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Gay activists claim redefining marriage won’t hurt anyone, but that’s a lie. Just ask Canadians.
LifeSiteNews ^ | 5/1/15 | Dawn Stefanowicz

Posted on 05/01/2015 1:05:09 PM PDT by wagglebee

May 1, 2015 (ThePublicDiscourse.com) -- I am one of six adult children of gay parents who recently filed amicus briefs with the US Supreme Court, asking the Court to respect the authority of citizens to keep the original definition of marriage: a union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, so that children may know and may be raised by their biological parents. I also live in Canada, where same-sex marriage was federally mandated in 2005.

I am the daughter of a gay father who died of AIDS. I described my experiences in my book: Out From Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting. Over fifty adult children who were raised by LGBT parents have communicated with me and share my concerns about same-sex marriage and parenting. Many of us struggle with our own sexuality and sense of gender because of the influences in our household environments growing up.

We have great compassion for people who struggle with their sexuality and gender identity—not animosity. And we love our parents. Yet, when we go public with our stories, we often face ostracism, silencing, and threats.

I want to warn America to expect severe erosion of First Amendment freedoms if the US Supreme Court mandates same-sex marriage. The consequences have played out in Canada for ten years now, and they are truly Orwellian in nature and scope.

Canada’s Lessons

In Canada, freedoms of speech, press, religion, and association have suffered greatly due to government pressure. The debate over same-sex marriage that is taking place in the United States could not legally exist in Canada today. Because of legal restrictions on speech, if you say or write anything considered “homophobic” (including, by definition, anything questioning same-sex marriage), you could face discipline, termination of employment, or prosecution by the government.

Why do police prosecute speech under the guise of eliminating “hate speech” when there are existing legal remedies and criminal protections against slander, defamation, threats, and assault that equally apply to all Americans? Hate-crime-like policies using the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” create unequal protections in law, whereby protected groups receive more legal protection than other groups.

Having witnessed how mob hysteria in Indiana caused the legislature to back-track on a Religious Freedom Restoration Act, many Americans are beginning to understand that some activists on the Left want to usher in state control over every institution and freedom. In this scheme, personal autonomy and freedom of expression become nothing more than pipe dreams, and children become commodified.

Children are not commodities that can be justifiably severed from their natural parentage and traded between unrelated adults. Children in same-sex households will often deny their grief and pretend they don’t miss a biological parent, feeling pressured to speak positively due to the politics surrounding LGBT households. However, when children lose either of their biological parents because of death, divorce, adoption, or artificial reproductive technology, they experience a painful void. It is the same for us when our gay parent brings his or her same-sex partner(s) into our lives. Their partner(s) can never replace our missing biological parent.

The State as Ultimate Arbiter of Parenthood

Over and over, we are told that “permitting same-sex couples access to the designation of marriage will not deprive anyone of any rights.” That is a lie.

When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2005, parenting was immediately redefined. Canada’s gay marriage law, Bill C-38, included a provision to erase the term “natural parent” and replace it across the board with gender-neutral “legal parent” in federal law. Now all children only have “legal parents,” as defined by the state. By legally erasing biological parenthood in this way, the state ignores children’s foremost right: their immutable, intrinsic yearning to know and be raised by their own biological parents.

Mothers and fathers bring unique and complementary gifts to their children. Contrary to the logic of same-sex marriage, the gender of parents matters for the healthy development of children. We know, for example, that the majority of incarcerated men did not have their fathers in the home. Fathers by their nature secure identity, instill direction, provide discipline, boundaries, and risk-taking adventures, and set lifelong examples for children. But fathers cannot nurture children in the womb or give birth to and breast-feed babies. Mothers nurture children in unique and beneficial ways that cannot be duplicated by fathers.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that men and women are anatomically, biologically, physiologically, psychologically, hormonally, and neurologically different from each other. These unique differences provide lifelong benefits to children that cannot be duplicated by same-gender “legal” parents acting out different gender roles or attempting to substitute for the missing male or female role model in the home.

In effect, same-sex marriage not only deprives children of their own rights to natural parentage, it gives the state the power to override the autonomy of biological parents, which means parental rights are usurped by the government.

Hate Tribunals Are Coming

In Canada, it is considered discriminatory to say that marriage is between a man and a woman or that every child should know and be raised by his or her biological married parents. It is not just politically incorrect in Canada to say so; you can be saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, fined, and forced to take sensitivity training.

Anyone who is offended by something you have said or written can make a complaint to the Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals. In Canada, these organizations police speech, penalizing citizens for any expression deemed in opposition to particular sexual behaviors or protected groups identified under “sexual orientation.” It takes only one complaint against a person to be brought before the tribunal, costing the defendant tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. The commissions have the power to enter private residences and remove all items pertinent to their investigations, checking for hate speech.

