Letter to the editor

I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter to the editor, but Kentucky's only Democrat in Congress has gone and pissed a queen off. Unlike most of the rest of the Democrats and several Republicans in the House of Representatives, Rep. Ben Chandler went and voted to amend the U.S. Constitution to make sure my people can't get married anywhere. Now, I don't demand my pols go out and campaign for civil marriage rights. I do, however, demand that they do not openly go out and support efforts to write discrimination into the Constitution. I especially demand they don't support efforts simply to show conservative voters that they don't like the gays (and that was the only reason for his vote because the amendment had no chance of actually passing).

Chandler is talking about making a run for governor next year with our venerable Mayor-For-Life in The Ville, the beloved Jerry Abramson. And while we're definitely in a red state, the Dems still need the queers to win, the example being 2004's U.S. Senate race where Dr. Dan Mongiardo almost pulled off the upset of the year against senile Sen. Jim Bunning. Bunning pulled it out in the end by barely one percent. Mongiardo was the sponsor in Kentucky of our statewide marriage amendment. I don't know a single gay who voted for him. Co-incidence? Possibly not.

Anyhoo, taking a break from our normal frivolity, here is my letter to the editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

To the Editor:

I’d like to take a moment to let Rep. Ben Chandler know that while I was excited about the possibility of him making another run for governor, at this point if he runs as the Democratic nominee, I will be abstaining in that race. I can’t in good conscience vote for a person who would vote for a meaningless marriage amendment (H.J. Res. 88) just to show Kentuckians how much he doesn’t approve of my family.

My partner and I pay taxes in Kentucky, support businesses in Kentucky, and purchased a home in Kentucky. We are good people who just want to live our lives in peace with the same rights as anyone else. I thought that Rep. Chandler was the kind of person who would stand for all Kentuckians. Sadly, he fell for the Republican attack machine and supported writing into our U.S. Constitution that we are second-class citizens. His vote today is an embarrassment to fair-minded Kentuckians, and is yet another move by the Democrat-In-Name-Only state leaders leading me to reconsider my registration.

Congratulations, Rep. Chandler, you just lost yourself a large block of the party faithful. Perhaps you should ask Dr. Dan Mongiardo how well that worked out for him.