Lesbian pundit and Democratic stategist Hilary Rosen and Freedom Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed had a heated exchange earlier today on Meet the Press after Reed argued that the primary purpose of marriage is procreation.
Reed started the exchange noting:
“The issue before the country is, do we have a compelling interest in strengthening and supporting the durable, enduring and uniquely complementary and procreative union of a man and a woman?”
Meet the Press host David Gregory chimed in that the American Academy of Pediatrics has noted that marriage was in the best interest of children living with same sex parents and then Reed and Rosen went after it:
ROSEN: “Ralph raises a point that we cannot ignore. Which is the rationale that the opposition is putting before the Supreme Court, the only difference between a gay couple and a married straight couple that gets benefits from the federal government is that one has accidental procreation. I think that would be a surprise to a lot of infertile heterosexual couples.”
REED: “Well, that’s not really a fair characterization.”
ROSEN: “Of course it is. That’s the point you just made, which is the point of marriage is procreation. That’s not the point of marriage. The point of marriage is love and commitment.”
REED: “What I said is the verdict of social science is overwhelming and irrefutable. And that is without regard to straight or gay — in other words, this applies to one-parent households, it applies to foster homes, it applies to the whole panoply. They have looked at them all, that the enduring, loving, intact biological mother and father is best for children and it’s not even a close call. And the only issue before the court is there a social good to that and does the government have a legitimate issue in protecting and strengthening. That’s the only issue.”
ROSEN: “We’re going to dispute on the science.”
You can watch the heated exchange below followed by the lead-in discussion:
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