I just found out that along with the amazing presidential election California has another amazing Prop up for vote. As I am sure you can tell it is Proposition 8 which if passed eliminates the right of same sex couples to marry. Actually it changes the California constitution to make it so that only heterosexual marriage is legally recognized.
When I looked this fact up, I found something interesting, actually a little odd. The particular page that I thought was suppose to explain the ballot measure in detail only had a brief general over view and an equally brief area called “Summary of Legislative Analyst’s Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact”! It discussed the financial impact of this, highlighting that an estimated 10 million dollar revenue loss was likely which would only have a small impact in the long run. Way to have your priorities straight California. I had been proud for the longest time to be considered but now I am disappointed in the turn of all this political …crap. I registered to vote as a Californian and was excited at the prospect of deciding which way CA went for the presidential election. I am even more eager to vote now that I know that Prop 8 is out there. I have one itty bitty problem. My absentee ballot has yet to arrive and I do not have the funds to fly/drive out there on Tuesday. Even thought I do not have the money and have clinical that day, I think I might try some way to get out there. This is too important to just sit back and pout. I strongly suggest you make the effort to review the other measures on your states ballot in order to make impactful choices and make progress both local and nationally. Most importantly, do not procrastinate during the next elections in registering or requesting your absentee ballot otherwise you will be in a sourly state of misery just like me. Good luck too all and choose wisely young paragons!
…
There might be hope for me yet! I just found “If you do not receive your sample ballot booklet, contact your county elections office. You can also find your polling place by calling the Secretary of State’s toll-free Voter Hotline at 1-800-345-VOTE (8683) or by visiting www.sos.ca.gov.”So I will be busy doing this instead of homework or ProUing.…
Prop 8 is definitely an important proposition in California. I have some friends out there and they're all voting an enthusiastic YES on Prop 8. Hopefully, it'll pass and we'll be able to keep our society in tact a bit longer.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
A society that enshrines discrimination in its constitution isn't worth keeping.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
I am so excited my ballot just came in the mail. My nieghbor saw me do the happy dance.
Oh and I heard that if we vote for this Prop 8 we can move it further to go back to the old ways of no interracial marriages when White people could not lawfully wed a black person.
Progress is awesome!
Love is like a box of chocolates; if you chose wisely you won’t be disappointed and have to spit it out. ~T
Hopefully we keep our society intact? California already had legalized gay marriage, the sky didn't fall. Massachusetts legalized gay marriage. They're still kicking. Connecticut just legalized gay marriage. And they're doing just fine, thanks.
"when you hold a pen, you are at war" Attributed to Voltaire
Canada and Scandinavia are doing alright, too.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
CA illegalized it now : P
Yeah, and a father was jailed in MA for requesting that he was notified when his son would be taught about same sex marriage. o.O
CT legalized it, but the people aren't happy. I have QUITE a few friends in that state and so I know how much the citizens have struggled against it.
Also, the sky's not going to fall the second it's legalized. It's the frog in the slowly heating water thing.
Also, if you look at the societies in Europe that have legalized it, they're not in such great shape. Some have legalized things such as prostitution, where men and women are treated like objects and sell the most intimate parts of themselves for money. Also, in Poland (I think it was), over 100 kids were molested in a children's home by celebrities and officials and most were homosexuals on little boys. They got off scot free. Is that what we want in America?
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
Could you please provide some proof of any of those claims? They all sound like mass-hysteria forwarded email bull to me.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Sure.
Here's some stuff about the sex scandal:
It happened:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2948766.stm
People ignored it:
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=132&fArticleId=163389
Allegations were dropped because it's the "safest presumption":
http://www.richardwebster.net/print/xportuguesekincora.htm
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
Per your first link, above...
So, even if the accusations were true, there was nothing uniquely gay about the alleged incidents. Likewise, your last link notes that all charges had been dropped against the original accused, and as best I can find, no one else has had the charges against them substantiated with a conviction. Your source also suggests that the whole incident was a politically-motivated, media-induced witch-hunt (which might also explain why the story caught your attention). To quote your own source...
And finally, what does this have to do with same-sex marriage, anyway?
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
And if you'd read my post...I said "most" not "all."
It has to do with the fact that Portugal has accepted homosexual marriages as ok and this is what happened...kids are hurt and everyone turns a blind eye to it.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
...where YOUR OWN SOURCEs noted that the accusations appear to have been untrue. Honestly, if you aren't even going to read YOUR OWN SOURCES, why do you even bother? It is typical of anti-gay pundits like yourself to rely on unsubstantiated accusations, because the facts rarely support you.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
Portugal accepted gay marriage and then uncovered the alleged scandal. Gay marriage was legalized there in 2001. Your own sources reported that the alleged ring had been operating for decades. Plural. As in, more than the eight years since gay marriage was legalized. Those same sources (as Blackout has already noted) report that none of the charges were substantiated. Additionally, not a single source connects the issue with gay marriage. Because they can't; there is no connection.
Straws. Keep grasping at them, though. One of them might hold you up some day.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
...before you posted this crap?
Yeah, and a father was jailed in MA for requesting that he was notified when his son would be taught about same sex marriage.
Bullshit. David Parker was arrested for refusing to leave school property while engaging in an act of civil disobedience. In his own words, "If I’m not under arrest then I’m not leaving." Parker was protesting the fact that an optional "diversity book bag" reading program that the school offered included the book Who's in a Family? Parker was under no obligation to permit his child to participate in the program, and his demand that his child be excused from any class in which homosexuality was discussed, even if it was brought up by another student, was unreasonable and contrary to State Law.
