by Chris Bodenner
A reader writes:
Just wanted to add something to this debate: It's absolutely true that Catholics can marry those of other faiths, and it's also true that there are wonderful Catholic priests who are willing to bless and perform them. (My great-uncles are two examples who have done so.) However, I think we can all agree that in, say, the 12th century, such a thing most definitely would not have been allowed. That's why the rules about it were quoted from a recent release by the US Bishops. So how did it become okay? I don't have the reference for when or how, but it must have been that the Catholic Church changed its thinking about its members marrying Muslims, to accord with the evolving mores of society. So why can't the same thing happen with regard to gay people?
Another writes:
Never mind whether or not the church validates Maggie Gallagher's marriage; for such a staunch defender of marriage, why is it impossible to find a photograph of Mrs. Gallagher with her husband?
I'm far from the first person to make this point. Seriously – Google it. Amid all the victories and defeats on the road to marriage equality, LGBT couple after couple have proudly displayed their affection for one another; such anti-equality champions as Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and Brian Brown are more than happy to show off their spouses – and often, their children – as a model of the traditional family values they hope to preserve.
Try it! Google Image search "Maggie Gallagher + husband." Or, "Maggie Gallagher + Raman Srivastav." I'll wait.
I fully respect Mr. Srivastav's right to privacy. However, when his wife makes her living advocating that everyone should live as she does, it might help her credibility to show that she herself actually has a happy, functional marriage (I'm willing to let her slide on the matter of "tradition," be it Catholic or Hindu). Since her 1992 op-ed in support of Dan Quayle's attack on the maternal ability of a fictional television character, she has remained largely mum on the topic of her own family. I'm sure the tale of her meeting Mr. Srivastav is quite charming; the story of his courtship of and marriage to a single mother a noble one.
I've always suspected that last part to be the kicker. Like Bristol Palin's abstinence tour, it doesn't really fit with the her narrative, wherein same-sex marriage – harbinger of the Moral Decay of America – is as bad as … well, raising a child out of wedlock.
The Dish 