I have come to believe that much of the hand-wringing and sometimes hysterical rhetoric about civil unions is a bit of a red herring in that it distracts us from what should be our focus whenever we make laws: access
I have come to believe that much of the hand-wringing and sometimes hysterical rhetoric about civil unions is a bit of a red herring in that it distracts us from what should be our focus whenever we make laws: access to justice for all.
As Americans we pride ourselves on being a nation of laws. And indeed people flock to our shores because they are attracted to a system of laws structured to ensure that all are treated equally. The question of civil unions should not be confused with the sanctification of marriage that religious institutions provide and which indeed should be their domain. The state’s primary responsibility is to provide the legal structure and ensure that the law is applied equally. Would anyone disagree with the very American idea that if all citizens are to be treated equally, all citizens should have access to the same legal structure and the protections that come with it?
The divisive scare-mongering and bombastic hyperbole that fills the airwaves of talk radio are similar to the noise that surrounds any attempt to have any civil discussion of civil unions. Visceral antipathies tend to obscure what should remain a consistent focus on cherished American values, laws and freedoms. Even conservatives like David Keene, Grover Norquist and Bob Barr have, in a different context, called for the “scare-mongering to stop.” Indeed, the misleading rhetoric on civil unions and the divisiveness it fosters need to stop.
This is a time that calls for greater unity, not less. The challenges we face are real and daunting: the need to give our children a quality education, the need for jobs, the need to protect our environment and reduce our dependency on foreign oil, the need to provide healthcare for all. These very large issues of public policy demand our best energies and our most creative solutions. It is to these areas that we should direct our combined efforts as a community. We can do this. We can rise above our parochial, private interests and work for the greater good without denying our neighbor the enjoyment of a private life complete with all the rights each of us expects as Americans. We can and must find agreement and it is possible by viewing this important subject through the prism of equal rights. I know we can do this. I know it because we are Americans. Our country was founded on these principles, the most basic among them being personal freedom and equal protection under the law.
• Democrat Gary Hooser is the state Senate Majority Leader, representing the 7th District, covering Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.
