Danforth on Gay-Bashing

Episcopal Priest and former Senator John Danforth has a new book out, FAITH AND POLITICS: HOW THE 'MORAL VALUES' DEBATE DIVIDES AMERICA AND HOW TO MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER. Yesterday he was on Meet the Press (transcript here). In today's Chicago Sun-Times, Steve Weinberg calls attention to Danforth's transformation on the issue of gay rights and the marriage amendment:

The self-styled conservatives, Danforth says, have placed law above love, claiming they can define when life begins and ends. "The government action they advocate would block early stage stem cell research, and it would criminalize scientists who are trying to find cures for diseases that cause untold human misery and death."

So, given Danforth's relative tolerance compared to most self-styled conservative politicians, what about his views on gay marriage, an issue that the former senator says is unmatched "as an example of the emotional heat caused by the mixture of religion and politics"?

The way Danforth explains his slow evolution on gay issues is heartwarming in its candor and encouraging in its lack of cynicism for personal political gain. During his Senate years, Danforth says, he never wanted to offend gays. "Still, they were objects of public contempt, so as a politician concerned about his own popularity, I did not want to be seen as their friend. This was so even at the end of my political career after I had announced that I would not run for reelection. I had nothing to lose as far as political support was concerned, but I never lost my craving for popularity."

Gradually, however, as gay constituents came out of the closet and met with Danforth publicly, he grasped their arguments about the wrongness of discrimination based on gender orientation. Today, Danforth accepts the research about homosexuality, so that he can state it is "a matter of sexual orientation rather than preference. It is not merely a choice of lifestyle."

Calls for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriages are worse than blatant political maneuvering, Danforth says. "I think that the only purpose served by the campaign for the amendment is the humiliation of gay Americans, advocated by the Christian Right and eagerly supported by its suitors in the Republican Party. To call it a constitutional amendment designed to defend marriage makes it seem something loftier than gay bashing. But in reality it is gay bashing."