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06/06/2007
I now pronounce you duplictious: Responding to a CA marriage foe
"The State Assembly has turned its back on California’s families yet again,” ...“Forty-Two Democrats have taken it upon themselves to ram down the throats of Californians a twisted, out-of-step, out-of-mainstream version of marriage and family. Make no mistake; this vote proves that it is Democrats who are pro-homosexual and anti-family. They will surely pay for this.”
...
"It is clear that Democrats are in bed with the radical homosexual community and they will implement their agenda and bow to their every demand all in the name of so-called ‘civil rights’ and ‘equality.’” ... “This vote makes it clear that it is Democrats in the Legislature that are determined to get homosexual marriage enacted any way they can. They will go around the ballot box and go around the people of California.”
“If supporters of same-sex marriage are so confident that the public supports homosexual marriage like they boast and brag, why don’t they go to the public directly?” ... “Why don’t they let the people vote on the issue? They will not! They will not do so because they would lose and they know it. So, instead they must resort to liberal legislators and rogue judges to forcibly implement same-sex marriage.”
...
“We will be relentless in conveying to Senators that California is not in favor of blatant homosexual marriages,”...“Any Senator who now votes for this bill will do so at their own peril. Our roads need repairing, gas prices are too high, people can’t afford homes, we’re running out of water and Democrats see homosexual marriage as the burning issue of the day. Just which party has California’s families’ best interests in mind!”
--The Traditional Values Coalition's Benjamin Lopez, in reaction to the Cali Assembly's passage of a gay marriage bill
Response:
First off, B-Lo: Stop with the threats. Your whole "They will surely pay for this" schtick may sound tough and Christian-like in your own head, but it only sounds like a check your behind can;t cash when put out into the ether. You kids at TVC simply do not have the legitimacy or the power to oust lawmakers in the way that you might wish (especially with your organization's own validity dwindling, in light of such recent stunts as a "Jesus wanted poster," misrepresentations of legislative transcripts, blatant lies about certain hate crimes documents, and an assortment of rabidly anti-gay comics).
But your bite-less bark aside, let's move on and talk about your claims regarding gay marriage, B-Lo. You kids always try and make it sound like the Democrats are "in bed" with a "radical homosexual agenda" whenever they act in a manner that is pro-gay. It is a message you have all dedicated considerable time, money, and manpower into crafting, and one on which none of you ever stray. It is a campaign that has, admittedly, been effective in convincing some that gay rights efforts are subversive attacks on society and families. However, when you actually analyze the propaganda campaign, it's incredibly easy to see it for what it is: A cleverly concocted crusade of lies, meant to make mean-spirited demonization, stigmatization, and discrimination look like nothing more than "innocent child and family protection."
So here's what you kids do: You take a party that has a strong civil rights legacy and turn their current support for the civil liberties of the LGBT community into something sinister. Something immoral. Something unrighteous. You use words like "radical," "twisted," "out-of-step," and "ram down the throats," to further paint the picture of militancy. You act as if "the mainstream" is only that section of society that is Christian and conservative (with "liberals" and "progressives" being used as bad words to describe those who don't belong in your version of America). And in your world, all pro-gay policies are addressed from a baseless position of what they would do to "weaken" heterosexual families and children, and not what they would do to enhance the well-being of the LGBT folks to whom the protections are geared! You kids of course never have any real proof or rationale to back up your fearmongery claims of gay-induced society corruption. But that doesn't stop you guys! You act as if your faith-based crystal ball should be good enough reason to keep gay folks down.
It's gross.
Then there's the other phase of your campaign, in which you ask why gays don't just turn to the public for approval of certain measures. The reason is simple: The basic human, civil rights of a minority should never be left to majority approval! Gay acceptance grows every year in this country, and if left to referendum, we would surely have every protection we seek within fifty or so years. However, we should not have to wait for the public to come around in order to right societal wrongs! Civil rights issues have always been settled by courts and legislatures, usually with public approval still not greater that 50% when the equality-encouagement is enacted. While you "pro-family" kids deny the civil rights nature of pro-gay measures, those of us who are gay humans who know what it's like to face persecution or disparity understand the truth and need of the fight. And we understand that those who should, by trade, understand the constitution, history, and the law better than the layperson, are the right ones to help us make inroads towards reaching our civil goals (while fighting off outside attempts to marry church and state or legislate morality).
Finally, B-Lo, you posit the idea that gay marriage should not be addressed by the legislature because there are several other pressing issues. And again, this is just another attempt to make the Dems look unsavory, and to make it seem like they are wasting time on unnecessary measures (especially ironic, considering the loads of time that your team has wasted trying to alter the constitution to discriminate). Fortunately, however, there is sufficient legislative time to address several different issues in any given session. Gay marriage is something that, to many citizens of California, is up there in importance with the other issues you mention, B-Lo. You say some "people can't afford homes." However, others can afford homes, but they can't have a full legal connection with the person with whom they share that abode. And you know what? BOTH ARE PART OF THE FABRIC OF CALIFORNIA! When the legislature does address housing prices, are those with multi-room mansions supposed to condemn that waste of legislative time? Hopefully not!
Plain and simple, B-Lo: Your team is practicing divisiveness and supporting bias. Others are trying to thwart your bias to make life just a little more fair for EVERYONE. Threaten and attack all you want, but there is simply no way that you kids are going to win in the long run. The roles are not cast a certain way because of one side's agenda being any more powerful. The roles are cast a certain way because this is a "fight" in which there is a clear right and wrong.
-- Good As You's Jeremy Hooper, who is fed up with both the social conservatives' hijacking of family and morality, as well as the public-at-large's failure to fully see their campaigns for what they truly are
CA State Assembly Democrats Barely Pass Homosexual Marriage Bill Yet Again and Defy Voters. [TVC]
Your thoughts
If the public were allowed to vote on the existence of TVC, the majority would certainly and overwhelmingly vote to curtail their rights as well.
Organizations who claim they alone have special rights simply because they want to create and imagine a "religious" belief which requires them to persecute others have no business whining about other people being inherently unequal.
Posted by: Kevin | Jun 6, 2007 11:21:28 AM
Ben even tried to run for State Assembly in 2006, and lost for good measure. Not even his own state assembly district wanted him.
Nell Soto (Dem) 36,482 62.8 %
Benjamin Lopez (Rep) 21,639 37.2 %
Posted by: Matt | Jun 6, 2007 11:57:36 AM
I didn't get to this on my blog today, but the threats were what jumped out at me too. Although, it's what I've come to expect from the bunch over at TVC, as they're prone to overreaction on an almost daily basis.
Posted by: Kristen | Jun 6, 2007 2:51:31 PM
Very well said Jeremy. I certainly can empathize with my US brothers and sisters who have to put up with this constant public slander from idiots claiming to have "religious beliefs". It's not really about either marriage or religious beliefs, it's about money and control over the population. People like the TVC need a scapegoat to elevate themselves, gays are the perfect target because they view us as weak and unwilling to fight back. They have concocted a very effective fear generating machine and one that will take years to unravel; it has done so much damage and these morons should be somehow held accountable.
Posted by: Tim | Jun 7, 2007 9:19:48 AM
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