Gay Marriage & Buying Favorable Coverage

CNN reported that the Government Accountability Office will investigate whether the Bush administration violated any laws when it paid conservative columnist Maggie Gallagher $21,500 through the Department of Health and Human Services to help create materials promoting the agency’s $300 million initiative to encourage marriage. (Note: GAO is also investigating a Department of Education contract with syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams who was hired to promote the No Child Left Behind law).

Gallagher, who wrote numerous pieces on the issue of gay marriage during the last election, including this one published last May (a list of Gallagher’s columns can be found here) contends that:

Same-sex marriage is not the future. The set of ideas that lead a culture, a religion, a court to endorse same-sex marriage are simply not sustainable over the long haul.

First, The Yellow Line strongly believes it is irresponsible journalism for Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Williams to have not disclosed to their readers that they had received federal contracts.

Secondly, The Yellow Line does not believe there is anything immoral about being gay. Yet, we do not support same sex marriage. What we do support are Civil Unions that confer all the legal advantages of marriage. Only the church can bestow the bonds of matrimony on a couple. However, a Civil Union can, and should, be bestowed by the government.