“We’ve tried the carrot. Now it’s time for the stick.”
Oh SNAP, Cynthia Nixon is not happy about New York lawmakers betraying the gay citizens of New York and leaving us as second class citizens in the state. I really love the low-grade seethe she’s got going on this message.
Last week, when Washington DC started issuing marriage licenses, the Washington Post printed the picture at the right, of Jeremy Ames and Taka Ariga, happily kissing as they went for their license, on the front page. For non-sadsack wingnuts, it was no big deal, but of course, the knuckledraggers of our society always show themselves at times like these. Here’s a bit of what WaPo ombudsman Andy Anderson had to deal with:
A few of the readers have engaged in rants, often with anti-gay slurs. One called me to complain about “promoting a faggot lifestyle.” Another complained about the photo in an e-mail to the two Post reporters who wrote Thursday’s story about the licenses: “That kind of stuff makes normal people want to throw up. People have kids who are being exposed to this crap. I will be glad when your rag goes out of business. Real men marry women.”
(…)
Wrote Lee Miller of Columbia: “I would appreciate it if your cover pictures would not be so disturbing where my kids can see it easily on the kitchen table… please don’t shove this “Gay” business in our face. This is something that should have shown up on an inside page or two (without the picture).”
In comments to the ombudsman’s call-in line (202.334.7582), one reader said, “the picture of two guys kissing makes me cringe.” Another called it “ridiculous,” adding: “Put it on page 10 or page four, put it in the paper, but I do not like it right there where I can’t avoid looking at it.”
Many threatened to cancel their Post subscriptions, and more than two dozen did.
Ah don’ lahke seein’ dem faggot men kissy-kissy in mah mornin’ paper, ah’llbedamned!
So, quite rightly, the ombudsman ended his piece by insulting those readers’ for their ignorance and irrational fear:
News photos capture reality. And the prominent display reflects the historic significance of what was occurring. The recent D.C. Council decision to approve same-sex marriage was the culmination of a decades-long gay rights fight for equality. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the District. The photo of Ames and Ariga kissing simply showed joy that would be exhibited by any couple planning to wed – especially a couple who previously had been denied the legal right to marry.
There was a time, after court-ordered integration, when readers complained about front-page photos of blacks mixing with whites. Today, photo images of same-sex couples capture the same reality of societal change.
Ha ha, who says these same complainers ever accepted the black/white photographs? ASK ‘EM ABOUT THOSE, IN 2010.
Touché, Jim. You probably should also click that clicky to read Jim’s summary of this same article. I would quote it, but I don’t think I can do that at a dot org, you know?
I posted on Rob Schenck’s insane comments comparing DC marriage equality to temple whores and hot oily Greco-Roman wrestling sexy-time yesterday, but in order to get the full meaning of his words, it’s helpful to watch Schenck in action.
Um, not to be all stereotypey, but girlfriend? Girlfriend. I half expect him to open his Bible to reveal a secret compartment holding a buncha color swatches…
I could spend a lot of time dissecting this weird new screed from Maggie Gallagher, wherein she trumps up a whole bunch of nothing about a supposed anti-religious effort to ban male circumcision in Massachusetts, and then, of course, veers into a whine about how the Catholic Church in DC are victims of the big mean gays who now have equality there. I could stomp all over this passage:
What was the point of these kinds of government impositions on Christian institutions? The Catholic Church’s position on gay sex and gay marriage are well-known, or should be. Surely it should come as no shock to a potential employee to discover that a Catholic organization is not the right place to pursue their career if they want gay marital benefits? What gay person in D.C. is practically better off as a result of this mean-spirited and successful attempt to drive the Catholic Church out of the public square in key ways? If this were left up to ordinary gay people, I’m betting it would all turn out very different. Live and let live is the American impulse across ideological and moral disagreements.
Right, because Maggie’s career is so “live and let live” when it comes to marriage equality. And, um, all the loving gay couples that got married/are getting married? Their lives are practically better. And the Vatican is still standing!
But anyway, I could spend a lot of time on this, but I’m not going to, because Thers at Whiskey Fire has said everything I could say and more, so just go read him. Here’s a taste of Thers, reacting to the above passage:
The point was that homosexuals would have equal rights, even the ones who are not Catholic. Or, as St. Augustine once notably observed, “duh.”
And the gay person who is “better off” is the one who can say “I have publicly & officially celebrated my commitment to the love of my life.” Which is no small potatoes — I got to do that for the love of my life, and if I had been told I couldn’t, I’d have been pretty pissed off.
But this is a hilarious paragraph anyhow; savor the idea that Catholic organizations could possibly function without their gay employees. For instance, I am given to understand that in certain Protestant “faith traditions” it is possible to discover a heterosexual capable of arranging a competent liturgical musical program, but I have never personally observed the like in all my decades as an (admittedly annoyed) Irish Catholic.