The plaintiff making the complaint has his legal fees completely paid for by the government. Not so the defendant. Even if the defendant is found innocent, he cannot recover his legal costs. If he is found guilty, he must pay fines to the person(s) who brought forth the complaint.

If your beliefs, values, and political opinions are different from the state’s, you risk losing your professional license, job, or business, and even your children. Look no further than the Lev Tahor Sect, an Orthodox Jewish sect. Many members, who had been involved in a bitter custody battle with child protection services, began leaving Chatham, Ontario, for Guatemala in March 2014, to escape prosecution for their religious faith, which conflicted with the Province’s guidelines for religious education. Of the two hundred sect members, only half a dozen families remain in Chatham.

Parents can expect state interference when it comes to moral values, parenting, and education—and not just in school. The state has access into your home to supervise you as the parent, to judge your suitability. And if the state doesn’t like what you are teaching your children, the state will attempt to remove them from your home.

Teachers cannot make comments in their social networks, write letters to editors, publicly debate, or vote according to their own conscience on their own time. They can be disciplined or lose any chance of tenure. They can be required at a bureaucrat’s whim to take re-education classes or sensitivity training, or be fired for thinking politically incorrect thoughts.

When same-sex marriage was created in Canada, gender-neutral language became legally mandated. Newspeak proclaims that it is discriminatory to assume a human being is male or female, or heterosexual. So, to be inclusive, special non-gender-specific language is being used in media, government, workplaces, and especially schools to avoid appearing ignorant, homophobic, or discriminatory. A special curriculum is being used in many schools to teach students how to use proper gender-neutral language. Unbeknownst to many parents, use of gender terms to describe husband and wife, father and mother, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and “he” and “she” is being steadily eradicated in Canadian schools.

Which Is More Important: Sexual Autonomy or the First Amendment?

Recently, an American professor who was anonymously interviewed for the American Conservative questioned whether sexual autonomy is going to cost you your freedoms: “We are now at the point, he said, at which it is legitimate to ask if sexual autonomy is more important than the First Amendment?”

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canadian citizens were supposed to have been guaranteed: (1) freedom of conscience and religion; (2) freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; (3) freedom of peaceful assembly; and (4) freedom of association. In reality, all of these freedoms have been curtailed with the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Wedding planners, rental halls, bed and breakfast owners, florists, photographers, and bakers have already seen their freedoms eroded, conscience rights ignored, and religious freedoms trampled in Canada. But this is not just about the wedding industry. Anybody who owns a business may not legally permit his or her conscience to inform business practices or decisions if those decisions are not in line with the tribunals’ decisions and the government’s sexual orientation and gender identity non-discrimination laws. In the end, this means that the state basically dictates whether and how citizens may express themselves.

Freedom to assemble and speak freely about man-woman marriage, family, and sexuality is now restricted. Most faith communities have become “politically correct” to avoid fines and loss of charitable status. Canadian media are restricted by the Canadian Radio, Television, and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is similar to the FCC. If the media air anything considered discriminatory, broadcasting licenses can be revoked, and “human rights bodies” can charge fines and restrict future airings.

An example of legally curtailed speech regarding homosexuality in Canada involves the case of Bill Whatcott, who was arrested for hate speech in April 2014 after distributing pamphlets that were critical of homosexuality. Whether or not you agree with what he says, you should be aghast at this state-sanctioned gagging. Books, DVDs, and other materials can also be confiscated at the Canadian border if the materials are deemed “hateful.”

Americans need to prepare for the same sort of surveillance-society in America if the Supreme Court rules to ban marriage as a male-female institution. It means that no matter what you believe, the government will be free to regulate your speech, your writing, your associations, and whether or not you may express your conscience. Americans also need to understand that the endgame for some in the LGBT rights movement involves centralized state power—and the end of First Amendment freedoms.


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ac; gays; homosexualagenda; moralabsolutes; persecution; samesexmarriage
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Americans also need to understand that the endgame for some in the LGBT rights movement involves centralized state power—and the end of First Amendment freedoms.

I fear that many Americans won't realize this until it's too late.

1 posted on 05/01/2015 1:05:09 PM PDT by wagglebee
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2 posted on 05/01/2015 1:05:52 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee
Gay activists claim redefining marriage won’t hurt anyone, ...

ROAD APPLES

3 posted on 05/01/2015 1:12:02 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: wagglebee

They need to take off the party glasses and see what’s happening.


4 posted on 05/01/2015 1:12:43 PM PDT by gattaca (Republicans believe every day is July 4, democrats believe every day is April 15. Ronald Reagan)
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To: wagglebee

Interesting read.


