The Road from Here to Marriage Equality
Today we must turn anger into action.
It's cold comfort to many that history is moving in the right direction, with five states already on their way to marriage equality. But it's our job to make sure history moves faster towards equality here in California.
We must redouble our efforts in California to finally win this fight for equal rights. Please, take a moment today and lend your voice to this just cause.
Sign our petition for marriage equality.
Join the tireless efforts of the Courage Campaign and Equality California.
Let's be respectful. But let's be clear. We must start changing minds today. I know many of my fellow Californians may initially agree with this ruling, but I ask them to reserve final judgment until they have discussed this decision with someone who will be affected by it.
Please talk to a lesbian or gay family member, neighbor or co-worker and ask them why equality in the eyes of the law is important to every Californian. Please talk to local business leaders who know that this will cost jobs and make California less competitive. Please remember we all know someone who is hurt by this decision today. Please reach out to these friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors and discuss why this decision is wrong for California.
California, at its best, is a beacon of equal rights and equal opportunities. If we want to prosper together, we must respect one another.
That's why we must resolve to restore marriage equality to all Californians. Let this work start today. Sign our petition and join the efforts of the Courage Campaign and Equality California.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
RE Freethinker09’s Post: 12:30 PM on 05/28/2009
Being gay and Christian aren't mutually exclusive realities. Some born-again Christians in my congregation are also in same-sex relationships. They attend worship services, are musicians, teach Bible classes, attend prayer meetings and participate in pot-luck suppers and other church-sponsored get-togethers. We cook meals for grieving families and friends, attend picnics, regularly go out to eat and have game nights in each others’ homes. We are all family (i.e., brothers and sisters in Christ) at our church and are very blessed to share in Christ's fellowship.
Your post unfairly vilifies gay people and is contrary to our personal experience, I felt compelled to speak in defense of my brothers and sisters in Jesus who are also gay.
To deny two loving, committed adults the right to marry just because they are a same-sex couple is wrong. To imply that the only families that are safe for children are those with opposite-sex parents is also wrong. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime (2009):
1. Incest is the most common form of child abuse.
2. Forty-three percent of children who are abused are sexually abused by family.
3. The majority of instances of incest are perpetrated by fathers upon their daughters – irrespective of ethnicity, socioeconomic status or religious tradition.
4. Nearly one out of every three hundred Americans is the victim of father-daughter incest.
Well, let's not forget here that there are other forms of child abuse which are far more common than sexual abuse of any kind. That counts, too, and is a *big* problem among those who tend to want to accuse gay people of being sexual abusers of children. (Or keep insisting that perpetrators of child sexual abuse are gay in order to smear gay people: in fact, that pathology is unrelated to sexual orientatio
It does seem that a lot of the people who claim to be 'protecting children' by attacking the rights of LBGT people are only concerned with *sex,* and not what the reality of abuse is at all. It's a form of scapegoating, and it doesn't help a single abused child.
"Incest is the most common form of child abuse." - Due to word limits, I was unable to be more precise. Allow me to do so now:
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime (2009): Incest is the most common form of violent form of child abuse for which police reports have been filed and criminal prosecutions are sought or have been effected.
Gays need to print large banners and posters DISPLAYING THE MURDERED DEAD gay men and women's bloodied bodies as they were when they were first discovered
And run TV ads showing the slaughtered.
And then let's work towards an amendment to the US Constitution that restores the separation of state from the churches.
Here's the words I'd suggest:
"the use of religion and/or religiously-derived dogma by any person or persons to harrass, harm, or incite violence against any other person shall result in the removal of that person or institution from the borders (real and virtual) of the USA, the forfeiture of all rights of the offender(s) to citizenship, and/or shall be punishable by life in prison w/ no parole."
And let's restart the process also add the Equal Rights Amendment.
"Equal rights under the Constitution shall not be abridged or limited on account of one's gender".