Parker eventually sued the school district in Parker v. Hurley, and lost. The Ruling was upheld in the Federal Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States refused to take up the case. This guy had his day in court, and was found to be at fault. The school district did nothing wrong. Parents with extreme religious view-points do not have a right to demand that a school alter its curriculum simply to satisfy their religious objections. Parents do have a right to seek alternative educational avenues for their kids, but they can't just storm into an elementary school and refuse to leave until the school agrees to bring the curriculum in line with the parent's religious beliefs.
CT legalized it, but the people aren't happy. I have QUITE a few friends in that state and so I know how much the citizens have struggled against it.
And yet, a recent poll showed that a majority of citizens in Connecticut supported the decision to legalize same-sex marriages.
These are just more examples of the dishonest way that the anti-gay camp approaches these issues. As I have said many times, if one has to lie in order to get people to agree with you, then there's probably a good reason why they shouldn't.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
He wouldn't leave because they wouldn't promise to inform him when his child would be educated on those topics! As a parent, he had EVERY RIGHT to want to know when his child would be taught on issues that he did not want his child being aware of at age of SIX. I say good for him for standing his ground! He wasn't demanding that the curriculum was changed. He was demanding that he be informed when certain aspects of the curriculum would be taught so that he could prevent his child from learning those aspects. Again, as a parent, he had EVERY RIGHT and the school system had no right to interfere with his parenting.
Just because my friends are minority by a few percentiles does not make them any less "people" or "citizens." Thus, my statement is true.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
Mr. Parker had his day in Court, and the State Supreme Court and Federal Appeals Court both ruled that he did NOT have a right to be informed in the manner that he demanded. The right he DOES have is to seek private education or home schooling for his children. The issue was plainly decided, as the refusal of the SCOTUS to take the case on appeal indicated.
Also, have you ever read the book Who's in a Family? Its actually a very tame children's book. The book discusses the fact that not all families are exactly the same. It describes "multicultural contemporary family units, including those with single parents, lesbian and gay parents, mixed-race couples, grandparents and divorced parents." It does so in age appropriate terms, and in a State (Massachusetts) where same-sex marriages are legal, there is no rational purpose to exclude this material from the cirriculum, nor is there any onus on the School District to enact a special procedure in order to accomodate this man's bigotry. The Courts ruled that the School District had acted appropriately, and that Mr. Parker was in the wrong. Get over it, already.
As for the "honesty" of your second point, I will concede that this comment may have been technically true, though I suggest that it was intended to suggest a disingenuously inflated level of oppostion among the people of Massachusetts.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
I agree that he should place his child into a private school. But as a tax-payer and father, he should have a say in how his child is educated. Or are we going to take away parental rights in order to appeal to a bunch of minorities?
CONNECTICUT.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
...about how little you understand the nature of basic civil rights. The very reason that we are a Constitutional Republic and not a Direct Democracy is to ensure that the rights of minorities (or more accurately, individuals) are not tread upon by the majority. Nevertheless, I will point again to the ruling of Parker v. Hurley, which states...
The ruling in this case is very clear. The father in this case was wrong. Period. Get over it. You loose.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
But even minority rights shouldn't override parental rights. Thank God for homeschooling...
I don't loose. And I don't lose either. Regardless of what the court ruled, I'm still right.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
...to homeschool or to engage a private institution to educate your kids. You have a right to teach YOUR kids whatever you want in private, but you DON'T have a right to tell the State that ALL kids have to be taught in accordance with YOUR religious beliefs in a public school. This guys parental rights were not infringed upon in any way. That's why he LOST his case in court.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
I was in a Catholic school during second (?) grade. I went to a birthday party for my friend Kelly.
Years later, I realized that Kelly was black and had two white moms. It's funny how it never really made me think twice until years later, when I was talking about the party. I never thought to ask how her moms had sex. Isn't that the big fear of people that don't want their kids taught about homosexuality?
-Sonja :)
"I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" ~ Peter Finch as Howard Beale, 1976, "Network"
Precisely. Kids don't think like that. So why do we have to give sex education and shove a homosexual agenda down their throats at that age?
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
...to "sex education" in the book to which the father objected. Honestly, it doesn't sound like you know very much at all about the case you're citing in support of your position...but then, I suppose we've come to expect that.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
I'm talking sex education and homosexual agendas...like both, not combined. I know the book wasn't talking about sex ed...but it did have a homosexual agenda, thus, falls under my statement. My gosh, you love to nit pick.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
...is that when you apply a close level of scrutiny to opinoins like yours, they tend to fall apart.
TTFN,
Blackout
-------------------------
Check out Progressive PRIDE, a Gay-Straight Alliance for the Progressive U community.
Does either the Catholic Church or the Mormon Church endorse gay marriage? Because both faiths have had recent sex scandals. The Catholics, come to think of it, had a priest-on-boy scandal.
People in glass houses and so on...
(And please note, this is not an attack on either faith. I attended Catholic church until the church in my town closed down. I have nothing against any one's faith)
I just see the "gay marriage causes moral decay" argument as illogical. Prostitution was legalized in many European cultures long before gay marriage.
"How can we win where fools can be kings" Muse
IDK about the Mormans, but the Catholic Church does NOT endorse homosexual unions.
Yes, people within the Church acted extremely poorly considering their positions. However, a handful of priests is no reason to condemn the entire Church. I know dozens of priests who I would feel safe being alone with (or having my brother alone with; whichever you prefer).
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~Mother Teresa
condeming an entire church for the actions of a few would be unfair. Just as condemning an entire country for the actions of a few is equally unfair.
"How can we win where fools can be kings" Muse
I have entered a deep depression since the day of the election. I can't believe our supposedly liberal state would vote for discrimination.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.
in a state which has "civil unions" so basically homosexual couples are "seperate but equal"
"when you hold a pen, you are at war" Attributed to Voltaire