Howard Dean: The Tide is Turning on Gay Marriage

by Michael Jones · 2009-05-28 19:31:00 UTC
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Howard Dean

So the President might not be willing to say anything when it comes to the issue of marriage equality, but the former head of the Democratic Party is certainly willing.  Howard Dean was talking about same-sex marriage today in Iowa - at a fundraiser for Iowa's statewide LGBT rights group, One Iowa, no less - and he made it known that as far as he's concerned, the tide is turning on gay marriage.

Dean sees same-sex marriage as a non-issue in 2010, both in Iowa (where the state will see a race for Governor, with incumbent Gov. Chet Culver seeking re-election) and beyond.  And he also thinks that younger generations - who predominantly support marriage equality - will be on the right side of history when it comes to telling the story of same-sex marriage in the U.S.  Here's some of what Dean said today in Iowa (courtesy of Radio Iowa):

This new generation is not nearly as divisive or confrontational as my generation and they also all know somebody who is gay because somebody has publicly said so to them and once you know somebody who is gay or lesbian, you can't say the things that you used to say about them.  I remember growing up, we used to say things about gay people; we didn't know anybody who was gay -- we didn't think we knew anybody who was gay. Once somebody says, 'I'm gay and I wish you wouldn't do that,' you don't talk like that anymore because they're a human being.

Dean also praised Iowans for their fair-mindedness in the wake of Iowa's Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.  And while he cautioned that the right-wing would try to use the Iowa case to preach intolerance toward LGBT people, he remained confident that people would err on the side of equality.  "...even if people don't think, for religious reasons, that gay people ought to be able to get married, they're also respectful of their neighbors who may have a gay person in their family."

So these aren't the best quotes in the world, but I have to admit that it's nice to see a national Democratic figure talking about marriage equality.  Dean stumped for same-sex marriage in Vermont before it became legal earlier this year, and it looks like he's standing up for it in Iowa, too.  Maybe he'll head to New York next...?

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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