Time to run referenda petitions in all 50 states for a US Constitutional Amendment forbidding the use of religion by any person or persons to harrass, harm, or incite violence against any other person, punishable by life in prison w/ no parole.
Legally recognized marriage discriminates against all singles, not just gays who are still legally regarded as singles.
Interesting conversation but right now cali has bigger fish to fry,if they dont get their house in order it wont matter what the people want,there wont be any people living there!
Maybe you should ask the GOP and the churches why they're spending millions in these tough times to try and legalize inequality ...because they think a comfortable 'definition' is more important than the poor and can't tell the difference between civil and religious marriage?
Injustic anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - Martin Luther King
Separate is NEVER Equal.
Our constitution guaranteess equal protection for ALL citizens. Equality will win.
Not one state that has "adopted gay marriage" has done so with the vote of its people.
And why can't Newsome and his gay legions reach out to Christians that are concerned that their children will be targeted, recruited, indoctrinated and seduced by homosexuals in the public school system, and give them some sensible legal protection for their children?
Because Newsom and his gay legions are intelligent enough to understand that being gay is not a choice and that people can't be recruited. Hocus Pocus does not rule their lives.
Dr. William C. Holmes, M.D. and Dr. Gail B. Slap, M.D.
(JAMA, Vol. 280 No. 21, December 2, 1998):
"Adolescent boys, particularly those victimized by males, were up to 7 times more likely to identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual than peers who had not been abused (P
Actually Mass. legalized marriage equality for gay citizens over five years ago. Plenty of time to overturn it or ammend their constitution. They chose not to. The citizens of the state have made their views known. And it's a big NON- ISSUE (though they do seem to like all the extra money gay marriage is bringing to their states economy).
Another in the endless stream of rampant homophobic rants. Children have way, way, way more to fear from hetreosexuals than homosexuals.
Not one state voted to end slavery
Not one state voted to end interracial marriage 'miscegenation' laws, UNTIL AFTER either a president or a legislature or a court ENDED it first. So what?
uh, Vermont's legislators, you know, those people that were voted into office? They voted...
Will you support one man many spouses? I have a lot of money and would like to marry a few guys, a few more wummin, and a couple of farm animals I've become rather attached to. I would particularly like to include my sheep in my health insurance plan and my 401K
I do hope that you and your sheep live happily ever after.
Gavin is so handsome it's hard to concentrate on what he's saying....
California need Gavin Newsom to be our governor.
The government has no business in the marriage business, homosexual or otherwise.
Great post, Gavin, you've got my vote!
Why? He handed the Yes on 8 campaign most of the ammunition they needed to win. He starred in their TV ads!
That's the idea of his posturing: to get your vote.
The only "victory" in the court's decision was the victory of the tyranny of the majority. The CA Supreme Court has said loudly and clearly that if you can get enough votes, (50% plus one), you can take away civil rights from any group you want. You get enough votes from right handed people, you can ban left handed people from getting married!
Sounds silly? Apparently not if you are on CA Supreme Court.
Lately we have seen conservatives holding "tax protest tea parties." These protests sought to invoke the spirit of the Boston Tea Party and early American tax resistance. Well, ok. In the 1770's the issue was "Taxation Without Representation" . Being TAXED as a full citizen of a country, while not having the full RIGHTS as other citizens of that country was considered tyranny. So much so that it was worthy of not only tax resistance but even armed rebellion.
I AM NOT IN ANY WAY advocating armed rebellion ( Besides, the TX GOP has already had that idea and ran with it.) But the TAXATION question is interesting.
LGBT Americans are taxed as full citizens while being treated as s2nd class citizens. The State of California is lbroke. The fiscal crisis in CA is massive . If even a moderate percentage of LGBT Californians stopped their state tax payroll withholding, it would bring the state to a halt nearly overnight.
"the victory of the tyranny of the majority. "
That used to be called DEMOCRACY. Wow, I guess democracy is no longer for the people, of the people, by the people eh? Only for the 1% gay people....
