Herbert: Stolen Kisses (Good column on hysteria over Gay Marriage)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/opinion/01HERB.html?hp

In the film "Cinema Paradiso" a priest previews each movie that is to be shown in a small Italian town and orders the removal of all kissing scenes. Near the end of the film, the main character, a man named Salvatore who had been a small boy at the time the priest exercised his powers of censorship, is given a film reel in which all the deleted kisses have been restored. He watches, profoundly moved, as one couple after another gives physical expression to their mutual love.

In the magic of movie-making we can sometimes recapture the intimacy that is lost to misguided and intolerant customs and policies. Real life is another matter.

In the United States, many people are still uncomfortable with the idea of two men holding hands (unless it's in a football huddle) or two women kissing. Sex between people of the same gender remains a major taboo. And the notion of gay marriage, viewed as an abomination by a huge swath of the electorate, is threatening to become a decisive element in the presidential campaign.

In a country that is quick to celebrate the rights of the individual and the ideals of freedom, real tolerance is often hard to come by.

One of the particularly absurd arguments against allowing gays to marry is that such a lapse would send us skidding down that dreadful slope to legalization of incest, polygamy, bestiality and so forth.

[cprise]

1. Good historical examples

I honestly wasn't aware about the reference to polygamy by the TN Supreme Court (defending Jim Crow laws).

[trogdor]

2. I wanna marry my cat!

Nevermind that if she were human, such a marriage would be best described as an exercise in masochism and self-loathing, I just wanna do it because the religious right suggested that it might be within my rights to do so.