Senator Chris Buttars Forced to Resign for inciting HATE

A picture of what most Republicans, Conservatives and Yes on 8 supporters look like now or will look like when they get older, sexy huh:

Welcome to The Senate Site

Friday, February 20, 2009 For the Record By Chris Buttars State Senator, District 10 I was disappointed to learn of the Utah State Senate’s censure on Feb. 20, 2009. However, this action will not discourage me from defending marriage from an increasingly vocal and radical segment of the homosexual community. In recent years, registering opposition to the homosexual agenda has become almost impossible. Political correctness has replaced open and energetic debate. Those who dare to disagree with the homosexual agenda are labeled “haters,” and “bigots,” and are censured by their peers. The media contributes to the problem. Increasingly, individuals with conservative beliefs are targeted by a left-leaning media that uses their position of public trust as a bully pulpit. This pattern of intimidation suppresses free speech. For the record, I do not agree with the censure I see it as an attempt to shy away from controversy. In particular, I disagree with my removal as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, since my work there is entirely unrelated to my opposition to the homosexual agenda. Still, I’m a grown man and I can take my knocks. When it comes right down to it, I would rather be censured for doing what I think is right, than be honored by my colleagues for bowing to the pressure of a special interest group that has been allowed to act with impunity. Thanks to the many citizens who have written and called to express their support. Please know that I’ll live through this to fight another day. In years to come, we’ll all look back at this point in history and see it as a crossroads. I have no intention of resigning.” Previously: Buttars also came under fire after earlier this month speaking on the floor about a school-funding bill. “This baby is black,” he said according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. “It’s a dark, ugly thing.” The local NAACP demanded that he resign, calling his words “despicable.”

Yes on 8 Supporters Get Slap On the Hand

Resolution Opposing Prop. 8 Introduced in California Legislature

 

It looks like all those Yes on 8 supporters are on their way to finally getting that hard slap in the face they all deserve.  Justice is on it’s way and is going to be served, because any kind of hate is intolerable, and voting to take rights away from a group of American Citizens is not only disgusting, but it’s inexcusable in the eyes of the law. 

 

Members of California’s senate and assembly introduced a resolution on Tuesday, opposing the passage of Proposition 8. With the resolution, sponsors Sen. Mark Leno and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, both San Francisco Democrats, suggest that Proposition 8 represents an improper revision of the state constitution. They maintain that both houses of the California legislature must approve any proposed revision to the constitution by a two-thirds vote before it can even go on the ballot, which was not the case with Prop. 8.

 

The California supreme court is slated to hear arguments for and against the proposition in March 2009.  Legal and civil cases and suits have been filed with the Supreme Court on November 5 and since challenging the validity of the marriage ban. The suit was filed even before Equality California, the official group that organized to defeat Prop. 8, had conceded defeat.

The court has repealed only two ballot measures in its history, a 1966 law that would have allowed racial discrimination in housing, and an anti-immigration proposition passed in 1994, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The resolution is a public decree, showing that the state legislature takes an official stance on an issue, and not actual legislation. While the document has no law-binding power, it is likely to be directed to the supreme court as it make its decision next spring.  This is only the beginning in a long line of justice serving retaliation against the Yes on 8 supporters to put an end on hate.

Florida Court Strikes Down Gay Adoption Ban!

In the Wake of the horrible Proposition Hate, I mean Proposition 8 passing, courts across the country begin striking back against the people of this country who are on a rampage to take rights away from individuals who are more capable then them to be in relationships and to adopt.  We begin seeing the first of a long line of goodness coming down from the United States Courts, beginning with the State of Florida.  What a beautiful surprise this was.

Florida Trial Court Opens Way For Lesbians And Gay Men To Adopt

 

Court strikes down ban, ruling Two Foster Children Can Be Adopted by Gay Foster Parent

 

November 25, 2008

 

MIAMI – A Florida circuit court today struck down a Florida law that bars lesbians and gay men from adopting.  The court granted adoptions to a gay man, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, who has been raising two foster children since 2004. 

