One of the Best Marriage Equality Debates You'll Ever Listen To

Remember that scene in "Milk" where Harvey debates California State Senator John Briggs over the merits of Proposition Six, the California ballot measure that would have allowed public schools to fire gay and lesbian teachers?  The part I remember most about that storyline is how vital those debates were between Milk and  Briggs, and how Harvey was able to use those debates to point out the ridiculousness and the bigotry that lurked behind Briggs's concerns over gay people in the public school system.

It's rare that a debate matches those Milk vs. Briggs affairs, but we now have one coming out of Pennsylvania on the issue of marriage equality.  Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach has introduced a bill in the Keystone State to legalize same-sex marriage.  Meanwhile, another State Senator, John Eichelberger, has introduced a bill that would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban same-sex marriage.  Opposing bills coming from two state senators.

And this week, they debated each other on WHYY in Philadelphia.  And the result?  Well, State Senator Daylin Leach, a marriage equality advocate, was able to school State Sen. Eichelberger and in the process, pull the rug out from the myriad of bogus arguments used by anti-same-sex marriage folks to continually discriminate against LGBT people.  The two senators tackle nearly every issue surrounding same-sex marriage.  You can listen to the debate here, but below we'll summarize a few brief points from State Senator Daylin Leach hitting on a number of crap arguments that anti-LGBT forces make.  This debate is worth listening to no matter where you live, as the issues certainly transcend Pennsylvania.  Because this just may be one of the best marriage equality debates you'll ever listen to.  Hit it....

Concerns Over "Activist" Courts:
Leach: "A court that enacts equality doesn't have to be an activist court. It could just be following the law, which is what Massachusetts did when it legalized same-sex marriage."

Constitutional Amendments and Courts:
Leach: "If there's a court that was bent on declaring same-sex marriage legal, they could just ignore a [state's] constitutional amendment and rule under the federal constitution, and its equal protection clause, which overrules any state constitution.

The Illegitimacy of Ballot Measures:
Leach: "If you put slavery on the ballot, Jim Crow, even interracial marriage on the ballot in many parts of the country, it would have lost....We revere the legislators that voted for civil rights even though it was unpopular in some of their states, even Al Gore's father who lost his seat over [civil rights]. Our job as legislators is to do what's right, not to give voice to every whim of a majority to oppress a minority."

The Influence of the Civil Rights Movement on LGBT Rights:
Leach: "This is in line with the racial civil rights movement and the struggle for equality that women went through, and the struggle for equality that immigrants fought. [LGBT discrimination] is the last sort of acceptable discrimination in society. It's getting less and less, but it's our job [as legislators] to put the nail in the coffin and grant full equality for everyone."

On Trying to Push Through an Amendment Banning Gay Marriage Multiple Times in Pennsylvania:
Leach: "[Opponents of marriage equality] attempted to get a ban passed three years ago when there were many more legislators sympathetic [to a ballot measure] than now. And they failed then."

The Future of Marriage Equality:
Leach: "In 20 years, all 50 states, it's inevitable, will have same-sex marriage. And we'll wonder, like interracial marriage, why this was ever controversial."

The Fallacy that Gay Marriage will Harm Society:
Leach: "The idea that there are tens of thousands of studies [that show gay marriage harms society] is wrong....every study on the issue says that children of gay marriage and gay marriage itself does nothing adverse to society. You would think that if it did, we would notice it."

Dismantling the Slippery Slope Argument that Gay Marriage Could Lead to Bestiality or Polygamy:
Leach: "This is an argument not against gay marriage, but against all marriage - if you allow anyone to marry, you have to allow everyone to marry. The idea that if you allow two men to get married, you'd have to allow a man to marry an aardvark or his lawn mower is just not accurate. We draw reasonable lines all the time in society. You can drive 65mph, but not 95mph; you can keep a gun but not a truck bomb. To me the line should be drawn [on marriage] where it allows everyone to marry the one person that they most love in the world."