Exactly, he (unfortunately) feels like he has to say these types of things to pander to the typical Republican voter. However, he's one of the only people out there talking about the real issue: should government be involved in the marriage business at all? Sure, Paul says some seemingly nutty stuff, but if we judge based on his voting record, he's easily the strongest Republican on personal liberty and right to privacy (not to mention a sane foreign policy).
Re:Obama Signs CISA Bill into Law
by ubernostrum on Saturday December 19, 2015 @03:47PM
(#10764784)
The simple problem is that 99.999999999999999999% of self-professed libertarians I've encountered who simply say "the government should get out of the marriage business" only ever say that. They never lobby for (or introduce, if they're in a position to do so) bills to actually achieve that end, and in fact usually do nothing and let the status quo -- which until very recently was "keep the discriminatory laws on the books" -- stand.
So in extensional terms, such "libertarians" are often indistinguishable from theocrats on key social issues (i.e., regardless of what different set of inner philosophical principles they might claim to be following, the outward result in terms of lawmaking is identical). Which in turn means they're not going to get my vote.
"They never lobby for (or introduce, if they're in a position to do so) bills to actually achieve that end, and in fact usually do nothing and let the status quo -- which until very recently was "keep the discriminatory laws on the books" -- stand."
How many self-professed libertarians are there in the Congress? Paul's not even self-professed libertarian. The only one I know is Justin Amash, and he couldn't introduce any of type of bills you reference because under Boehner's regime only bills blessed by his team could ever make it to the floor.
Very true—what libertarians should do is promote common‐law marriage, which is permitted in 9 states. Unfortunately, over time fewer and fewer states have allowed forming new common‐law marriages. And in those states where it’s still possible, same‐sex common‐law marriage has always been illegal. So “get the government out of the marriage business” still requires active effort to change the laws.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_U...
Paul is a libertarian and believes that Government should not be involved in the private space, including marriage. I think that's a very reasonable position to have - and I don't think I have seen him saying anything against gays, but please provide a source if you have any.