Read it all, read it all, read it all. Especially the last passage.
We’re told by Wendy Leigh, an American activist and friend who corresponds with LGBT activists in Africa, that the men arrested in that country for holding a commitment ceremony are being harassed this weekend by police and pressured to undergo bogus medical exams to “prove” that the men had sex.
If the men are not charged with “sodomy,” we’re told, they will be charged with “unnatural sex against the order of nature.”
Meanwhile, Kenyan officials to continue to take lessons from Uganda despots, U.S.-supported evangelicals, and Islamist clergy by mounting acts of mob violence against LGBT Kenyans.
Back in Uganda, ex-gay activist Paul Kagaba — an associate of David Bahati, the leader of the pro-genocide effort — is said to be issuing death threats against LGBT equality advocates and using Red Pepper — a tabloid connected to the half-brother of President Yoweri Museveni — to publish “wanted” photos of advocates for mobs to attack.
A lesbian in New York goes to get a marriage license with her longtime partner, on camera. Of course, she is denied. To prove her point, she then finds a random gay man named Ed, introduces herself, and then asks for a marriage license for herself and Ed instead.
CitizenLink reports that a new study in the Journal of Marriage and Family has found that not only are same-sex parents just as fit as heterosexual parents, and not only that, but sometimes lesbian couples even outperform straight parents. (The data has backed this up for a while, actually.)
The headline for their piece is “Experts Debunk Study Claiming Two Moms Better Than Mom And Dad.” Notably missing in the piece, however, are any experts doing any actual debunking. There is simply a baseless assertion from Glenn Stanton:
“They’re just completely overreaching their hand,” he said. “Are we to think that nature has really sent each one of us down a second-rate road of having to be raised by a man and a woman?”
(…)
“The research is very, very clear and it backs up what God has put into process,” Stanton said, “that a man and a woman are the best people to raise that child to healthy adulthood.”
Stanton says the findings appear to reveal an agenda on the part of the researchers and not scientific conclusions.
Right, Glenn. Whatever. Perhaps in the fundamentalist Christian world that passes for an “expert opinion.” As we’ve seen in the Prop 8 trial, when anti-gay “experts” are put under oath, the results are nothing short of hilarious. But note that Glenn doesn’t link to any research, doesn’t cite any studies, or anything. In short, he lazily throws out some meaningless fundamentalist catchphrases and anti-scientific BS and assumes that (maybe because he believes it himself) he’s won the argument. Maybe that flies with the average Focus on the Family wingnut, but in the real, grown-up scientific world?
Sadly, no.
Play again next time, Glenn.
UPDATE: It seems Glenn has issued a (slightly) more detailed response to this study. As it is late, I will not be dealing with it tonight, but I’ll stomp it into the ground sometime tomorrow, I promise.
UPDATE: There seems to be some degree of misunderstanding on what’s going on here. See the comments below for more discussion, specifically from the representative himself. The bill seems to already be on the law books, and thus needs to be removed, even if it’s not enforced, as it very obviously violates religious freedom as guaranteed in the United States Constitution. My example, below, of a legislator trying to suddenly ban communion rites in a church stands as an obvious parallel to this law that exists on Oklahoma’s books. As Louise pointed out, there are already clergy all over the nation who perform same-sex weddings, regardless of whatever civil marriage is recognized in their jurisdiction. Representative Nelson explains that this is a “shell bill,” which contains an amendment to the text (reflected in the quote below), which would change the reading from “imprisonment in the State Penitentiary” to “custody of the Department of Corrections.” The Representative states that this is not a bill that he plans to advance in this session, but that he has filed as a shell bill, just in case he decides to advance other legislation related to marriage. So, it’s good news (?) that this is not new, but it’s grotesque that it exists. It’s a simple fact that in many Christian denominations, a large percentage of Jewish congregations, and several other religious entities, that they include same-sex couples in their sacrament of marriage. So my question to the representative is this: Do you support repeal of this provision, however unenforced it may be, and why or why not?
_____
Yes, as opposed to simply banning state recognition of same-sex marriage, Rep. Jason Nelson, a fresh faced knuckle dragger wearing an ill-fitting knit shirt, has put forth a bill that would criminalize performing same-sex weddings:
Rep. Jason Nelson of Oklahoma City has introduced HB 3408 “An act relating to marriage.” It would make it a felony for a minister of the Gospel to solemnize a marriage not recognized by the state of Oklahoma.
