This man has changed his mind.
(To refresh your memory: the National Organization for Marriage, a homophobic group espousing "traditional" values, came to town to rally against same-sex marriage. People in support of same-sex marriage outnumbered the NOMmers about 4 to 1.)
Since then, a prominent member of NOM has had a change of heart! Depending on who you ask, Louis Marinelli either came up with the whole idea of the marriage bus (according to him) or was a bus-driving volunteer on the campaign (according to NOM president Brian Brown).
But the point is this: Marinelli has done a 180 and now fully supports same-sex civil unions. He does concede that religions may have a vested interest in reserving holy matrimony for opposite-sex pairs (and a right to perform their ceremonies only for such couples). But, he believes, civil marriage is a right that everyone should be able to access.
He blogs:
"Having spent the last five years putting all of my political will, interest and energy into fighting against the spread of same-sex marriage as if it were a contagious disease, I must admit that it is hard for me to put the following text into words, let alone utter them with my own voice.
Whether it is an issue of disbelief, shame or embarrassment, the one thing that is for sure is that I have come to this point after several months of an internal conflict with myself. That conflict gradually tore away at me until recently when I was able to for the first time simply admit to myself that I do in fact support civil marriage equality."
Nice one, Louis!
In an interview with Good As You, an LGBT blog, Marinelli makes it clear that he still thinks homosexuality is a choice, and a bad one.
"On multiple occasions I have said something to the effect of 'homosexuality is wrong.' And in my opinion it is. My transition from an opponent of same-sex marriage to a supporter does not mean I suddenly think homosexuality is a good thing.
"I personally disagree with it, the same way I disagree with many other things people do with their lives. That doesn't give me or anyone else the right to prevent homosexuals from being homosexuals or to take away their constitutionally protected civil rights as American citizens."
Baby steps are still steps.
