Posted on 01/12/2005 9:19:14 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Gay rights advocates gather at Capitol to protest discrimination
1/12/2005, 6:11 p.m. ET
By DAVID EGGERT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Pat and Peg Gordon, a lesbian couple, were OK with the "quiet existence" of raising a 15-year-old daughter and 13-year-son and balancing Pat's University of Michigan job and Peg's part-time position at an Ann Arbor school.
Then came Proposal 2, the constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman and banning same-sex marriage and "similar unions for any purpose." The amendment to the state constitution was passed in November by Michigan voters and took effect last month.
Already, it has had implications for same-sex couples. The state recently negotiated new contracts covering tens of thousands of state government employees that were to offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples for the first time.
But Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration has decided not to begin offering the benefits until a court rules whether they are legal now that voters have passed the constitutional amendment.
Some fear the amendment could strip same-sex partner benefits offered by all public employers.
"We have been pulled out of our homes" by the threat, Pat Gordon said Wednesday after attending a gay-rights rally at the Capitol. "We know when our rights are being tampered with."
Peg Gordon said that, because of Proposal 2, the school where she works no longer offers a death benefit covering her partner.
Organizers said the rally sent a message to Michigan lawmakers on the first of day of a new session: Despite the Proposal 2 setback, gays will not back off issues that are important to them.
Advocates said the Legislature should amend the state's civil rights law to extend discrimination protection to gays and lesbians; pass anti-bullying legislation so gay children are safe at school; allow gay couples to jointly adopt children; and reverse Proposal 2 so children of gay couples can have two legally recognized parents.
Some lawmakers attended the protest to offer their support.
"Is it a moral and just state when our families are not allowed to be recognized?" said Rep. Chris Kolb, an Ann Arbor Democrat and the state's first openly gay lawmaker. He was joined by his partner and his mother, who came to see him sworn in for his third two-year term.
"A moral and just community is what we strive for and will achieve soon," Kolb told about 200 people attending the rally. Advocates planned to speak with individual lawmakers after the midday event.
The Michigan Catholic Conference was among the groups that supported the amendment and oppose gay marriage.
"The family structure that includes a committed marriage between one man and one woman is the ideal that our society should pursue," MCC spokesman Dave Maluchnik said Wednesday.
pass anti-bullying legislation so gay children are safe at school;
Gays shouldn't be bullied but anti-bullying legislation is BS and wouldn't work. A punch in the mouth will.
allow gay couples to jointly adopt children;
HELL NO!
and reverse Proposal 2 so children of gay couples can have two legally recognized parents.
They already do, or should. A Mom and a Dad.
The author of this report would like us to believe that gays and lesbians were sitting quietly, minding their own business, when along came the big bad Religious Right. The article chooses to ignore the catylysts for many of these amendments, mainly Massachusetts and San Francisco.
200 queers rally and AP reports while a thousand (or thousandS) Christian(s) can rally and you would never hear a peep outta AP. Liberal bias in the media... naa...
"..were OK with the "quiet existence" of raising a 15-year-old daughter and 13-year-son and balancing Pat's University of Michigan job and Peg's part-time position at an Ann Arbor school."
And with propagandizing their perverted lifestyle to young minds as an acceptable alternative lifestyle.
I don't have a problem with sodomites changing tires, working in a research lab, being doctors, or selling appliances - but teaching young minds - NO!!!!
Marriage must be defined as between a man and a women. The test for marriage is Pro-Creation. Not artificial insemination or test tubes or any of the SCIENTIFIC garbage double speak. This definotly leaves Homosexual male out of the creation loop.
The acceptance of Homosexuality is part of the European Socialist Manefesto or their Constitution. The same with Hate Crimes Laws, these are to supress our freedom of speech. Some links that lay it all out:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1254190/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1318061/posts?page=6#6
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1318038/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1318034/posts
I once worked at a store in NYC where most of my coworkers were gay men. They were all more than capable of defending themselves from Gay bashers, and didn''t need laws to protect them.
Still, nothing beats a bigot like a good kick in the ass!
Don't try arguing apples and oranges on this site...it won't work. Most gays are more than capable of defending themselves. I have a gay brother and used to hang with him and his friends. Some of that crowd is vicious.
2 - As for "propagandizing their perverted lifestyle to young minds"... if the two kids are straight, they're straight. Having lesbo parents isn't going to twist 'em up any more than having left-handed parents would confuse right-handed kids.
Please! Homosexuality is a LEARNED trait. There is NO evidence otherwise.
And welcome to Free Republic.
If you'll pardon the expression, this is some serious drama queen bullcrap.
It's "lynching" and states don't need those laws. Murder is already illegal. Like, duh?
Oh...and welcome to FR.
Homosexual behaviour, just as almost all behaviour patterns acquired by a child, is learnt by imitation...or, if you prefer, recruitment.
This, btw, is the precise reason why (although this result clearly will NOT occur) that one Randy Moss, a player for the Vikings, should be ordered by the NFL to be barred from participating in the next game, said decision based solely upon his behaviour in the game this past weekend.
Aw eek from now, I bet there will be more pro-lifers rallying at the state capitol than there were gay activists today. Of course the media will make no mention of the pro-life rally.
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