Here’s the text of the bill:
Any minister of the Gospel, or other person authorized to solemnize the rites of matrimony within this state, who shall knowingly solemnize the rites of matrimony between persons prohibited by this chapter, from intermarrying shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and imprisonment in the State Penitentiary custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years.
Jason. Hi, Jason! This is Evan. I need to explain something to you. The separation of church and state? It goes both ways. You, wingnut, have proposed a bill that would legislate, from the secular government, what rites and sacraments a church may or may not administer.
Let me provide a hypothetical counter-example that might illustrate how utterly stupid and unconstitutional your idea current Oklahoma state law really is:
Hi, Jason. Now I’m your representative! I have just put forth a bill in the Oklahoma legislature that states that your church may not perform the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Why? I don’t know, I just don’t like it very much! I think it’s weird! And Jesus was 100% human, and we outlawed cannibalism in Oklahoma at least five years ago.
Now, Jason, how would you like that particular bushel of apples? I have a sneaking suspicion that you might have a problem with it.
How many times do we have to explain that the government does not recognize your religious marriage in the first place?* They recognize your signed marriage certificate. Therefore! It’s absolutely irrelevant whether or not the state allows or disallows state-sanctioned civil marriage for same-sex couples! The church may offer the sacrament to whomever it will. I mean, give me a break! I know of certain Episcopal churches that have special days when they bless peoples’ various ponies and kittens for them. Because inside the church walls, they can do whatever the hell they want, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody. That’s called religious freedom!
Clear now? If you need pictures or something like that, maybe a pop-up book, you just let me know.
AP writer Lisa Leff reports on Mayor Jerry Sanders’ testimony in the Prop 8 trial in the mayor’s hometown newspaper, The San Diego Union-Tribune:
The mayor of San Diego testified Tuesday that his views on same-sex marriage evolved after he learned one of his daughters was a lesbian.
Mayor Jerry Sanders took the witness stand on behalf of two same-sex couples suing to overturn Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved gay marriage ban.
“I had been prejudiced,” he said. “I was saying one group of people did not deserve the same respect, did not deserve the same symbolism of marriage, and I was saying their marriages were less important than those of heterosexuals.”
During Sanders’ testimony this morning, the video of the Republican mayor’s reversal of his position on marriage equality was played.
During an emotion-laden press conference in 2007, Sanders revealed that several members of his staff and his daughter, Lisa, are gay. Said the Mayor, “In the end, I could not look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationships — their very lives — were any less meaningful than the marriage that I share with my wife, Rana.”
When San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera asked Sanders why he was so emotional in the video, Sanders replied, “I felt I came very close to making a bad decision. I came very close to showing the prejudice I obviously had toward my daughter to my staff and to the people of San Diego.”
“If government tolerates discrimination against anyone it is very easy for citizens to do the same thing,” said Sanders.
Pro-Prop 8 attorney Brian Raum seemed intent on convincing Sanders that his earlier position in support of civil unions was not a hostile one and didn’t communicate hatred toward the LGBT community — the crux of the trial.
Sanders replied, “I feel like my thoughts were grounded in prejudice, but I don’t feel like I communicated hatred.”
In March 2009, during the city’s Eve of Justice rally the night before the California Supreme Court began considering Proposition 8, Mayor Saunders announced the engagement of his daughter, Lisa Sanders, to her partner, Meaghan Yaple. They were married by a justice of the peace in Vermont last December.
If you’re an anti-gay pastor watcher like me, you’re well aware that San Diego area radical clerics Miles McPherson and Jim Garlow relish both the spotlight and the media attention that comes hand-in-hand with being two of California’s better known anti-LGBT advocates.
When he’s not mentoring young Christians like former beauty queen turned soft-porn celebrity Carrie Prejean, Pastor McPherson of San Diego’s Rock Church is happy to take the stage to preach against LGBT rights, as he did in November 2008 at TheCall — an anti-marriage-equality extravaganza held at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego shortly before the 2008 election. McPherson, according to Jeremy Hooper, writing at the Good As You blog, claimed “he and his followers are not ‘freaks’ who hate gays. They are really exterminators called upon to rid the world of satanic roaches.” (Read More)
Evan Hurst: Um, because fundamentalist Christians hate women.
It's intricately tied up in their worldview. It's the root of the anti-choice movement....
Evan Hurst: Protests have cops called all the time! That's sort of how they work sometimes.
"Them senators"?! My god, go...
Patrick Fitzgerald: Homoseuality was wrong 6000 years ago after Adam sinned. It was wrong 3500 years ago when God wiped Sodom and...
nemesis: not nambla those people are in their own category(an appalling circus act more like it). A protest that had...
Evan Hurst: Name those organizations.
If you say NAMBLA, you're an ass, since that organization has NEVER been allied with the mainstream LGBT...
