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Manhattan Diary by Cahir O'Doherty

Chris Christie calls gay rights struggle 'theater'

Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 04:45 PM
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Yesterday New Jersey's Senate approved marriage equality for same sex couples. The bill passed by a wider than expected margin.

But Governor Chris Christie has promised to veto it when it comes to his desk on Thursday, contemptuously calling the vote ' a bunch of good theater.'

Theater? It's not theater to tens of thousands of constituents living in your own state, Governor. Their struggle for equal protection under the law should not be diminished so casually.

In stark contrast to Christie's high handed style, on the same day Washington State's governor Christine Gregoire signed a bill to make her state the seventh to permit same-sex couples to marry.

Clearly Christie isn't thinking past 2016, which doesn't bode well for the maturity of his vision on the national stage. By attempting to win this weeks news cycle he hasn't noticed that he's losing all the headlines to come.

That's the thing about standing in the way of history for gain rather than principle, it has such a short shelf date, and you're quickly left looking like yesterday's man.



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hollabackgurl | Feb 17, 2012, 09:14 PM EST
Conservati­ves fought women's suffrage.Conservati­ves fought against ending slavery.Conservati­ves fought against equal pay for men and women who perform the same job. Conservati­ves fought against interracia­l marriage.Conservati­ves fought against civil rights. Conservati­ves are fighting against equal rights for the LGBT community. Conservati­ves are always wrong, they always hate and the always, with no exceptions­, always lose.

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jamieLM | Feb 16, 2012, 10:18 AM EST
I don't live in NJ, but I've seen enough of this guy to be unimpressed. What an insensitive, ignoramus to make such a statement. Here's a scenario: a gay governor vetoing a bill allowing obese people to hold political office in NJ, calling it "a bunch of good theater."

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hollabackgurl | Feb 15, 2012, 11:22 PM EST
Borefield you really, really need to check out the national and international newspapers before you comment. That way you won't sound like a ignoramus when you post.

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borefield | Feb 15, 2012, 08:04 PM EST
There is no such thing as Marriage Equality. A legal partnership, yes. Nothing more is required , gay and lesbian couples can have the same rights as man/woman couples, just not the " marriage title" it can't be.

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eiriamach | Feb 15, 2012, 05:06 PM EST
Many gays and lesbians live in NJ. And NJ has at least its share (probably more) of bullying and hate crimes against LGBTs and suicides. A governor with some courage could have sent a needed message about 'live and let live.' A governor willing to sign NJ's marriage equality bill into law could have made a difference. Christie missed that opportunity. In politics, he's yesterday's comedy show.

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seanomelb | Feb 15, 2012, 04:19 PM EST
Only in America could a moron like him gain high office.

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hollabackgurl | Feb 15, 2012, 02:50 PM EST
Irrational prejudice is as old as humanity too. many in our grandparents generation thought that interracial marriage was an 'abomination' and 'unnatural.' As for marriage itself, it has mostly been a property contract though human history, not a romantic one at all. Commentators like vsackett would know that if they ever cracked open a book.

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vsackett | Feb 15, 2012, 01:12 PM EST
Marriage is an institution as old as humanity. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. Nobody and no government has the power or the right to change an institution not of their making. To say that it is a matter of civil rights or of marriage equality is disengenuous or at minimum ignorance of the definition of marriage. Everyone in America is already free to get married. Everyone in America has the right to be married. If two men or two women want to be together that's their business but that's not marriage unless they want to make believe. Wanting it to be so does not change the reality. Because some people no longer like the institution of marriage doesn't mean it should change for the rest of us.

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Nicomax | Feb 15, 2012, 12:50 PM EST
Fatty Arbuckle was 'theatre' some decades ago, and now he's back.

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pilib04 | Feb 15, 2012, 11:58 AM EST
This guy keeps bloating up even more. Someone needs to tell him to push away from the dinner table or trim the feedbag. What a porkchop! As for gay marriage, I don't see how you can vote on someone's civil rights. Loving v Virginia.

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hollabackgurl | Feb 15, 2012, 10:29 AM EST
I do live there and I can tell you you're quite wrong - if you're affected by it, and thousands are, it's your life not 'theater.' Democrats can paint him as high handed and out of touch because he is - the majority of NJ residents support marriage equality and he doesn't have the guts to sign it.

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kelauggie1 | Feb 15, 2012, 10:11 AM EST
You have to live here to know what Christie is talking about. The Democrats know this will not pass, so they are making a social issue a big deal so they can plaster Christie with it come election time. This truly is theater, while the state collapses under its own debt weight created by the very same Democrats. The survival of the majority is more pressing than the "rights" of a tiny minority. Like it or not, the Democrats are fiddling while Rome burns.

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hollabackgurl | Feb 15, 2012, 09:52 AM EST
It would help if he would put down the meatloaf and notice that there are thousands of New Jersey voters who consider this so-called 'theater' a matter of life and death. He's a blowhard and a disgrace to the state,

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rugbyplayer | Feb 15, 2012, 09:38 AM EST
The only theater in New Jersey is its clown governor Chris Christie whose ego is as big as his body.

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