Do You Still Think It’s About Gay Marriage?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now…again, the anti-gay movement in this country is NOT about marriage.  It’s NOT about the sanctity of a religious institution.  It’s not about protecting anyone or anything, it’s about hate, intolerance and bigotry.

Chris Buttars, Sally Kern, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Julaine Appling and other anti-gay religious and evangelical zealots have stated that gay Americans are the biggest threat to this country, even a bigger threat than terrorist.  They say that LGBT Americans have an agenda and we will destroy the nation.

Time after time we’ve seen throughout history that those who accuse others are typically the ones who are to blame, and this is no different.  I’m going to go out on a pretty sturdy limb here and say the anti-gay, evangelical, religious righters in this country are actually the threat, and not only to LGBT Americans, but to LGBT people in other countries…as in Uganda.

The Rev. Dr. Jerry Maneker talks about “The Family” and this is something we need to really pay attention to.  Maneker is not the only one talking.  This is U.S. involvement and support of genocide.  This is serious and this has to be publicized.  People need to go to prison, people need to be charged and tried for terrorism, murder, and inciting violence.  Religious leaders in the U.S., including Pastor Rick Warren are guilty.  Have you ever heard the term aid and abet? Just in case, it’s the act of commissioning a crime by performing an overt act or by giving advice or encouragement. According to U.S. law, the person guilty must share the criminal intent of the person who actually commits the crime.

Pastor Rick Warren, and other religious leaders have spoken out against LGBT equality.  They’ve used the Bible to defend their homophobic stances.  They’ve also been the biggest opponents of hate-crimes legislation.  Have you wondered why?  Not because they’re worried they wont be able to stand up in church and say I hate fags, but because of their involvement in genocide.  Their involvement in the murders of LGBT people.  Their political involvement in Uganda.  Their tax exempt dollars funding murderous criminals.

The time has come.  We have to fight.  I wrote a piece yesterday about my “365 Plan for Equality“, asking you to pledge to email a church, a congressman, or another every day of the year.  Do what you can!  Do it NOW!  Speak out!  Let our voices rise and be heard.  This has to stop!  This is a crime!  What’s going on in Uganda is no different than what happened in Germany during WWII, you know, what Hitler did to the Jews!  This time, there are tax-exempt U.S. dollars supporting the genocide, and all in the name of God and the Bible!

So, who’s the bigger threat here?  LGBT Americans who want their rights or evangelicals who want to create death squads?  Who has the agenda here, LGBT Americans who want equality or evangelicals who want to kill LGBT humans?  What are you going to do to help stop this abomination?

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Wisconsin’s Governor Stepping Up for Equality

Jim Doyle, Wisconsin’s Governor included a plan for domestic partnerships in his budget plan he unveiled earlier this week.

The Democrat’s domestic partnership proposal would extend limited protections to LGBT couples including hospital visitation, medical decisions and the right to inherit property, pensions and benefits.

During his first term in 2003, the governor vetoed a bill that was overwhelming approved by state Republicans that would have defined marriage as between one man and a woman. However, that effort was defeated in 2006 when voters passed a measure that amended the state’s constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and prohibits the state from creating “substantially similar” relationships.

Those who oppose equality for LGBT citizens claim the “substantially similar” clause passed in 2006 will keep the governor’s current domestic partnership bill from passing, but Democrats, who now control the state’s legislature, gave Doyle a standing ovation.

In his budget address to the state legislature, the governor stated;

“It is also time to make sure our state takes some basic steps towards fairness and decency. This isn’t an issue of being gay or straight, we are not judging people’s lives here. But I don’t want the state to stand in the way of someone being able to care for their long-term partner. And I don’t want the state to be less competitive at our university and other institutions because we don’t treat people fairly.”

Wisconsin has a long standing history of anti-gay sentiment from very powerful hate groups such as Juliane Appling’s Wisconsin Family Council. Appling has previously been quoted as saying, “They (LGBT persons) are lucky we allow them to live wherever they want.”

Solo Gay Congresswoman Joins Obama Committee

The only openly gay Congresswoman, Tammy Baldwin (Dem. Wisconsin) has joined Barack Obama’s national gay leadership and policy committee. She will co-chair the committee with Tobias Wolff, a University of Pennsylvania law professor. Baldwin’s previous GLBT service includes being the head of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s gay leadership team.

“I am proud to support Barack Obama for president and work hard for his election because we share a commitment to equality for all Americans,” she said in a statement. “This is our quest and our common goal.”

Baldwin also stated she was not supporting Obama only because he is a Democrat but because of the differences between the candidates. She listed issues ranging from the Iraq war to health care to gay issues.

She mentioned Obama’s desire to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” policy which would allow gays and lesbians to serve in the military without discrimination or discharge due to their sexual orientation. Republican John McCain wants the current policy to stay in place.

Obama also supports expanding the federal employment non-discrimination laws and federal hate crime laws to protect the GLBT community. McCain does not, she noted.

Now maybe she can do something with Juliane Appling.

Go West? There’s A New Sheriff In Town!

If you have any idea of what it is to be a good person, you will probably become ill over this.  Julaine Appling, along with others who claim to be “people of God” are at it again.  She is attempting to resurrect and misconstrue a nearly 100-year-old Wisconsin law that states same-sex couples who leave the state to be married could face fines and jail time if they return.  The law, originally aimed at stopping underage couples from going out-of-state to get married is now being considered by Appling’s group, called the Family Council to be applicable to same-sex marriages.

Offending couples could face $10,000 fines, nine months in prison or both. ”To have a marriage that you know is illegal where you reside, and you have the intent of coming back to that state where its illegal, that’s a defrauding of the government,” said the Family Council Julaine Appling.  This is also a person who has been quoted as saying “I think we’ve been extremely tolerant in allowing [homosexuals] to live wherever they choose.”  You can listen to what else she has to say at CNN.com.

On yet another disturbing note, A lawsuit that seeks to force a vote on Oregon’s domestic partnership law ran into a panel of skeptical federal judges Tuesday. 

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