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| Diane Olson (left) and partner Robin Tyler (second
from left) speak with their attorneys, Gloria Allred and John West, before a hearing
on gay marriage. Tyler said this week she's concerned a 'unity statement' by gay
groups is a retreat on marriage. (Photo by Jeff Chiu/AP)
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: JOE CREA COMMENTS
 
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gay rights groups address.
Tyler said out of the 17,000 who voted in the non-scientific poll, the right
to marry was the No. 3 on the list, receiving 64 percent support.
Stachelberg, speaking before other gay activists criticized HRC, urged skeptics
not to read too much into the order of priorities, noting that marriage will
continue to be a top priority.
"I think this is a list that we put together and the drafters set an order
that in no way suggests the priority," Stachelberg said. "Marriage
and securing marriage equality will continue to be a top priority not only for
the Human Rights Campaign but for all of us together. We are absolutely committed
to that goal."
Matt Foreman, executive director of the Task Force, said the document was clear
that there will be no retreat from gay marriage, adding that one could say by
placing marriage last on the priority list, it was being given special emphasis.
"Our movement does have many goals and many objectives and we all need
to remember as we're caught up in the marriage moment and the marriage fights
all across the country that we're still pursuing many other goals," Foreman
said. "But no, there's no retreat from marriage. There can't be."
Also discussed during the hour-long phone conversation was the future of legal
challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Matt Coles, director of the ACLU's Gay & Lesbian Civil Rights Project,
said that if DOMA were to be challenged, lawyers would solely focus on the part
of DOMA that denies gay citizens federal benefits.
Left unchallenged would be the portion of DOMA that allows states to refuse
recognition to a same-sex marriage performed in another state, out of fear that
the legal claim would be rejected, and even if successful might encourage passage
of a federal amendment banning gay marriage.
Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal, admitted that legal groups
would be in a stronger position to challenge DOMA if Massachusetts was not the
only state to have legal gay marriage.
Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics,
agreed that challenging DOMA at this time would be a strategic mistake.
"Politically, it is just not wise at all," Sabato said. "I understand
the old argument that principle has to take precedent over politics but if you
look at the lay of the political land many Democrats, rightly or wrongly, believe
that one of the reasons they lost was because of the gay marriage amendments
on the ballot. There is enormous squeamishness in the Democrat Party and the
issue has emboldened the opposition in the Republican Party."
Stachelberg said that Democrats and Republicans HRC has spoken with are not
blaming gay Americans for Election Day losses.
On Wednesday, one prominent senator, Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) told an audience
at the National Press Club that he continues, "to strongly support civil
marri
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