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05/21/2012
Hey Delaware: Don't overlook the 'ex-gay' advocacy intrinsic to your anti-equality team!
With Delaware on the list of states where full marriage equality is a very real possibility (the state currently has strong civil unions), Focus on the Family is turning some attention to Delaware Family Policy Council head Nicole Theis. In the most recent "Friday Five" section of Focus' CitizenLink news site, the org. presents Theis and her interests through the lens of policy:
CitizenLink: What is happening in Delaware with same-sex marriage?
Nicole Theis: Well, as you know, Joe Biden is from Delaware. And recently his son, Beau — who happens to be the Attorney General for Delaware — came out with a public statement talking about (how) it’s time for Delaware to end “marriage discrimination.” A few weeks before, our governor (Jack Markell) said it’s “inevitable that same-sex marriage passes in Delaware and we need to end marriage discrimination.” (The state) has already passed a very aggressive civil-unions law which has all the same language as marriage, just without the name. In every state where civil unions have been enacted (activists said) it will not lead to same-sex marriage. And 100 percent of the time, same-sex marriage attempts follow.
CL: There is no referendum process in Delaware, so same-sex marriage would have to come through the Legislature. Will the lawmakers try to legalize it before the session ends on June 30?
NT: Yes, absolutely. I think (President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage) energized both sides — one to move forward as fast as they can (to legalize it), the other with a great effort to preserve marriage. It’s almost like everybody’s so crystal clear where the other one stands. We’re going to be able to take advantage of that. If it is not passed in this session, we will be able to leverage the redistricting of the whole state in (November). It’s good that every legislator is up for re-election. That gives us opportunity to recruit some solid people with solid character to really sound the alarm.
Friday Five: Nicole Theis [FoTF Citizenlink]
The whole thing is presented like a two-sided debate on a civil matter. As is typical in the "pro-family" movement, Theis and Citizenlink act as if they are simply expressing a dissenting view, one that is equally-footed with those who are coming at marriage from a constitutional basis.
The truth? On Delaware Family Policy Council's Facebook page, Theis and a colleague by the name of Jordan (presumably DFPC's Jordan Warfel) more than made their true feelings clear. As you can see, those feeling ago well beyond marriage, and instead attempt to call into question the very nature of homosexuality itself, even going so far as to claim the 1973 mental disorder declassification was unwarranted:
*Note1: Some of the comments are from Jordan and others from Theis herself (the Nicole identified in comment eight). All of the comments have a aggressive "ex-gay" advocacy attached. *Note 2: I haven't edited out any of the in-between comments directed at a "Paul." The group has deleted dissenting voices, per their own admission (and per the typical pattern of the anti-equality movement).
I've said it many times, but it bears repeating: If you are going to fight against my marriage, I will go to the mat until there is no more breath in my chest. But if you are going against the very orientation within both me and my husband? That fight goes much further and has even more damaging (/frightening) implications! If that is one's stated belief, then that needs to be part of the debate! It is both illogical and irresponsible to act like someone who admits he or she wants to "change" gay people is simply a counter voice on a certain policy matter!
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