Editorials Should Come Out -- for Gay Marriage

By: Joe Strupp The gay marriage debate has wasted time, energy and effort long enough. It barely shows up in a list of issues that concern Americans in a Gallup Poll released in the past week. And the current proposal for a constitutional ban on gay marriage may be the height of abuse.

It is bad enough that newspapers have not taken a harder stance in favor of gay rights in the past. But to allow this short-sighted misuse of the Constitution to move ahead without condemnation would be the ultimate irresponsibility.

Forty and fifty years ago, some of what kept the fight for black civil rights going came from newspapers. Either through the strong, tireless coverage on the news pages, or the brave, stubborn stand on some editorial pages, the plight of blacks seeking justice was a clear, necessary story that many papers would not let go.

Today's fight for gay rights has some similar elements, but it has not reached the level of demand for full justice that the civil rights movement before it did. I remain puzzled that gays and lesbians are not taking their battle for true equality to the streets in huge numbers. That could be part of the reason that the newspapers have not taken up their cause as a priority.

Even if one is not an avid backer of gay rights, it is not difficult to see the misuse of a Constitutional amendment to attack gay marriage. In the first place, the Defense of Marriage Act, as wrong as it may be, already outlaws the federal recognition of gay marriage, leaving it up to the states. Scholars of U.S. history know -- and staunch Republicans, until now, have argued -- that states rights are a backbone of our nation.

While I am not gay, I am a sharp advocate for civil rights, which should include gays and lesbians. I spent six years living in the San Francisco Bay Area, with much of that time spent covering gay issues. I also saw in San Francisco how local newspapers, daily and not, were a major element of the effort to keep this cause in the public eye. The San Francisco Chronicle was among the first to hire a reporter to cover the gay community when Randy Shilts joined the paper in the 1970s. He went on to cover the first AIDS outbreaks and penned the groundbreaking book "And The Band Played On," about the AIDS epidemic's early days.

Gay marriage has already found a place in society with laws in Massachusetts and Hawaii condoning it, as well as numerous domestic partner statutes in cities and towns nationwide, including my home state of New Jersey. Add to that the many corporations that give rights and benefits to workers and it is almost embarrassing that gay marriage is not a legal entity.

Many newspapers, including The New York Times, now publish announcements of gay unions side-by-side with those of heterosexual marriages. If papers can do that, they can, and should, take the next step and use their editorial pages to indicate why such unions should be just as legal.

I was glad to see that several newspapers, from The Washington Post to The Times of Trenton, N.J., have editorialized against Bush's latest proposal. Hopefully, more will do so this week. To be sure, gay marriage will be legal and common some day, and hard earned, like women's suffrage and desegregation of schools in our past.