Yesterday, Hawaii’s Governor proved beyond any doubt, that the anti-gay marriage fighters are really not that interested in protecting marriage as a religious institution but rather, the seek to stop gays and lesbians from having the adequate rights and protections for their families.

The criteria used by the Governor, can’t be understood as anything other than, “because it looks too much like Marriage.” Never mind that it isn’t marriage, and still leaves gay and lesbian couples with a vastly smaller number of rights and protections compared to opposite sex couples who can actually get married. If it looks too much like Equality, it must be a bad idea for Hawaii.

For Pennsylvanians, there is another message here. Consider what can happen here, if, our state government becomes Republican controlled, and Corbett supports the anti-gay groups? Corbett has already made clear that once elected he will push for a constitutional amendment in the PA constitution that will make marriage as being only between one man and one woman, and the general consensus is that if he wins, the Republicans will also win the House, and he will have little trouble getting the constitutional amendment through both the Senate and House quickly, setting the stage for a battle at the ballot box in 2 years. Let’s get real. We know how this goes when conservative voters who have been fed tons of scare tactics and lies about same-sex marriage vote on the rights of the minority. If Corbett wins, we can put money on adding that type of discrimination into the PA Constitution, and setting the state back a decade or two.  Did you know that at one time, Pennsylvania was seen as a leader in Civil Rights? Funny what can happen over time.

But another view is emerging, that is both more startling and more encouraging at the same time. Groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) try to frame the issue as Gays trying to redefine marriage, when it reality, the issue is anti-gay forces are trying to redefine the Family. Their goal is to make sacrosanct, the notion of the nuclear family of Father, Mother, and Children. A notion of Family like this has never really existed or worked in any time of history or civilization. Since the 50’s, the number of single parent families has risen dramatically, and research shows that children raised with one parent or two parents of the same-sex are often better adjusted and more successful than children raised in a “traditional” setting. Marriage hasn’t been working out too well, since long before gays and lesbians started to push the idea of making their own relationships permanent.

Yes, I called that encouraging, even if it is startling.

Encouraging, because at least the truth is really starting to come out, and the more the anti-gay bigotry is seen for what it is, the easier it is to get moderates to see that Marriage Equality hurts no one and protects and helps many. Encouraging, because no longer can the bigots claim to support the rights of GLBT’s except when it comes to marriage. They will have to start owning that their discrimination goes far beyond the right to marry.

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s governor on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have permitted same-sex civil unions, ending months of speculation on how she would weigh in on the contentious, emotional debate.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle’s action came on the final day she had to either sign or veto the bill, which the Hawaii Legislature approved in late April.

“There has not been a bill I have contemplated more or an issue I have thought more deeply about during my eight years as governor than House Bill 444 and the institution of marriage,” Lingle said at a news conference. “I have been open and consistent in my opposition to same-gender marriage, and find that House Bill 444 is essentially marriage by another name.”

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/07/06/general-us-hawaii-civil-unions_7746546.html

This battle is far from over. In Hawaii, in Pennsylvania and across the country.