Posted on 06/25/2007 12:53:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Religious groups including Christians, Jews and Buddhists led the gay pride parade on Sunday, lending gravity to the often outrageous event that celebrates the night gay bar patrons resisted a police raid.
"We stand for a progressive religious voice," said Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of New York City's Congregation Beth Simchat Torah. "Those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda I believe are blaspheming God's name."
Kleinbaum, who heads the world's largest predominantly gay synagogue, and the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, were the parade's grand marshals, waving from his-and-hers convertibles.
The march took place days after the New York State Assembly passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, which Gov. Eliot Spitzer supports. Although the bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled state Senate any time soon, parade-goers said they were cheered by the Assembly's action.
"This is one very important step toward full equality for all New Yorkers," Kleinbaum said.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, one of the nation's most prominent openly gay elected officials, said she could not predict when the Senate might approve same-sex marriage.
"All conventional wisdom in New York state on gay marriage is out the window," she said. "I think we are really doing better than anyone would ever have thought we could be doing on this."
As in past years, there was exhibitionism on display as the parade inched down Fifth Avenue and into Greenwich Village. Revelers gyrated in bikini briefs and pranced in spike heels.
But the placement of the religious organizations near the head of the march - ahead of AIDS service groups and political advocacy groups - gave them unaccustomed prominence.
A Buddhist group carried signs that said "Construct Dignity in Your Heart" and "Don't Block Your Buddha."
"We're all Buddhas," said Hortense De Castro, a teacher from Manhattan. "It's just a matter of letting it come out."
The gay Roman Catholic group Dignity had a float and a giant rainbow flag. Jeff Stone, secretary of the New York chapter, said he was hopeful that the church would someday change its stance opposing homosexuality.
"We see that the opinion of ordinary Catholics is changing," he said. "Eventually what happens at the grass roots percolates up in the church."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg marched with Quinn and other elected officials including Lt. Gov. David Paterson.
There were contingents of gay police officers and firefighters as well as ethnic gay groups including South Asians, Haitians and American Indians.
An Argentinian and Uruguayan group featured an Eva Peron impersonator in a flowing gown.
Tens of thousands of people attended the march. Spectators lining Fifth Avenue included gay people sporting rainbow flags and curious tourists.
Toni Cinanni of Perth, Australia said she was surprised at the prominence of the church groups.
"I thought the religious groups had hijacked the parade," she said. "I couldn't put it together, religion and sexuality."
Andrew Stanley of Shrewsbury, England said the march was "very colorful."
"I've never seen one before," he said, "but I think it's a good idea."
The annual gay pride parade, one of dozens that takes place around the world, commemorates the 1969 Stonewall riots when patrons at a Greenwich Village gay bar fought back against a police raid.
And I have more grandkids than that entire congregation all together.
Where in the world do people get the idea that there is such a thing as a right to perversion?
(more grandkids, etc.) Hey! How about we have
a grandkids parade day - showing their appreciation
for a mom and a dad, a grandma and a grandpa.
Showing pride in the traditional safe and sane family day.
The “religious Left.”
Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The tares are waving tall in the wind, waiting for the day of reaping.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-chat/1855581/posts
Gay marriage bill is new reason to celebrate gay pride as parade approaches
Those darn religious groups. They’re the reason people are gay!/sarc
*snicker*
“Those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda I believe are blaspheming God’s name”
Romans 1:26-27 Says: 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
God’s words, not mine. Can God blaspheme himself?
Sheesh. A gay hispanic buddhist teacher. What will they think of next?
Gay smokers protested their exclusion.
Just because I’m smoking a fag.....
Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed because God thought they weren’t “gay” enough. These churches blaspheme God with their agenda and quite frankly the many great nations that have fallen over time all had one thing in common. No morality.
The purpose of a parade is to draw attention to one’s self. If you don’t pay attention, eventually they will get bored and give it up. There are hundreds of parades in NYC every year, Puerto Rican Day, Lithuanian PRide Parade, etc..
Just don’t give them the attention that they want.
I wonder if "Rabbi" Kleinbaum is willing to enforce the Torah penalty for blasphemy.
Time to remind the good Rabbi that it’s his religion that gave us what is perhaps the most succinct answer to the question of homosexuality in Leviticus 20:13
“If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death: their blood will be on their own heads.”
You can’t get much clearer than that. That’s not “hate speech”: it’s God’s word. Though thankfully it’s not His last word, and those who come forward with genuine repentance can still be forgiven.
” How about we have
a grandkids parade day - showing their appreciation
for a mom and a dad, a grandma and a grandpa.”
You have seen the bumper stickers “my kid is an honor student at _____ school”?
I made one that said “My kid HONORS his parents and teachers”
yuck
“A gay hispanic buddhist teacher. What will they think of next?”
A transexual cripple one eyed Hispanic lesbian Maoist?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.