Iowa Hate Group Claims Same-Sex Marriage is Worse than Smoking

You read that right. An anti-gay organization in Iowa called the Iowa Family Policy Center is saying that same-sex marriage is worse than smoking. This claim not only comes from left field but is appalling in the face of statistics on smoking showing the deadly toll of smoking on the population. As mentioned before in this blog, smoking kills more people than murder, suicide, traffic accidents, drugs and alcohol combined!

The lack of sensitivity and understanding is incredible. Just listen to what the president of the group, Chuck Hurley, has to say:

“The Iowa Legislature outlawed smoking in an effort to improve health and reduce the medical costs that are often passed on to the state. The secondhand impacts of certain homosexual acts are arguably more destructive, and potentially more costly to society than smoking.”

The "secondhand impacts" that Hurley refers to deals with a U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that showed gay men have higher rates of HIV and syphilis. Hurley claims that giving same-sex couples the right to marry will increase the rates of HIV and syphilis in Iowa.

Penalizing gay people and withholding their rights stigmatizes people. Many new transmissions of HIV and syphilis happen to people who do not know their status. People in loving married couples can draw on family and community support to empower themselves and seek the knowledge and services necessary to remain HIV negative or to seek treatment if they become HIV positive. Witholding civil rights like marriage exacerbates the rate of infection.

The comment about smoking calls for special attention. Smoking kills people on a massive scale. I learned recently that one third of the world's population smokes. Smoking causes disease in about half of smokers. Tobacco is the only product marketed that kills its users when used as directed. One cannot ignore the terrible swath of destruction that smoking has blazed in our lives.

Compare that to same-sex marriage or to marriage in general. Marriage solidifies the love and commitment of two people. Their lives are intertwined and strengthened by the union. Our society strongly sanctions marriage. Everyone from our immediate families to the IRS gives support to married couples. Marriage is a stabilizing force in people's lives that positively impacts gay lives as well as straight lives. The comparison to smoking completely falls flat in the face of the benefits of same-sex marriage in the lives of LGBT people and in the community at large. Just listen to Butt Out coordinator Brian Davis describing his marriage with his husband Ted and the comparison to smoking:

"My 22 years with Ted has invigorated my life. Smoking destroys life. Getting married brought me and Ted closer together. Tobacco tears families apart forever through death and disability. There is no comparing same-sex marriage and smoking."

Let's tell the haters in Iowa to get their facts and their values straight. Same-sex marriage is a bond that shines. Smoking casts a heavy pall on all of us.

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.