Howard Dean supports gay tax revolt, but media silent

By Jim Kouri

Chairman of the Democrat National Committee Howard Dean is supporting Charles Merrill and his same-sex partner Kevin Boyle in their civil disobedience against paying Federal Income Tax because they cannot have the same tax benefits as heterosexual married couples.

But unless the two gay activists mention Dean's support and remarks in their statements and press releases, the mainstream news media aren't interested in letting Americans know about the Democrat leadership's position on the issue of gay and lesbian marriage.

According to the two gay activists, the momentum for the same-sex marriage tax protest started with a Page Six article in the New York Post and in an article on the Internet news organization WorldNetDaily.com in February 2006.

The articles covered how Merrill and his partner protested an anti-gay marriage amendment sponsored by President Bush.

Merrill said in a released statement, "As a result of nationwide publicity, we have had e-mails from hundreds of gay men and women from all over the country wanting to join us and asking how they could be a part of the gay tax protest."

Boyle added, "We gays will gladly pay our taxes once the government stops discriminating against us and passes laws that allows us to marry the person[sic] we love. We deserve the same Federal and State benefits as other married citizens."

Discrimination in the tax code also caught the attention of Howard Dean, chairman of the National Democratic Party. In a recent speech on June 3, 2006 to the gay political group National Stonewall Democrats' conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dean mentioned the outrage of gays and lesbians who are denied the benefits of marriage.

He is quoted as saying, "It is wrong for our tax code to be discriminatory. And it is wrong for any group of Americans to live in fear of hate crimes. We (Democrat Party) believe that every taxpayer should have the same government services and benefits as any other American."

Dean also said, "The fight continues, and the Democrat Party is standing with you by leading the fight against discrimination, and by helping you meet your electoral objectives this fall...."

Then in true Howard Dean style of demonizing political opponents with unbridled hyperbole, he said, "We live in a time when this community and your families are the targets of meanspirited attacks by Republicans who put their own and their party's interests ahead of the national interest, when the President of the United States just this morning used his weekly radio address to endorse a Constitutional amendment that would introduce legalized discrimination in our Constitution. The Democrats will oppose that."

Strong stuff, but there was no mention of these statements by the elite media who instead focused on the conservatives' objections to gay marriage. Why are the majority of the members elite news media avoiding the reporting of Dean's — or other Democrat leaders' — comments. The media template is: Democrats are moderates; Republicans are extremists.

Here's another of Dean's statements in which he attempts to use scripture to make his point:

"While it is true that the Bible (largely the Old Testament) condemns homosexuality in a few places, it equally condemns eating shellfish. Jesus never mentions homosexuality. The bottom line is this: America is grappling with the discarding of old stereotypes about a group of people who have been part of our country since America has been a country. This is a painful process."

Dean rivals Senator Hillary Clinton in his use of the Bible to pull the wool over the eyes of the unwashed. And the news media helps him along.

© Jim Kouri