VP Debate and Gay Marriage

The Advocate has done a wonderful job summing up the VP debate surrounding gay marriage.  Here are some highlights.

Gwen Ifill asked Sen. Biden if he supported providing benefits for same-sex couples, as they currently do for partners of state employees in Alaska.

“Absolutely,” Biden said. “Do I support granting same-sex benefits? Absolutely, positively. Look, in an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a constitutional standpoint or a legal standpoint between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple.

Biden then moved beyond benefits to detail the rights he and Sen. Barack Obama believe gay couples should have. “The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution we should be granted — same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera. That’s only fair,” he said. “It’s what the Constitution calls for. And so we do support it. We do support making sure that committed couples in a same-sex marriage are guaranteed the same constitutional benefits as it relates to their property rights, their rights of visitation, their rights to insurance, their rights of ownership as heterosexual couples do.”

…

Ifill turned to Gov. Palin and asked if she supported extending Alaska’s policy of providing same-sex benefits to the rest of the country.

“Well, not if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. And unfortunately, that’s sometimes where those steps lead,” Palin responded, adding that her answer shouldn’t be taken to mean that she would “be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves.”

…

The nuanced discussion may well have been lost on average viewers, who easily could have walked away thinking that the two candidates hold essentially the same view: They do not support gay marriage. But Sen. Biden argued that same-sex couples should be treated equally under the law and afforded all the same rights and responsibilities as straight married couples.

Gov. Palin did not clarify whether she agreed with Biden on that point. Based on past statements, one might reasonably deduce that she does not. Although she did veto a bill in Alaska that would have denied health benefits to partners of state employees, she did so at the urging of her attorney general, who argued that signing the bill would have been a violation of the state constitution as interpreted by Alaska’s highest court. At the time, Palin said she personally disagreed with providing partner benefits but was legally compelled as governor to kill the bill.

Sen. Obama supports civil unions that provide equal rights and responsibilities to gay couples. Sen. McCain has said he is opposed to civil unions if they are the legal equivalent of marriage.

Overall, the discourse around gay marriage was reminiscent of other portions of the debate: Joe Biden generally went into greater depth on the issues and Sarah Palin usually stuck to a certain set of talking points.

Full article here.

~ by alacrity1123 on October 3, 2008.