A little over a week ago I posted a snippet about Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias--the hot candidate--who announced his support for marriage equality. Read all about it HERE.
Now comes word that Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley has released a statement speaking out in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act of 2009. That's the new legislation introduced by Jerrold Nadler that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Mike Quigley:
Today, in supporting this Act, I am an arch conservative. Why is that? Because when you think about it, what have the conservatives said for all time about government’s role? That government’s role is to stay out of people’s personal lives.
This will allow people privacy and the right to make decisions that are most important to them. But most of all, it is about respect for what they decide to do with their own lives as long as they’re not hurting anyone else. So what, I would ask, is a more intimate, more important, more critical decision, a more sacred decision than who we love—and how we express that love?”...
Through DOMA, which was signed into law 13 years ago, on September 21, 1996, the federal government can single out legally married same-sex couples for discriminatory treatment under federal law, selectively denying them more than 1,100 federal protections and responsibilities – including Social Security and immigration benefits – that otherwise apply to married couples.
This policy is discriminatory and harmful to families, preventing the government from honoring its legal commitments and the needs of families, even though these couples have assumed the obligations of civil marriage under state law and contribute as citizens and taxpayers.
What is it about these candidates from Illinois who are so vocally and openly anti-discriminatory and pro-marriage equality? And why can we get some of these guys to run in other states that are, shall we say, less enlightened?
Just sayin'.
I like what he said about being a conservative stance.
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