We are being to general, I think, because you have now set up a scenario where a gay person would be abridging their own civil rights.
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I don't even think its an issue of federalism. If churches refuse to perform marriages for gay couples, that's fine and it's their right. But when the government steps in and prohibits it, then that's where we should draw the line. You're right marriage isn't really a "right." But the benefits that come with marriage involving taxes, visitation rights, etc.. are all rights that every couple regardless of their sex should be afforded. I'm not sure why governments provide marriage certificates because that's stupid and none of their damn business. Governments can provide pieces of paper conferring benefits on two people without providing some stupid sexual criterion. This is neither a federal nor a state issue. This is an issue government should have nothing to do with. Churches can do whatever they want but when it comes to conferring benefits there should not be any sort of discrimination on this matter.
Craig will resign tomorrow: [rquoter] GOP Officials: Craig to Resign Saturday 2 hours ago BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will announce Saturday he will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men's room, Republican officials said Friday. [/rquoter] http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZ67G5uYS42r10d3J0CMgb8kRJXg
kind of sending mixed messages to the log-cabin republicans. "You can be gay and republican and support republicans and give us money, but damned if you try to be a legislator."
So should we start a betting pool as to which next family values Republican gets caught banging/attempted banging a male/female/page/staffer/hooker/policeman? I've got my money on Sam Brownback due to his name, but you know that Mitt Romney is so creepy I wouldn't be shocked if he's into weird stuff. Also Rudy can't keep it in his pants either, I mean the guy boned his cousin after all.
There are rumors on the internets that Patty McHenry is not that innocent. http://bluenc.com/florida-murder/suicides-nc-ties
Indeed. The main thing that needs to change, besides that, is equal rights for gay couples. D&D. Impeach Bush and Cheney.
i find it interesting however, that there's apparently no place in congress for old grey, closeted queens. craig's resignation somehow doesn't feel like progress for gay rights.
I see what you mean, but I think you could say there hasn't been much progress at all in Idaho. That's the constintuency he'd have to come out to, if he hoped to stay elected. Can you hear some of those guys? "Vote for him? How about we just ________ and then _______ him!" (violence edited for Sunday morning) What was the movie? Boys Don't Cry? I can't remember the title. But it had an actress I can't remember playing a boy until she was discovered and it was very disturbing, based on a true story, etc.
hillary swank - that one scene (im sure you know which one im talking about) was really f-ed up. good movie, but disturbing.
A lot of it has to do with the way he has handled it. He still is adamant that he isn't gay and that this was just a misunderstanding. And he was a huge proponent and still is of the "family values" mantra that is oh so common. So how do you somehow identify him as an example of what could be progress on gay rights. A better example is when Congressman Barney Frank was accused of having dealings with a male prostitute. He immediately came out and said he was gay (he had also previously had a long streak of supporting gay rights even before he came out). And you know what, he's been re-elected every time since that incident. It's not that there isn't room or the possibility of electing gays and lesbians to Congress, it's just that Larry David has handled the whole thing so poorly that he has no choice but to resign.
Barney Frank was a pimp. There's a huge difference between that and soliciting bathroom sex. If he were heterosexual, charges probably would have been brought against him, even if they wouldn't have stuck. The fact that he was re-elected reflects badly on the people of southeastern Massachusetts. Really, Jim Kolbe is a better example. He came out in 1996. He never supported Gay Marriage (did support civil unions). He was unapologetic about his sexuality and his stances. He stayed until the "Great Democratic Takeover of 2006", when he was beaten by a stiff with a D behind her name.
Go read "And the Band Played On" and other stuff about the outbreak of AIDS and the response by CDC and others. Their task was much more difficult then it should have been in part because many guys don't admit to themselves or the epidemiologists that they are gay... if you don't perform oral sex or get buggered, you're not gay, even if a guy performs oral sex on you and you give it to some other guy where the sun don't shine. Further, there's this secreting around like Craig did and the people who do that are so at war with themselves that the person they are in the bathroom is not the same person and has nothing to do with the person they are when they walk out of the bathroom. Sad really. Bu the way, sounds like he may take back his resignation.
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-may2708-craig_book.36e3286b.html Sen. Craig is going to write a book about it. Should be good material to read on the... I can't do it. I just can't.
