Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) has been a staunch opponent of marriage equality. Today, however, he announced that he now supports gay marriage because his son is gay.
I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married.First of all, good for him, showing some integrity by not only changing his opinion but making it public.
That isn’t how I’ve always felt. As a congressman, and more recently as a senator, I opposed marriage for same-sex couples. Then something happened that led me to think through my position in a much deeper way.
Two years ago, my son Will, then a college freshman, told my wife, Jane, and me that he is gay. He said he’d known for some time, and that his sexual orientation wasn’t something he chose; it was simply a part of who he is. Jane and I were proud of him for his honesty and courage. We were surprised to learn he is gay but knew he was still the same person he’d always been. The only difference was that now we had a more complete picture of the son we love.
At the time, my position on marriage for same-sex couples was rooted in my faith tradition that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman. Knowing that my son is gay prompted me to consider the issue from another perspective: that of a dad who wants all three of his kids to lead happy, meaningful lives with the people they love, a blessing Jane and I have shared for 26 years.
Second of all, screw that guy.
Is he so lacking in basic human empathy that he couldn’t figure all that out without a personal connection to the issue? That seems to be a problem a lot of conservatives share. They can’t seem to empathize with the poor, the sick, the hungry and those facing discrimination until it happens to them or someone they know. If they could, they wouldn’t be trying to destroy the social safety nets put up by those who can understand and feel for other human beings.
2 comments:
Lack of empathy genuinely seems to be a common trait among the conservative elite. The irony, of course, is their alleged adherence to a religion that allegedly emphasizes empathy.
Some of my family who are conservative exhibit the same lack of empathy. They'll say otherwise, but still show the same disdain for those less fortunate and policies that might help them. They show the same skepticism that anyone can actually have problems they don't deserve and that don't stem from laziness.
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