Watch: Republican gives a moving speech in favor of gay marriage
By Virginia SmithMay 24th, 2011, 7:15 pmComments (17)A lot of news that comes out of politics and in particular the debate over gay marriage can be soul crushing. But sometimes it can take you by surprise and make you feel better about humanity! Thanks to Republican Rep. John Kriesel, this is one of those times. Shortly before a vote this weekend putting the option to constitutionally define marriage as being solely between a man and a woman on Minnesota's 2012 general election ballot, Kriesel gave an emotional speech explaining his change of heart on the issue and exhorting his colleagues in the state's House of Representatives to do the same. Here's an excerpt:
"It woke me up, it changed me," said Kriesel, citing injuries incurred during service in Iraq. "As bad as that day sucked, I've learned a lot from it. It's made me think about this issue. I say you know what? What would I do without my wife? She makes me happy. Life is hard. We're in a really tough time in our history. Happiness is so hard to find for people. So they find it, they find someone that makes them happy, and we want to take that person away. We want to say 'oh no, you can be together, you can be together, but you can't marry them. You can't marry them.' And that's wrong. I disagree with it. [...] It's easy to go with the flow, go with the current, just kind of, you know, do what's wrong. But it is oftentimes hard to stand up against a group of people you may be close with, or stand up for something that may not be popular, but it's the right thing to do. And I'm proud of the stance I took. Proud to stand with ... many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, because it's the right thing to do. This amendment doesn't represent what I went [to Iraq] to fight for."
Very nicely said. Check out the full clip above, and feel your faith in politicians be at least a little bit restored by this commendable move.
Comments ( 17 )
Stand up for something that might not be popular? How about those, especially politicians, that cave in because something is popular, like gay marriage? This isn't about him receiving some level of enlightenment, it's about him being afraid for his political life. He doesn't have the balls to stand on his moral ground, he's switching teams out of cowardice of being labeled a bigot. Wasn't it Hooksexup that touted that a poll showed that a majority of people now supported gay marriage? How in the hell can he say that it "isn't popular". What a coward. I suppose he fought in Iraq and also changed his stance on legalization of pot because that is such a political hot button? What a pussy.
Jesus. This is some stupid-ass right wing rhetoric you're using here. "Doesn't have the balls to stand on his moral ground?"
Who are you and why are you reading Hooksexup?
Nothing says that someone is a classy person more than when they use misogynistic insults. Oh duh, you must be the last bastion of American morality. Thank God we have you here to tells us things exactly how they are. Nevermind that there have been significant shifts in the country against same-sex partnerships (check Wisconsin, if you need an example, and if that's not enough, check how Rhode Islanders had to give up on same-sex marriage and settle for civil unions because everybody was too upset about it), this poor guy is just snapping under the pressure! Because everyone knows that the Republican party must be threatening him with ending his political career if he doesn't come out and support same-sex marriage... Oh wait, it's the other way around, isn't it? Google "Same-Sex Marriage Efforts For Equality" and tell me what you find. Then we can talk about what is the most popular opinion in American politics right now.
Just awesome. Almost had me tearing up.
Actually, Dan, the Rep. in question is male while misogynistic remarks would need to be directed at a female. Calling a woman a cunt is misogynistic. Calling a guy a pussy isn't. Nothing says classy like using big words that you don't know what they mean. As for morality: somebody has to be right on moral questions, why not duh? For that matter, why not you, Dan? But since being the bastion of morality is such a bad thing, I guess you shouldn't waste so much time trying to prove your point. Rock on, duh.
Demeaning a man by referring to him by a slang term for a female body part *is* misogynistic because it implies "femaleness" is a negative quality.
So do gay guys get offended when they hear someone get called a cocksucker? Should I get teary eyed for my father whenever I hear someone say the word mother fucker? How about a word like douche? Where does that fit into your rules? I assume that you wipe your own ass, but do you get offended when someone gets called an asswipe? How about when someone gets called a fucker? I assume that you have been laid before, so of course that term would be demeaning to you, right? I doubt it. It's part of the lexicon that has taken on a meaning of its own. Examples, dick, asshole, shithead, dumbass, pussy, dickless, fuckstick, shit-for-brains, etc. Your claims of misogynism are just one more way that candy-ass (who knows who that offends?) people like you are just trying to moralize everything which is actually something that you seemed to be slamming me for.
duh: i can't believe anyone would call kriesel a pussy and talk smack about him for doing the right thing. How can you assume to know his intentions? How can you possibly judge him as being a bad person when he is going against most of the people he usually stands with.... all because he believes it is the right thing to do. And you're going to demean his close-call with death and say it meant nothing to him? Perhaps I just have an optimistic view of the world, but it sounded to me like he meant exactly what he said and he gave no indication to the contrary, so I'm going applaud and respect his actions.
duh: you took dan's argument and singled out an unimportant adjective in a poor attempt to prove him wrong. then when proforbert made an argument against your's you went off on yet another tangent and argued against claims nobody had made.
At least, that's what I'm getting from all these comments.
asd knows his shit
Nobody demeaned the Rep's sacrifice or called him a bad person. You guys are as full of crap as you claim others to be. If asd wants to applaud this Rep, then great, but also respect others' opinions that this guy is just caving to save his job.
"This isn't about him receiving some level of enlightenment, it's about him being afraid for his political life." This statement claims that the epiphany that came about as a result of almost dying didn't really happen; I'm not saying anyone thinks it was a purposeless non-event, but duh's claim strips away the revelation Kriesel apparently gained from the event, thereby demeaning it.
I suppose you are right that he didn't explicitly call Kriesal a "bad person", but he said Kriesal was "pussy" who acted in "cowardice" and caved into the pressure from others. He doesn't exactly speak highly of him, does he? Replace "bad person" with "coward/pussy" in my previous argument if you feel it's necessary to make that distinction
I also agree that duh is entitled to his opinion. I asked duh how he could possibly claim to know Kriesel's intentions, then backed up why I thought otherwise. duh (or anyone else) is free to reply with an argument for his position. I provided an argument for mine because I wanted to persuade; I wasn't trying to say duh wasn't entitled to his opinion so I'm sorry if it came across that way.
And on another level, let's just say that Kriesel was "changing opinion" on a matter because of a popularity shift. So, does that mean he should -not- change his opinion? That he -shouldn't- want to better represent his constituents?
Or, how do we know he even changed his opinion recently in the first place? Maybe he has been for gay marriage for several years now but it is only pertinent to reveal it now in a speech because of the bill that is going through.
See these are the things you can't just assume didn't happen before you make accusations and call someone names.
So, yeah. Duh is entitled to his opinion but that doesn't protect him from other people challenging his views.
Actually, asd does make a very compelling point. I still believe that his change is more political than some battlefield epiphany. I have been in situations where my life was in imminent danger and my thought process was not along the lines of, "I sure hope I survive this so I can jump on PETA's bandwagon and save all the animals". And he isn't reflecting the values of his constituents either, trust me on that one.
Brilliant. But why do I have an ad of Michele Bachmann for "traditional marriage" in this page.
I was going to respond to Duh's comment but it looks like my fellow internet commenters handled it.
But srsly, Kriesel is such a swell dood.
Beautiful speech by a man who gave willing sacrifice for his country.
Now let's watch as the rest of the GOP tears him apart for it.
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