Illinois Family Institute says gay couples choose not to participate in marriage
Wed. January 23, 2013 9:45 AM by OnTopMag.com
Chicago, IL -
In responding to President Barack Obama's call in his inaugural address for gay marriage, the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), a Christian conservative group working to derail an effort to make Illinois the 10th state to approve marriage equality, argued that gay men and lesbians are simply refusing to participate in marriage.
In an blog post titled Obama Inaugural Speech: The Audacity of a Bad Analogy, IFI cultural analyst Laurie Higgins knocked Obama for including Stonewall in a reference to civil rights movements. She lamented having to "address the comparison of homosexuality to sex or race yet again. But like the emperor's non-existing clothes, Obama and his court continue to trot it out in public, knowing that the masses still deceive themselves into finding it utterly bedazzling."
(Watch President Barack Obama's Inauguration Speech)
"A more sound analogy would compare homosexuality to polyamory or pedophilia," Higgins argued
She added that gay men and lesbians are refusing to participate in marriage.
"First, those who choose to place their same-sex attraction at the center of their identity are 'treated like anyone else under the law.' They are perfectly free to participate in the sexually complementary institution of marriage. They choose not to. They are not asking to be treated equally. They are demanding to be treated specially. They want the unilateral right to jettison the central defining feature of marriage (i.e. sexual complementarity) – something, by the way, that polygamists, polyamorists, 'minor-attracted persons,' and sibling-lovers are not permitted to do"
"Second, does our president actually believe the idea he clunkily articulated in his speech, that 'surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well?' Does he believe the love polygamists 'commit' to their wives 'must be equal as well?' Does he believe the love a high school teacher commits to his student 'must be equal as well?' Does he believe the love five polyamorists of assorted genders 'commit' to one another 'must be equal" as well?' Does he believe the love a brother and sister 'commit' to each other 'must be equal as well?'"
ThinkProgress' Zack Ford refuted Higgins claims.
"It's an important opportunity to recognize why the comparisons Higgins provides are offensive and inaccurate," Ford wrote. "Polygamists and polyamorists who are open to multiple simultaneous relationships are not acting on behalf of an innate sexual orientation. A high school teacher in a romantic relationship with a student is violating that student's consent and compromising the learning environment. Laws against incest protect young people from rape, child molestation, and abusive incest as well as the genetic consequences of inbreeding. Though homosexuality has historically shared a reputation with these other forms of relationships for being taboo, modern understandings of sexuality negate the ongoing juxtaposition."
Related: Chicago gay rights advocates cheer Obama's historic inauguration speech
In an blog post titled Obama Inaugural Speech: The Audacity of a Bad Analogy, IFI cultural analyst Laurie Higgins knocked Obama for including Stonewall in a reference to civil rights movements. She lamented having to "address the comparison of homosexuality to sex or race yet again. But like the emperor's non-existing clothes, Obama and his court continue to trot it out in public, knowing that the masses still deceive themselves into finding it utterly bedazzling."
(Watch President Barack Obama's Inauguration Speech)
"A more sound analogy would compare homosexuality to polyamory or pedophilia," Higgins argued
She added that gay men and lesbians are refusing to participate in marriage.
"First, those who choose to place their same-sex attraction at the center of their identity are 'treated like anyone else under the law.' They are perfectly free to participate in the sexually complementary institution of marriage. They choose not to. They are not asking to be treated equally. They are demanding to be treated specially. They want the unilateral right to jettison the central defining feature of marriage (i.e. sexual complementarity) – something, by the way, that polygamists, polyamorists, 'minor-attracted persons,' and sibling-lovers are not permitted to do"
"Second, does our president actually believe the idea he clunkily articulated in his speech, that 'surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well?' Does he believe the love polygamists 'commit' to their wives 'must be equal as well?' Does he believe the love a high school teacher commits to his student 'must be equal as well?' Does he believe the love five polyamorists of assorted genders 'commit' to one another 'must be equal" as well?' Does he believe the love a brother and sister 'commit' to each other 'must be equal as well?'"
ThinkProgress' Zack Ford refuted Higgins claims.
"It's an important opportunity to recognize why the comparisons Higgins provides are offensive and inaccurate," Ford wrote. "Polygamists and polyamorists who are open to multiple simultaneous relationships are not acting on behalf of an innate sexual orientation. A high school teacher in a romantic relationship with a student is violating that student's consent and compromising the learning environment. Laws against incest protect young people from rape, child molestation, and abusive incest as well as the genetic consequences of inbreeding. Though homosexuality has historically shared a reputation with these other forms of relationships for being taboo, modern understandings of sexuality negate the ongoing juxtaposition."
Related: Chicago gay rights advocates cheer Obama's historic inauguration speech
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