Federal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage?
Posted on | October 14, 2006
From SecState Rice, of all people, USA Today notes:
WASHINGTON — At a State Department ceremony this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warmly acknowledged the family members of Mark Dybul, whom she was swearing in as the nation’s new global AIDS coordinator.As first lady Laura Bush looked on, Rice singled out his partner, Jason Claire, and Claire’s mother. Rice referred to her as Dybul’s “mother-in-law.”
The celebratory moment for a gay couple was emblematic of the political identity crisis facing the Republican Party, two years after an election the GOP won in part by making gay marriage an issue….
It’s hard to believe that anything could occur in such a formal context that wasn’t approved and rehearsed in advance. Why in the world would a Republican Administration risk a public softening of the party’s anti-gay stance so close to an election? Is this a sign that somewhere under the ice and steel, a heart beats within Dr. Rice? Is she promoting an under-the-table policy shift, or was this a tiny act of rebellion?
If this apparently inclusive stance doesn’t vanish after November, it’s worth applauding. It’s not the m-word, but the mainstream terminology is welcome.
