Burnt Orange Report

That Took a Day (And How to Take on the Values Debate)

By Byron LaMasters

For those not familiar with Texas politics, State Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) has a Rick-Santorumesque obsession with gay people - (read this for some amusing background by Molly Ivins). So, it took him less than a day to file an amendment proposal to ban gay marriage:

Calling it a biblical issue, a state lawmaker on Monday proposed an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would ban the state from recognizing gay marriage.

Rep. Warren Chisum said he hoped the amendment would send a message to Congress that Texans support a similar amendment on the federal level.

"We really feel very strong about the fact that we don't want the deterioration of the institution of marriage and that's what we see happening across this country," he said.

I expect the amendment to pass here in Texas, but I may surprise some people here in saying that I'm glad it's an issue. During the election, I didn't particularly emphasize the issue, as I feared that the more the issue came up, the more President Bush and Republicans would use the issue (as they did) to scare evangelicals into turning out and voting Republican. Now, however, the election is over, but the culture war is not. This amendment gives the gay and lesbian community the opportunity to show that yes, gays and lesbians have families, too. And no, gays and lesbians desire to have loving and committed relationships has zero impact on anyone else's marriage.

I disagree with Andrew a little bit on how to handle the values issue. Andew wrote that he thinks we can turn abortion / gay issues into a debate about education and the economy. I think that's probably a liberal fantasy that fails to understand the moral attachment of social conservatives to those issues. Instead, Democrats ought to take controversial social issues head on. We can be anti-abortion while still being pro-choice. We can be pro-family without being anti-gay. How?

On the abortion issue, I would love for Democrats in local city councils, school boards or state legislatures to experiment a little bit. They don't call state legislatures the laboratories for reform for nothing. Democrats ought to devise programs that include comprehensive sex education in schools, coupled with fully funded health care programs for children and adolescents. Put the plan in place, fund it, and see what happens. See if rates of unwanted pregnancies and abortions decrease, and then put it up against the Republican record of doing little to nothing in addressing those problems.

On gay and lesbian issues, Democrats can be pro-family and pro-gay. It's really easy. It's all about framing the issues. Does a gay marriage ban do anything to protect the marriage between a man and a woman? No, it's just rhetoric. But what about creating pre-marital and family planning counseling programs for low income couples? Why not offer couples counseling for low-income married couples as well? How about fatherhood initiatives to stress the need for strong male role models in a child's life? How about public preschool programs? Or perhaps tax credits for low income parents, and emphasizing longer paid maternity and paternity leave. What about doing more to emphasize Republicans cutting thousands of kids of the CHIP program. What does that say about their family values?

By no means is this a complete laundry list, or are all of the above ideas particularly worth persuing, but my point is that Democrats cannot ignore the values debate. We must take it back, and I believe we can. Why? Republicans have a lot of talk on values, but they have little in regards to results. Instead of actually doing anything to help families deal with complicated issues such as unwanted pregnancies, abortion and homosexuality, Republicans resort to scare tactics. How does fighting to ban gay marriage actually help a man and a woman have a stronger marriage? How do laws on parental notification and banning late term abortions attack the root causes of abortion and unwanted pregnancies? The truth is that the Republicans record on values is quite pathetic. Democrats can win the values debate, but we must be willing to take on the root problems that Republicans would like to ignore.