PHOTO: A frequently running TV ad for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Monica Wehby (left) shows her being hugged by Ben West (right) whose successful court case has allowed him to be legally married to Paul Rummel (not shown) in Oregon. (See the Portland gay newspaper coverage by Nick Mattos, "Marriage Equality Plaintiffs Endorse Monica Wehby: PQ's Exclusive Interview," pqmonthly.com posted September 9, 2014.)
VIDEO: A frequently running TV ad for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Monica Wehby seen Oregon on cable TV and over-the-air broadcast TV channels. ("Ben West - Monica Wehby for U.S. Senate," youtube.com accessed Sep. 10, 2014)
Although I applaud Monica Wehby's courage to go against the majority of Republicans who oppose same-sex marriage, I wonder what she really meant when during a Portland TV interview she said, "The government should stay out of the marriage business." Does Wehby mean that the only marriages recognized should be ones performed by the religious clergy? Does Wehby want to eliminate all tax breaks for legally married couples? I don't care because she had already lost my vote by allowing the out-of-state Koch brothers and billionaires pay for Wehby's campaign to call me twice a day for the last few months, despite me asking to be put on their do not call list.
I've blogged before about how often the national press ignores the first legally performed gay marriage of Jack Baker and Mike McConnell that led to the first U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage in 1972, which dodged the issue by declaring it was a matter of state law and with no Federal interest. See previous post First gay wedding 1971 shown on WCCO TV 1973 aroused disgusted viewer reactions (8/2/14).
However, even worse than ignoring the Baker gay marriage case is when the national press has been duped by California activists into reporting California gay marriages cases are what led to legalizing gay marriage. The politics of this competition for bragging rights (or being cluelessness about gay marriage history) was recently described in a book critique by Brian Smith, "Reversing the Re-write of LGBT History: Jo Becker's version of the gay marriage story was undone before it was even published." The Advocate, Aug.-Sep. 2014, p. 26, 28 posted online Jul. 7, 2014.
Of related interest is the recent article about the gay marriage of Star Trek TV star George Takei written by Chadwick Moore, "Curious George," Out magazine, Sep. 2014, posted online Aug. 12, 3014.
