Why are "small government" conservatives so obsessed with the gays?

[Kingpoleon]

I can give the small government answer to this. The concept is that the family should be able to look after itself and it's own members and not the state. Homosexual 'marriage' doesn't do anything that Families in general do - it's not self sustaining, you don't have a second generation - so you end up with two older people without younger folks willing to help in. Who do they turn to? The state.

you know that there are roundabout half a million unadopted children in foster care in america, right?

Our foster care system is very broken, at least in Arkansas.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Why are 'small government' conservatives so obsessed with the gays?

Cuz they are size queens.

[nclib]

"Small government" conservatives, as others have said, don't want "small government" across the board, which is why they shouldn't call themselves that. Liberals also want small government on plenty of issues (abortion, gay marriage, flag-burning, corporal punishment in schools, war, role of police, etc.), but they don't use that term.

Really the main reason conservatives advocate "small government" is because they don't want the government to help people, so they pretend the issue is about the role of government rather than their lack of compassion. Their lack of compassion also explains why they do want big government on issues such as war, police, and corporal punishment.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The idea that legislating against corporal punishment is 'small-government' strikes me as an odd one.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Social conservatives do believe in small government.  They believe government should stay where it belongs; in the bedroom, bathroom, and womb.

[sanctimonious laughing couple with applause]

[Coolface Sock #42069]

I'm a small government conservative and I don't obsess about gays , I believe government should get out of marriage entirely

I think the obvious answer is that many of them don't really care about small government. That's probably why when Republicans win the presidency, they increase the deficit more than Democrats do, but Republican Congressmen only get mad when it's Democrats who are doing the spending.

Those of us who are really pro-small-government are likely overwhelmingly pro-gay marriage.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The idea that legislating against corporal punishment is 'small-government' strikes me as an odd one.

If schools administered corporal punishment without getting parental permission, then being anti-CP would be a small government position. As a general rule, CP is now being administered in the schools only with parental permission, even in those places that still use.

[Badger]

An old joke. Democrats want to regulate High incomes, big business, and corporations. Republicans which regulates sex drugs and p***. In other words, it wants to regulate the other.

[All Along The Watchtower]

The answer to this question is that "small government" is not a coherent (let alone, consistent) political philosophy but rather, a slogan used for the purpose of appealing to people who do not want to pay taxes.