5 posted on 05/01/2015 1:14:06 PM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: SandRat

marriage is just another step to destroy Christianity and the founding of this country while passing their agenda even more.

Check the rules in their 20’s, think about 26 or 27

http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm


6 posted on 05/01/2015 1:15:42 PM PDT by manc (Marriage =1 man + 1 woman,when they say marriage equality then they should support polygamy)
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To: wagglebee

It’s not that long ago when they said all they wanted was to be left alone in the privacy of their own bedrooms.


7 posted on 05/01/2015 1:16:19 PM PDT by Iron Munro (Oh, yeah. A voluntary internal aWe may be paranoid but that doesn't mean they aren't really after us)
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To: wagglebee

If Adam and Steve can be “Married”

Then Adam and Steve and Masha and their dog Spot can all be married too.


8 posted on 05/01/2015 1:17:38 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that - Baltimore's Democrat Mayor)
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To: Iron Munro
We suspected that was a load Cow Manure then too.
9 posted on 05/01/2015 1:18:47 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: wagglebee
Yet, when we go public with our stories, we often face ostracism, silencing, and threats.

The gaystapo will tolerate no dissension and will not be happy until everyone is forced to publicly celebrate their perversion.

10 posted on 05/01/2015 1:19:13 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (True followers of Christ emulate Christ. True followers of Mohammed emulate Mohammed.)
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To: wagglebee

The US feral government is applying to marriage the same pattern that Microsoft uses with rival software technologies; Embrace, extend, extinguish.


11 posted on 05/01/2015 1:20:54 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (If Obama speaks and there is no one there to hear it, is it still a lie?)
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To: wagglebee
"Americans also need to understand that the endgame for some in the LGBT rights movement involves centralized state power—and the end of First Amendment freedoms."

Again, the Marxist agenda surfaces its vulgar head. Remember, everything, EVERYTHING with the Left is about the socialist revolution.

12 posted on 05/01/2015 1:21:04 PM PDT by HotHunt
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To: wagglebee

I’ve long believed that CWII would be precipatated by either abortion or homosexuality.

It would appear that the queers have taken the lead.


13 posted on 05/01/2015 1:22:30 PM PDT by Arm_Bears (Biology is biology. Anything else is imagination.)
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To: Iron Munro

They said that and then it was civil unions, then marriage, then adoption, then teach it in the schools, now they want the founding of the country and the 1st amendment to be ignored.

To think many of us were stating all of this years ago and there were some on our side or trolls saying so what it is not our business and all they want is to be left alone.


14 posted on 05/01/2015 1:23:41 PM PDT by manc (Marriage =1 man + 1 woman,when they say marriage equality then they should support polygamy)
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To: wagglebee

I’m glad I’m old and ugly, ‘cause when gay sex is mandatory, all you young pretty guys are screwed. ;^}

Refusal will be a hate crime.


15 posted on 05/01/2015 1:23:59 PM PDT by JJ_Folderol (Diagonally parked in a parallel universe...)
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To: wagglebee

BTTT


16 posted on 05/01/2015 1:25:06 PM PDT by subterfuge (Minneseeota: the laughingstock of the nation - for lots of reasons!)
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To: wagglebee; stephenjohnbanker; Gilbo_3; Impy; NFHale; GOPsterinMA; BillyBoy; fieldmarshaldj
RE:”Gay activists claim redefining marriage won’t hurt anyone, but that’s a lie......”

Christian businesses who don't want to participate in gay wedding celebrations.

The above was always the big lie, just like MLK claiming his dream is colorblindness and equality.

17 posted on 05/01/2015 1:25:41 PM PDT by sickoflibs (King Obama : 'The debate is over. The time for talk is over. Just follow my commands you serfs""')
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To: Arm_Bears
Yep, four years or so ago, I predicted the next move of the GAYstapo after they got their sham marriages legalized would either be to move on to (a)pedophilia in steps by lowering the age of consent and the like or (b)destruction of the first amendment by claiming special rights as a group and forcing all to bow at their altar.

I wasn't sure which path they would pick first. Now we know.

18 posted on 05/01/2015 1:32:32 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: wagglebee

“Books, DVDs, and other materials can also be confiscated at the Canadian border if the materials are deemed “hateful.””

I am wondering when they will ban the Bible. They have to consider it “hateful.”


19 posted on 05/01/2015 1:41:16 PM PDT by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - a Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
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To: wagglebee

I cannot believe that 2% of the population has been able to turn government into the Marxist’s arm of social control.


20 posted on 05/01/2015 1:47:04 PM PDT by jonrick46 (America's real drug problem: other people's money (the Commutist's opium addiction).)
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