g********d 发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com April 16, 2011
Rep. Frank: Antigay Hatred Losing Steam
By Advocate.com Editors
Rep. Barney Frank has little faith there will be a federal remedy for gays
seeking to marry anytime soon, but he also believes marriage equality is
quickly fading as a controversial issue while antigay prejudice becomes less
acceptable in society.
In a May interview with Playboy on subjects ranging from health care reform
to the legalization of marijuana, the Massachusetts congressman said, “
Overall I think antigay prejudice is on its way out.”
An excerpt from the interview:
Playboy: Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Although
states may allow same-sex marriage, only recently did Obama say the federal
government would no longer defend DOMA in court.
Rep. Frank: There are lawsuits against it that I think will win anyway,
because the federal government can’t discriminate. Beyond that I don’t see
anything about gay marriage happening on a federal level. More and more
states will go that way, though. When they do, people will see, as with
health care and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” that there are no
negative consequences. Places that have gay marriage have had none of the
negative consequences that people warned us about. Zero. The divorce rate
hasn’t gone up. There have been no calamities. Marriage hasn’t lost its
meaning. Same-sex marriage as a divisive issue is losing its steam. Overall
I think antigay prejudice is on its way out.
[snip]
Playboy: Antigay sentiments are still expressed, often from the conservative
right and especially from the Christian right. There are still hate crimes
against gays.
Rep. Frank: Yes, and we have to deal with them. We passed a bill to add
crimes against gays and lesbians as hate crimes. Hate crimes, whether
against gays or anyone else, can’t be tolerated. Overall, antigay prejudice
is diminishing. It won’t be used by the far right the way it once was. It
just doesn’t work anymore. But I worry about what will replace it. I think
they will increasingly focus on abortion, escalating it as their issue to
inflame people. They’ll work on whittling away the right to have an
abortion, striking down any federal funding. | g********d 发帖数: 4174 | 2 Barney Frank对未来的预测总是比较保守,他说DOMA会废除,大概就会废除。 | D**S 发帖数: 24887 | 3 也许毕竟算老年人所以偏保守些?还是因为对“体制”了解比绝大多数人深刻?
【在 g********d 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : Barney Frank对未来的预测总是比较保守,他说DOMA会废除,大概就会废除。
| g********d 发帖数: 4174 | 4 Both, I think.
【在 D**S 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 也许毕竟算老年人所以偏保守些?还是因为对“体制”了解比绝大多数人深刻?
| g********d 发帖数: 4174 | 5 Both, I think.
【在 D**S 的大作中提到】![](/moin_static193/solenoid/img/up.png) : 也许毕竟算老年人所以偏保守些?还是因为对“体制”了解比绝大多数人深刻?
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