Virginia is for Lovers? Not Hardly! --- 5th Annual Gay Pride Write-off
Jun 24 '04
The Bottom Line is boycotting Virginia and Virginia based companies. Equality is for all or it's not equality.
Thanks to penguinlady" for giving me a heads-up on a really great reason to boycott Virginia in the comments of an editorial I wrote on the Consciensious Objector Policy Act" currently facing legislation in six states that would allow medical personel to discriminate against homosexuals.
Let me explain a few things first to give you proper background on the subject of the so-called "gay marriage" fight. First off, the fight isn't for "gay marriage". I hate to be the one to break it to people, but same sex couples have been having marriages for decades in America... many of them in churches. We call them "marriages"; "weddings"; "commitment ceremonies"; "holy unions"; and "blessing ceremonies". Most have been done by Metropolitan Community Church, but many have been done by other denominations of main-stream churches. The only thing these ceremonies lack is legal recognition of the state and federal government--a marriage license.
I often hear how the fight is to make churches perform "gay marriages". That is just male cow fertilizer to confuse the issue. The Government does not have the right to dictate policy to churches. The opposite should be true, but sadly, isn't. If your church or denomination has no interest in performing a "gay marriage", then legal recognition of same sex unions will not force them to do so.
Also, I often hear how "gay marriage" isn't necessary. All we have to do is enter into personal contracts with our partners. Nevermind that these contracts have to be written by attorneys and many have to be filed in court and that the expense to receive just a few of the same benefits that oh, say a drunk couple in Las Vegas get by being married by an Elvis impersonator, will be thousands of dollars (instead of dropping a $20 for a marriage license). However, thanks to Delegate Bob Marshall of the Virginia for House Bill 751 -- inaptly entitled "The Marriage Affirmination Act -- same-sex couples in Virginia no longer have the right to do even that.
HB 751 strips the right of two people of the same sex to enter into any contractual agreement. The main thrust of this Bill is to allow Virginia to not recognize any marriages or civil unions from other states, however, the contractual agreement clause negates any expensive and time-consuming contracts that protect same-sex couples.
What does this mean? Well, if you live in Virginia, forget the living will agreements if you name your same-sex partner as the person to make decisions for you. It will be overturned in court (whether it's challenged by your family member(s) or by the hospital itself which may choose to do so). Forget any property agreements. Should a same-sex couple own a house jointly, their contract can be remanded or challenged in court. Guardianship of minor children? Naming your significant other can guarantee those papers be over-turned in court. Even wills can be overturned as you may no longer have the legal right to leave your property to your significant other if your family disagrees.
Delegate Bob Marshall, author of HR 751, holds fast that he's defending heterosexual marriages. My ass, he is. What does legal recognition of same-sex contractual agreements have to do with heterosexual marriages? 50% of all existing marriages will end in divorce. That's a fact. And whereas I cannot say I'm an expert on heterosexual marriages never having been in one myself, I dare say most divorces are because "I fell in love with someone else" or "I don't love you any more". So how does this "protect" heterosexual marriage? It's going to stop a heterosexual in a marriage from falling out of love with his/her spouse and into love with another opposite sex person? What a ridiculous concept!
If someone can explain to me how legal recognition of same-sex marriages will destroy the sanctity of their marriage, please do so. If someone can explain how stripping away the rights of gay Americans will protect their own rights, please do so. The only thing I ask is that you don't bring religion into the argument. For one thing, there is still the fantasy of separation of church and state in this country. For the second, we can argue religion all we want to. I can argue the meaning of toe-vah until Christ comes again or until I die, whichever comes first. I will return to the Greek texts as I have a friend who is a Greek scholar and is more than willing to advise me. So if you want to bring religion into the fray, I'm armed. I'm packing. And I'm not a happy camper to see God or Jesus used to author hate.
So, for the count (if anyone is counting), current legislation in America, whether national or state level, homosexuals are not allowed the right to marry. We are not allowed to jointly adopt and even have our children removed from us not for abuse, but simply because we're homosexual. We can be refused medical treatment. And now homosexuals are not allowed to enter into private contracts to protect their property or their physical being. So when do the concentration camps get built? Is that after Homosexuals are no longer allowed to own businesses but before we're no longer allowed to use heterosexual businesses? And anyone who doesn't see the correlation between homosexuals in American today and Jews in Germany in the early 1930s is a fool. We're being stripped of our rights as American citizens on both the state and federal level. I always thought Canada was a cold place to live, but it seems a hell of a lot warmer than America these days.
Mr. Marshall authored in a clause to prohibit same-sex contractual agreements "to see if we draw fire". Well, Mr. Marshall, it seems that you have. I doubt if this little editorial will do much to change status quo. I'm hoping some read it and are as appalled as I am. I'm praying that some straight people who read this will agree that Hate Bill 751 is just that--a piece of hate legislation that moves Virginia one step closer to the Gay Holocaust I see coming. And I hope anyone who reads this will go to Virginiaisforhaters.org and will read further on this bill.
Hate legislation would be easier for me to understand if somewhere in the Gospel, Jesus had said: "Hey, it's great to discriminate against queers!", however, He said didn't. Instead, He preached about loving your neighbor as yourself. I suppose Virginia delegates never read that.
I know I'm firing this off, typing on emotion instead of thinking calmly and rationally and organizing my thoughts. I try to marshall my arguments before I battle for them, but today I'm too upset to think straight (no pun intended). I see hatred and intolerance in the shadows and the shadows are getting bigger. Eventually, someone will dart out of the shadows with rock in hand and the discrimination will become less covert. A lot of people seem to think by ridding America of its homosexuals, the country will be blessed. Well, for one thing, I don't think it works that way. Hitler tried to do it and he didn't appear to be blessed for his efforts to rid the Third Reich of homosexuals. For another, one out of every ten children is gay. Yeah, I truly believe we're born that way. But look at a group of 30 classmates in school. Three of them are gay or will "grow up to be gay". One of them could even be your child. Come from a big family? Well, if you have ten siblings and cousins combined, one of them is more than likely gay. How will this affect you when it's your child, your brother, your sister, your cousin or your friend who's being discriminated against?
http://www.virginiaisforhaters.org
This is part of Pyschovant's 5th Annual Gay Pride Write-off.
Show your pride! Show your support!
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laryan
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Member: Lisa Ryan
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Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, moved on, reviewed it all. Made 7 cents.
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