Actually, the founding fathers wrote extensively about "the tyrrany of the majority" and their fear of it. They recognized that democracy could in fact be a threat to the freedom of a minority group and installed many safeguards against it, most notably the judicial branch of the government. Perhaps you should read about the history of the founding country before spouting off about it.
What country do you live in? Did they not have schools there? Grow up and stop saying stoopid stuff.
Mr. Newsom makes an appeal to be respectful while making yet another bid to attempt to redefine marriage here in California. I believe Mr. Newson finally understands what is at the heart of most Californian's distaste for "gay" marital unions: the lack of respect afforded to us who oppose your behaviors and conduct, and wanting to shield children from the practices we oppose i.e. Gavin taking first graders to an attempted gay union without parental consent. The best thing your side can do to gain success is to respect other's rights to disagree with your views, and accept that we Latinos, Blacks, and Asians, alongside many other minority groups, are not walking arm in arm with you. Now, I will await the vulgar onslaught that awaits to repudiate my statements
I have nothing negative to say to you. You are entitled to your opinion. I applaud you for posting it.
I just wish that you would take a moment and think about our children. We want to shield them from the hate and unequal treatment bestowed upon their parents. But that is what is out there in the world. My daughter will see this hate no matter how much I try to shield her from it.
Your children will and do live in a world where we exist. Just because you want to take away our right to live with our families the way you live with yours. When they grow up do you want them to feel good about being shielded from a diverse family type and have hate in their heart towards other human beings or would you rather should them that you love everyone and treat everyone the same. Even if you don't agree with the lifestyle they live, you still have an obligation to your children to teach them the difference between hate and disagreement.
Thank you for your courtesy.
We oppose marriage between homosexuals precisely due to considerations for your children, and mine. Children deserve to have both a mother and a father. They deserve to be raised by their biological parents as 2 married individuals of the opposite sex that emulate the best of their genders. The UN has even recognized this as a right for all children. Regardless of the love you have for your child, gay marriage is a hybrid of the real thing, and not the ideal which is marriage between a man and a woman.
As for the "hate" issue, you mistake our disagreement for hate. I LOVE LGBT people, as well as the children they have adopted. However, that doesn't negate the fact that the best for a gay couple is not the best for a child who has no choice in the matter.
You are the one who can prevent your children from seeing this- just because our children have to be decent, doesn't mean you have a right to shove your lifestyle in their faces.
No one wants to take away your rights...j
COMPROMISE
Could someone provide a legally and ethically accurate answer to my question:
Why do republicans rant they do not want "government" telling them what they can and cannot do, ie. gun control...
yet the same republicans want government to tell citizens who they can or cannot marry.
What contradiction
What hypocricy
The republicans cannot have it both ways, so choose and then leave others alone!!!!
Sir, with all due respect, we Republicans do oppose the government's intrusion upon our right to practice our religion, our freedoms, our speech, which otherwise would be compromised had marriage between homosexuals been affirmed here in our awesome state. That is why we rejected and voted, and raised millions to reject this imposition upon our freedoms by a court system which decided to impose a newly created "right" to marry among homosexuals. There is no contradiction sir, no hypocrisy at all.
Do not refer to to me as "sir", as your assumption is incorrect!
You have not answered my question, if you do not believe in "intrusion" then stay out of the marital relationships of others. Your attempted justification only points to the compromise your freedom of speech and actions have in suppressing the speech and actions of gay/lesbians to express their love and dedication to a spouse of the same gender.
So once again I point to the hypocrisy of your claims, freedom for one group at the expense of another--that is not freedom!!!!
With all due respect, how does two people you have never met who are in love and want to get married impose on your freedom?
Willow- I agree with you fully!!!!!! Republicans always say no big government but then they want to govern us to death, jump in bed with people,tell people who to love, and when to have children.B
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
