(H/T Lisa Derrick of FireDogLake.com.)OMG! Elton John, you're breaking my heart. And getting used by Yes-on-8 fund raisers in the aftermath of the passage of ballot initiative that eliminated same-sex marriage in California. In an interview with USA Today the openly gay icon--who united with partner David Furness in a 2005 English civil ceremony-- said:
I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership. The word "marriage," I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.
Elton, Sir Elton, I respectfully say, "You're wrong!" While in the United Kingdom, civil unions grant all the rights of marriage and are available for same and opposite sex couples, in California, only same-sex couples may have a civil union. More importantly, in California, civil unions are granted the same 400 state rights as marriages but--and this is a huge but-- are ineligible for the 1069 federal marriage rights, should the Defense of Marriage Act be overturned. President-elect Barack Obama's political platform calls for a full repeal of DOMA.
Sir Elton's comments, made November 12 before the start of his annual Elton John AIDS Foundation dinner in New York--Anderson Cooper hosted and Gladys Knight performed-- are now being used by the Yes-on-8 campaign and are featured the Protect Marriage website.
Jeff Flint, manager of the Yes-on-8 campaign, sent out an e-mail solicitation Thursday citing Sir Elton's remarks. Prominent on the e-mail is a large red button that says: Donate. The email also decries the protests and alleged vandalism.
Money raised through the Yes on 8 email solicitation featuring Elton John will be used in the coming court battle over Proposition 8.
Damn, and I had just planned a trip to see Elton's Vegas show, The Red Piano.
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