Kucinich Statement on Issuing of Gender-Neutral Marriage Licenses in MA

http://www.kucinich.us/statements/statement-051604.php

Statement from Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich on the Issuing of Gender-Neutral Marriage Licenses in Massachusetts
May 16, 2004
I believe that equality of opportunity should be afforded to all Americans regardless of race, color, creed or sexual orientation. For that reason I support the right of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons to have the full protections and rights afforded under civil law including the right to marry the person of their choice.

There are times, after decades of struggle and perseverance in the name of equal protection, justice, and civil liberty, when a single event becomes a proud and shining moment in the history of everything we stand for and cherish as a nation.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution extended the precious and powerful right to vote to women. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the principle of "separate but equal" that had denied education opportunities to millions of children because of the color of their skin. Ten years later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended generations of discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. Only a year later, Congress enacted and the President signed an historic Voting Rights Act that expanded non-discrimination at the ballot box.

Tomorrow, May 17th, the 50th anniversary of the decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education that declared "separate" is not "equal," the people of the state of Massachusetts will be part of another such moment in history when the legally empowered and legally protected right of civil marriage is finally extended to all citizens, regardless of gender. The decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to recognize and uphold this civil right is a victory not just for gay and lesbian citizens who have been denied their civil rights and relegated to second-class status. It is a victory for all Americans who believe, as I do, that the promise of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights should be upheld for everyone.

As welcome as this moment is, it is only one step in the struggle to achieve freedom of choice and equal protection under the law for all citizens across the nation. In Massachusetts, the law will now extend legal benefits, protections, and obligations of civil marriage to same-sex couples: family leave, health care and visitation, retirement and survivor benefits, property rights, and scores of others. The laws of Massachusetts will now apply equally to all loving and committed partners who enter into a civil marriage. What those laws do not do, and what they cannot do, is extend the comparable federal protections and rights to those same partners. That is the next step--a giant step that many of the political "leaders" in our nation have not shown the courage to take.

I embarked on my campaign for the Democratic nomination last year because I believed then--and believe even more strongly now--that this party and this nation must take a new direction: away from war and toward peace; away from convoluted schemes that promise expanded health care for all Americans but deliver only a fraction; away from trade policies that rob our nation of jobs; away from fear-inspired laws that deny basic Constitutional rights and lead to oppression and abuse. And, importantly, away from policies that discriminate against targeted groups of citizens because their lifestyles are "different."

Regrettably, the America of which I dream and to which I and the many who stand with me have committed ourselves, is not the same America that the Republican Administration or the Democratic Party are campaigning to realize. The Republican Administration is promoting a Constitutional Amendment that would deny Americans the rights that the state of Massachusetts has granted. The leadership of the Democratic Party is content to advocate a state-by-state approach to the issue of same-sex marriages, cloaking its lack of resolve with the words "civil unions." On this issue, as on every other, the mainstream political leadership of our nation finds political expediency and political popularity preferable to political courage.

As the fight to preserve newfound civil liberties in Massachusetts continues, and the effort grows to expand those liberties all across the United States, the challenges will most certainly become even more daunting. As much as we wish we could, without qualification, celebrate this historic moment in Massachusetts, we cannot, for a moment, believe that the struggle for civil liberties, equal protection, and justice are over. That moment is not yet here. Nor will it be here unless we stand together, ever strong, ever vigilant, and never tiring.

Our message must remain strong, and it must be voiced and repeated and echoed in every city, every state, and every chamber where the future of our nation is being decided. I have been taking that message with me all across this great country. And I plan to take that message to the Platform Committee of the Democratic Party and to the floor of the Democratic Convention in Boston in July.

I ask you now, as someone who has advocated, supported, and defended the equal rights to which you are entitled, to add your voices to mine, to sign the petitions, and to become part of a campaign for change that will not end this week, nor in July, nor even in November. It will not end until peace, economic and social justice, health care for all Americans, and Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and protections are afforded equally to all citizens.

http://www.kucinich.us/

nt

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/rightsreproductive.php

Reproductive Rights

I support Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose, and will select Supreme Court justices who affirm this Constitutional right.

I've had a journey on this issue a year ago, before I became a candidate for President, that caused me to break from a voting record that had not been pro-choice. After hearing from many women in my own life, and from women and men in my community and across the country, I began a more intensive dialogue on the issue. A lot of women opened their hearts to me. That dialogue led me to wholeheartedly expand my views and support a woman's right over her body.

I have come to believe that it's not simply about the right to choose, but about a woman's role in society as being free and having agency and having the ability to make her own decisions; that a woman can't be free unless she has this right.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is one of the most serious decisions a woman might make. It is deeply personal. In our society, all women and all men have a right to make difficult moral decisions and make personal choices. But women will not be equal to men if this constitutionally protected right is denied.

I want to work to make abortions less necessary, which means sex education and birth control. I want to work to make sure that, when life is brought forward, we have prenatal care and postnatal care and child care and universal health care and a living wage. And because I know that the right to choose is under attack -- as President, I would only support someone for the Supreme Court if he or she agrees to uphold Roe v. Wade.

http://www.kucinich.us/index.php

he did not include that decision on his list of great steps towards equality in his list above. That SAYS something to me.

He also left off the overturning of school prayer, but I can't hope for miracles.

His votes are all part of the congressional record. And they have been pretty good on abortion rights and birth control since 2001. Maybe you have not seen what he's done in that respect.

And even before he changed his views on abortion rights, he voted in support of family planning and access to contraception. Dennis Kucinich did not vote the anti-abortion "party line", despite what his many detractors like to depict.

Yes, he was on the "wrong side" of the abortion issue previously, but then again, so were such prominent Democrats as Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Hubert Humphrey and even George McGovern. No politician is perfect. However, it shows a great amount of character to be able to admit past mistakes and grow from experience.