Saturday, May 29, 2004
How many did you say?
Homosexuals pushing for gay marriage have appealed to the sympathies of America by claiming that same-sex couples are being denied 1,049 rights that the federal government grants married couples.
The figure comes from a recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, according to Warren Redman-Gress, with the Alliance for Full Acceptance.
"Most people refer to it as benefits, rights, responsibilities," Redman-Gress said. "It's not someone just coming up with a list. This is actually provided by the U.S. government."
But the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (IMAPP) accuses gay activist groups like the Alliance for Full Acceptance of skewing the number to mislead the public.
"What the report actually says is there are 1,049 mentions of the word 'marriage' in the federal statutes," said Maggie Gallagher, IMAPP president. "And not all of them can be construed as rights.
Many of the references actually confer disadvantages to married couples, and some are simply irrelevant.
"Dozens of these statutes apply to hardly anyone -- and sometimes to no one at all," Gallagher explained. "(For instance), there are provisions in the federal statutes for Spanish War widows."
That's the Spanish-American War, by the way, which ended in 1898.
The figure comes from a recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, according to Warren Redman-Gress, with the Alliance for Full Acceptance.
"Most people refer to it as benefits, rights, responsibilities," Redman-Gress said. "It's not someone just coming up with a list. This is actually provided by the U.S. government."
But the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (IMAPP) accuses gay activist groups like the Alliance for Full Acceptance of skewing the number to mislead the public.
"What the report actually says is there are 1,049 mentions of the word 'marriage' in the federal statutes," said Maggie Gallagher, IMAPP president. "And not all of them can be construed as rights.
Many of the references actually confer disadvantages to married couples, and some are simply irrelevant.
"Dozens of these statutes apply to hardly anyone -- and sometimes to no one at all," Gallagher explained. "(For instance), there are provisions in the federal statutes for Spanish War widows."
That's the Spanish-American War, by the way, which ended in 1898.
