comes and spends a week on the show he seems like such a happy guy that it brightens my days.
ReplyDeleteAs for gay marriage? It's long past time for the US to get its act together and permit marriage between any two humans who want it (no animals, since the question of consent is unclear). So long as there are fiscal and government-subsidized advantages to being married, it should absolutely be a right as much as freedom of speech, religion, assembly and all the rest of the great stuff in the Constitution and its amendments.
In 50 years, people are going to wonder what all the fuss was about, and I'll be telling stories from my nursing home bed about all the idiots who couldn't figure out the difference between their business and the business of others.
Right on for mr zulu.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Go, George! Go, everyone!
ReplyDelete"What do people think about the media saying this will be a presidential issue now?"
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the conservatives will use this as an issue, but I think it's reprehensible thing to do for votes.
I think if you actually get to know people who these issues impact, even if you are conservative, you can really start to see where they're coming from and be sympathetic.
I think that's why people like Takei & Ellen Degeneres speaking out on this makes an impact.
I mean, who wouldn't want Hikaru Sulu to be happy?
It's definitely going to be a Presidential issue, since Hilary and Barack have both supported some degree of repealing DOMA, and John has been less opposed to same-sex civil marriage that others in his party.
ReplyDeleteIf this were Vermont (for example), it wouldn't be nearly as significant a campaign issue as with big-dog California. None of the candidates will be able to dodge the issue or be able to be especially mealy mouthed about it.
Should be interesting...
If conservatives want it to become an issue, it would have been talked about more before now. The CA case, as the MA case, fractures conservative voters because:
ReplyDelete1) both CA and MA cases are based upon a reading of state (not federal) constitutions. Conservatives generally are loath to say the US constitution should override state constitutions; and 2) younger conservatives are generally okay with liberalization on this front.
I think once god did not sink Boston into the bay it was only a matter of time until gay marriage spread country wide. The only question left was whether domestic partnerships or marriage would predominate. The real interesting issue in CA is that the court said marriage by another name was not good enough.
Good for George and Brad! I read george's bio years ago as part of a school project into American internment camps, and he comes across very well. I shall also make an obligatory Star Trek reference: instead of making Enterprise, they should have made a Captain Sulu show set after the sixth movie. Christian Slater would probably even have reprised his cameo into a full role, what with his career being in the crapper.
ReplyDeleteif people want to "protect the institution of marriage" they need to look into why they keep cheating on each other and getting divorces (achem John Hagee, John McCain).
ReplyDeleteLetting gays get married does nothing to the institution of marriage other than the fact that some us gays can make our relationships work better than the straight conservatives can, and it infuriates them.
If you're against gay marriage, don't marry one!!!
It'll be a big presidential issue -- conservatives will have a lot of people coming out (so to speak) to the polls to pass a CA constitutional amendment to overturn the CA Supreme Court's decision, so there'll be a big conservative motivator in a big, trending-liberal state. That's good news for McCain.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, this Supreme Court decision is good news for people in general, however the election turns out.
I haven't been able to clearly find what the % required to amend the CA constitution is. May be just 50%+1 by initiative, vs. 2/3 of each house by the legislature. (California's constitution has been amended dozens of times.)
ReplyDeleteEven then, while they managed 61% in 2002, can it possibly be that high 6 years later, and for an amendment rather than just a proposition? I wouldn't be surprised to hear that that % advantage is completely gone now, years later.
(Which doesn't mean complacency should rule, of course.)
Well! Congratulations to George Takei. I've always thought George was cool and when he came out, his cool factor went up.
ReplyDeleteNothing left to say but...
Ohhh my!
Set phasers on rice!
ReplyDeleteAnd with that, I officially retire that joke. It's had a nice run, but nothing gold can stay.
Good for them and every gay couple in California. (Wonder if my sister and her wife are going to zip down to California and tie the knot again? They already jumped the boarder to Canada so they could do it once.)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately for the conservatives, the short term political benefits are largely played out on this issue. Not only is it the losing side of a long term change in society, but every state that had the votes to pass “ban gay marriage” amendments has already done it. Those amendments did help the Republicans in the last couple of election cycles by upping their turnout, but all the juice has been squeezed out that orange. Yes, it will be a presidential issue. No, it will not tip the balance in any significant way. An amendment on the California ballot will definitely not draw enough voters to move the state out of the Democratic column, and national voters are have bigger concerns of war and economics to drive their votes this time.
good for you, george!
ReplyDeletei'd always hoped he and Chekhov would get together. they have so much in common.
ReplyDeletegood for george! (cue awesome Takei laugh)
“So long as there are fiscal and government-subsidized advantages to being married”
ReplyDeleteThat’s the problem in a nutshell. The government is supposed to treat everyone equally, not confer special benefits to some. We need separation of marriage and state. A private contract between adults who harm none is nobody else’s business.
I’m happy but not overjoyed by this correct decision in my home state. Conservative groups are already preparing a new ballot Proposition to make man-woman-only marriage part of the California Constitution. The previous one, Proposition 22, got 61.4% of the vote, so the new one could just as easily pass. :-(
“Now, we have the dignity...”
George, you’ve always had scads more dignity than the instution of “marriage.”
And congrats to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi! (I miss the Nell/Biscuit romance.)
"That’s the problem in a nutshell. The government is supposed to treat everyone equally, not confer special benefits to some. We need separation of marriage and state."
ReplyDeleteThe government decided that rather than put old people on ice floes when they become useless, they would give them social security
Social security is paid for by working young people, dependent on the demographic fact that men and women enagaging in sex, and living in common households (i.e. traditional marriage) will produce more productive working your people to keep the old people alive.
Raising kids in the 21st century is rather costly, and governments have responded by making marriages (the presumed most stable way to produce stable future generations) more attractive than non-marriage.
As a committed Christian, I'm deeply troubled by Mr. Takei's bloody awful grammar.
ReplyDelete"all Californians have a fundamental right to marry the person he or she loves"
Sort him out, Brad!
Congratulations to all the couples in California that have been waiting for this moment to arrive!!! This are great news!!!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't be happier for George and Brad, but I haven't get George singing "Brad's Big Balls" out of my head all week.
ReplyDelete...please where can I buy a unicorn?
ReplyDelete