Glassbooth quiz and a gay marriage rant

I was happy to stumble across the Election 2008 quiz at Glassbooth.org, a politically neutral website that offers information about the presidential candidates and their positions on a range of issues. In taking the quiz, you identify the areas you feel are the most important and then answer questions about whether you support or oppose specific legistation.

I'm sorely disappointed that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both oppose gay marriage. Although they support civil unions and federal benefits for same-sex partners, their stand against gay marriage seems strangely discriminatory.

In an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune, Obama said, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."

And what about Jews, Buddhists, and atheists getting married? Seems to me that the essence of marriage is love and commitment, not religion or gender. Of course we're accustomed to seeing certain roles and stereotypes (e.g., male-female couples, white male CEOs, and moms who stay home with their kids), but any of us who have faced discrimination must surely see the prejudice of excluding gay couples from this core institution of our society.

I'm heartened that, in The Audacity of Hope, Obama acknowledges "in years hence I may be seen as someone who was on the wrong side of history."

If the country is fortunate to have either of them as President, I hope they'll see the light and do the right thing. I think Al Gore sums it up nicely here (sigh, it would be such a different world if he weren't robbed eight years ago...) :