GLBT activist groups issued a major statement called Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision for All Our Families and Relationships.
"Our strategies must be visionary, creative and practical to counter the right's powerful and effective use of marriage as a 'wedge' issue that pits one group against another," the statement claims. "The struggle for marriage rights should be part of a larger effort to strengthen the stability and security of diverse households and families."The groups advocate:
- Legal recognition for a wide range of relationships, households and families — regardless of kinship or conjugal status.
- Access for all, regardless of marital or citizenship status, to vital government support programs including, but not limited to, health care, housing, Social Security and pension plans, disaster-recovery assistance, unemployment insurance and welfare assistance.
Glenn T. Stanton, senior analyst for marriage and sexuality at Focus on the Family Action, said it's now very clear that most gay activists never really sought same-sex marriage. What they really want is "anything goes."
"This statement fails to take account of the fact that the government recognizes, or sees, certain relationships as legal, because those relationships are essential and necessary to society," Stanton said. "That is, the society needs these relationships in order to be productive, healthy and prosperous."
The gay activists and their supporters called for "separation of church and state in all matters, including regulation and recognition of relationships, households and families."
Stanton said, however, we don't find marriage just in Christian or religious cultures.
"Marriage, as a relationship between a man and a woman, is present in all human societies. It's a human thing. So, if they're going to 'set themselves free,' they are going to have to do it by the separation of humanity and state — rather than the separation of religion and state. Religion is not what drives marriage; humanity is what drives marriage."
For Gary Bauer, president of American Values, the gay-activist message to America is clear.
"Translated, it means they want to change the subject," Bauer said. "I don't blame them, after a series of humiliating defeats at the ballot box, and, at least in recent weeks, a series of debates in what has been their stronghold — which is the judiciary of the country. So clearly, they are going back to the drawing board to try to come up with a different strategy."
