Posted on 11/12/2005 4:07:04 PM PST by dvan
By 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - As U.S. gays and lesbians prepare to battle a raft of state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage that will likely be on the ballot next fall, activists are recasting the issue as one that needs to be fought on moral rather than political grounds.
That is the message Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest and leading U.S. grass-roots gay and lesbian coalition, has taken to more than 2,500 gay rights organizers at its annual conference held in Oakland this week.
"What I really want people to understand is rather than seeing these as political contests, these are really profound, unfair, bordering on immoral elections," Foreman told Reuters on Saturday. "Imagine if this was being done to a minority in Kosovo -- people would be outraged."
The conference, due to end on Sunday, is the first national gathering of gay and lesbian organizers since Tuesday's elections in which Texan voters approved, by nearly a 76 percent majority, a state constitutional amendment banning
Opponents, who believe marriage is only between a man and a woman, argue that same-sex marriage is unnatural and damaging to families.
If last year's conference, which came on the heels of elections in which 11 states approved changing their constitutions to ban same-sex marriage, was a time to vent anger and hurt over the defeats, this year the drive is to organize broad-based grass-roots campaigns to defeat more such votes, said Patrick Guerriero, president of the gay advocacy group Log Cabin Republicans.
"We've gone from some of the (2004) post-election anger to a movement that is optimistic about the future," Guerriero said in an interview.
"We need to be more mobilized as a community, more bipartisan in our message," Guerriero said, pointing to the need to engage people of faith, centrist Republicans and conservative Democrats.
UPHILL CLIMB
It will be a steep hill to climb, activists said.
"We're going to have another 10 to 12 anti-marriage, anti-family recognition constitutional amendments on the ballots next fall," Foreman said. "That's going to be an enormous challenge.'
Two key elements in the strategy to defeat more votes banning same-sex marriage will be reaching out to people of faith and demanding that Democrats, who have long counted on gays and lesbian as core supporters, stand up for the gay community, Foreman said.
"The Democrats' response to gay issues over the last few years has been incoherent and spineless, and that has only worked to their disadvantage," Foreman said. "There is a sense among large gay donors to the Democratic party that they need to have the party take a stand for us."
Somehow I fail to see the relevance?
...is as offensive to many as mother-son marriage, polygamy, sister-brother marriage, etc.
He thinks he shares victimhood with Albanian Muslims in Kosovo? As if they'd be kind to homosexuals!
Homosexuals are one of the few minorities who actually make a conscious choice that that is what they wish to be.
If your gay you can marry exept for these qualifications.
+
Good luck in Texas. The people of the State of Nebraska approved an amendment to the state constitution several years ago. It was a referendum since the politicians refused to pass it. The vote percentage was about the same in Texas, 3 to 1 or so. In one case, we beat the Texans. EVERY COUNTY in the State voted to approve it. The gays went to court and it was thrown out by a Federal Judge last year. Said that it violated the Federal Constitution. Funny, I don't remember reading about gay marriage in my copy of the Constitution. He did, though and that's all that counts.
The secret to any good strategy. First create a victim class.
Actually, I've been to Kosovo and several other third world places. Guess what? In none of those places was there a push for gay marriage or any other such nonsense. People are concerned with things like eating, and staying warm. Only in Western nations where people are well off with a lot of time on their hands do you see a call for trivialities such as gay rights.
Moral issue... hmmm....
Well, we know that after 25 years of trying, they haven't found any genetic evidence that people are "born this way." In fact, the strongest statement that I've heard from a geneticist, or neurologist, is people might be "inclined" towards their sexual activity, much like some people might be "inclined" to be a couch potatoe.
So, they cannot claim it's a moral issue because they are "born that way."
Worse for them, if this is simply a moral issue, then the discussion will turn to reclassifying a moral "wrong" to a moral "right". That will inevitably lead to comparisons with people / activities that we don't wish to reclassify (pedophiles?). I know from experience that such a comparison horrifys the gay/lesbian/transgender/Idunno/whatever camp.
It's not relevant -- and they know it.
There's NO REASON to permit same gender marriages and they know that too.
Homosexual Agenda Ping.
Oh, so they want to fight morality using morality as a stick to beat us with? Almost laughable if the outcome were not so serious. Equating a person who likes to engage in same sex acts with a member of a particular race or religion is NOT going to go over well with racial minorities or most (actual) religious people.
Interesting to see how this plays out.
Freepmail me and DirtyHarryY2K if you want on/off this pinglist.
(Kind of reminds me of when people like Howeird Dean start talking religion....)
You don't see the relevance because the analogy makes no sense.
Homosexuals aren't victims because they are homosexuals. They are victims of screwed up genes. There's no fixing it either. Validating the screwed up sexual orientation by pretending that it ISN'T screwed up isn't going to fix it. Soceity shouldn't be forced to say something is normal when it's not. That doesn't make society a victimizer. It's just common sense.
Bottom line: Every society has the right to decide on the parameters of what consistutes a marriage. Heck, there are strict rules on who can DRIVE.
Something as profoundly important as marriage deserves a society's best efforts. Opening the doors to SAME-SEX marriage would open the door to polygamy, woman marrying multiple men, child marriage and Farsi marriages (anything goes but monther-son marrriage). Even the most foolish moron in the society knows that changing our laws on marriage would be opening Pandora's Box -- moral chaos would ensue.
Follow-through on the thinking:
For all the Muslim lovers out there, THEY would be the next in line asking for polygamy. We would then have to give it to them. The Mormons would rejoice. All those guys could get themselves a younger wife every two years. They could pretend to be Biblical patriarchs or harem collectors of Arab lore. How lovely for our women and all those children.
Homosexuals are abnormal. They DESPERATELY want society's validation that they are normal. "Marriage" is a validation of their profound abnormality.
SAME-SEX marriage is just wrong. Very simple.
I say we send em to Kosovo and find out, why imagine?
Not really. I'm opposed to homos in Kosovo getting "married" as well.
"......Today, on Maury Povich.......
He married his mother just to make his sister jealous, but is he really the father of her child?
'My Brother, My Son, My Nephew'
....Today on Maury....."
Morals and homosexuality? Perhaps they might want to reference that study in the Netherlands that revealed that married homosexuals had, on average, 8 extramarital partners per year per person.
Or perhaps we ought to examine what goes on in gay bars, nightclubs, bookshops, in gas stations, and whatever else you can think of.
If there is a group who has no moral ground to stand on whatsoever, it's this one. Having lived with gay roommates, I've seen it first hand. And it's pretty pathetic.
Moral grounds? LOL! Oh how blind they are.
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