Cites “Alice In Wonderland” To Attack Same-Sex Marriage
Today in Britain, the House of Lords began a two-day debate on a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex in England and Wales. The legislation, which was passed by a huge margin in the House of Commons, Britain’s lower House, is facing a large challenge from UK Bishops who hold seats in the House of Lords, and other anti-gay members of the upper House.
One, Lord Geoffrey Dear, (image, top,) claimed “homosexual equality has outstripped equality” because same-sex couples have the right to civil unions, or partnerships, which, he said, two sisters or a mother and daughter do not. He added the bill “seeks to overturn centuries of tradition,” and is “blind to the laws of unintended consequences.”
Lord Dear called same-sex marriage a “legal, theological, moral and sociological minefield,” and repeatedly called LGBT people a “very small minority.”
Calling it a “a uniquely strange speech,” Ian Dunt at politics.co.uk reports on Lord Dear’s literary “argument.”
Lord Dear quoted extensively from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in a bid to defeat gay marriage.
The Lord, who is taking the lead in trying to kill off the bill with a ‘fatal motion’ denying it a second reading, said the text highlighted the inappropriate use of language which was found in the gay marriage debate.
“‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean’,” he quoted to the packed Chamber.
“Heedless of public opinion and blind to laws of unintended consequences, [the bill] seeks to alter totally the concept of marriage as we’ve always understood it,” he continued.
“It seeks to divide a nation with argument that hides behind concept of equality, when it is about sameness.”
The lord said pushing ahead with gay marriage could anger heterosexuals and lead to the types of riots seen on the streets of France.
“There must come a point when, provided full equality for all under the law is guaranteed, the majority view should prevail, especially when the minority is tiny,” he said.
“The present danger of redefining marriage could well turn out to be counterproductive because tolerance can be overstretched.”
Lord Dear also “warned that passing the bill would lead to a backlash – citing the example of France where there has been a rise in homophobic hate crime due to the hatred stirred up by opponents to the gay marriage law that has just passed there,” GayStar News adds:
Dear said: “I don’t foresee violent street demonstrations in this country but I do feel the bill, should it become law, that the climate of tolerance could well be set back by decades.”
Stay tuned to The New Civil Rights Movement for results of the House of Lords’ vote, Tuesday.