Author-activist Dan Savage believes
straight people should be offended by the arguments used to defend
the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8.
DOMA, the federal law which prevents
the federal government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay
and lesbian couples, and Proposition 8, the 2008 California
voter-approved constitutional amendment defining marriage as a
heterosexual union, were debated in two cases before the Supreme
Court last week.
During a Q&A at Southwestern
University, Savage knocked the arguments of ban supporters used
before the high court.
“Literally, what they are arguing in
the DOMA case right now before the Supreme Court is that we need to
reserve marriage rights for straight people because only straight
people get pregnant by accident,” Savage said. “I don't
understand why straight people aren't offended when people who claim
to speak for traditional marriage… go to court and say, 'We
straight people are so irresponsible and heartless that if we don't
have the inducements of a wedding ceremony and a delicious cake, we
will abandon our children by the side of the road.' This is the last
argument that they have: That straight people suck.” (The video is
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