Conservatives Support DOMA

Ft. Hamilton Station, NY – Conservative Party Chairman, Michael R. Long, advised the 212 Members of the Legislature, that the Party supports marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The Governor's proposed bill is not what the majority of New Yorkers want and will do nothing to help the over taxed, over regulated citizens of New York State. We believe Governor Eliot Spitzer should concentrate on making New York a less taxed, more business friendly state, a commitment that would benefit all New Yorkers. All members of the Legislature received the following memo:

The New York State Conservative Party is firmly committed to the Federal Defense of Marriage Act passed in 1996 which states that: No state (or other political subdivision within the United States, need recognize a marriage between persons of the same sex, even if the marriage was concluded or recognized in another state.

And that the Federal Government may not recognize same-sex or polygamous marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.

This proposed law states that marriage is a fundamental human right and that same-sex couple should have the same access as others to protections, responsibilities, rights, obligations, and benefits of civil marriage. Many of the "rights" that same-sex couples seek are federal and will not be covered by this proposal and many of the "rights" that same-sex couples seek can be resolved with a legal contract between consenting adults.

The same-sex marriage movement is more than just wanting marriage. In April 2006 a diverse group of nearly twenty LGBT and queer (as described by themselves at Beyondmarriage.org) activists - some organizers, some scholars and educators, some funders, some writers and cultural workers - came together to discuss marriage and family politics as they exist in the United States today. They met over the course of two days for lively conversations in which there was often spirited disagreement. However, we do all stand in agreement with the statement entitled "Beyond Same Sex Marriage".

Part of the statement is as follows:

The Longing for Community and Connectedness

So many of us long for communities in which there is systemic affirmation, valuing, and nurturing of difference, and in which conformity to a narrow and restricting vision is never demanded as the price of admission to caring civil society. Our vision is the creation of communities in which we are encouraged to explore the widest range of non-exploitive, non-abusive possibilities in love, gender, desire and sex - and in the creation of new forms of constructed families without fear that this searching will potentially forfeit for us our right to be honored and valued within our communities and in the wider world. Many of us, too, across all identities, yearn for an end to repressive attempts to control our personal lives.

The Principles at the Heart of Our Vision

Recognition and respect for our chosen relationships, in their many forms; the separation of benefits and recognition from marital status, citizenship status, and the requirement that "legitimate" relationships be conjugal; separation of church and state in all matters, including regulation and recognition of relationships, households, and families; Access for all to vital government support programs, including but not limited to: affordable and adequate health care, affordable housing, a secure and enhanced Social Security system, genuine disaster recovery assistance, welfare for the poor; freedom from a narrow definition of our sexual lives and gender choices, identities, and expression.

Read more of their statement at www.beyondmarrige.org and decided for yourself if this is truly about the ability to marry, or is it about legitimizing a lifestyle that will drain every government resource while a select few live in a community where every lifestyle is acceptable?.
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