 

“Our family just got a lot more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving,” said Martin Gill, a North Miami resident who is raising two brothers, four and eight, with his partner.  “We are extremely relieved that the court has recognized that it is wrong to deny our boys the legal protections and security that only come with adoption.” 

 

The court ruled that the ban violated the equal protection guarantees of the state constitution because it singles out for different treatment gay people and the children they raise for no rational reason.  The court also found that the ban denies children the right to permanency provided by federal and state law under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.

 

“While the decision will be welcome news to many lesbian and gay Floridians, the children in Florida foster care are the real winners today,” said Leslie Cooper, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and a member of the legal team that tried the case.  “The court put the interest of the children first, recognizing that the gay ban served no legitimate purpose and only made it more difficult for the state to find homes for the many children in foster care.”

 

The court’s decision comes after a four-day trial in October where the court heard from experts on children’s health and development and listened to the justifications offered by the state for the ban.  In reaching its decision, the court rejected the false assumptions and stereotypes about gay people presented by the state, holding that many “reports and studies find that there are no differences in the parenting of homosexuals or the adjustment of their children. These conclusions have been accepted, adopted and ratified by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatry Association, the American Pediatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Child Welfare League of America and the National Association of Social Workers. As a result, based on the robust nature of the evidence available in the field, this Court is satisfied that the issue is so far beyond dispute that it would be irrational to hold otherwise; the best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption.”

  

The court also rejected claims by the state that children do better when raised in homes with a mother and a father and that children raised by gay parents face social stigma.  The court found, “. . . the professionals and the major associations now agree there is well established and accepted consensus in the field that there is no optimal gender combination of parents.”

 

“Judge Lederman made clear today that it violates every rule of decency and fairness to threaten to tear a four-year-old boy from the only home he has ever known, and to send him to strangers who don’t even know him simply because his beloved Papi is gay,” said Robert Rosenwald, Director of the LGBT Project of the ACLU of Florida and one of the attorneys who tried the case.

 

Martin Gill and his partner of more than eight years became foster parents to the two boys on December 11, 2004.  The couple, who had been parents to seven other foster children over the years, was initially told that the placement would be temporary, but a plan to place the children with their grandmother fell through.  Both boys had significant health problems when they arrived in the home.  The older boy, who was four at the time, was withdrawn and didn’t speak.  Today both boys are healthy, have lots of friends and are doing well in school.  The older boy started out behind educationally and had to repeat the first grade, but with the couple’s help, he has progressed significantly. 

 

The Florida law barring lesbians and gay men from adopting is the most expansive anti-gay parenting law in the country.  It was passed in 1977 in response to an anti-gay crusade led by former Miss America and Florida orange juice spokesperson Anita Bryant. 

 

In addition to Cooper and Rosenwald, Gill is represented by James Esseks, Litigation Director of the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and Shelbi Day, a Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Florida.  The children are represented by Hilarie Bass and Ricardo Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, and Charles Auslander, an attorney and former District Administrator for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF).

 

For additional information about the case, including a video and podcast of Martin Gill talking about his experiences as a foster parent as well as a copy of today’s decision and a copy of the trial transcript, visit www.aclu.org/gill.

 

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California Senator Dianne Feinstein supports Gay Rights

California Senator Dianne Feinstein has long been a supporter of gay rights.  In an interview for NBC Nightly News with Maureen Dowd she talks about her decision to speak out against Prop. 8 in California and her evolving views on same-sex marriage.

“I think as more and more people have gay friends, gay associations, see gay heroism, that their views change,” Feinstein said. “I think people are beginning to look at it differently, I know it’s happened for me.

“I started out not supporting it. The longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve seen the happiness of people, the stability that these commitments bring to a life. Many adopted children who would have ended up in foster care now have good solid homes and are brought up learning the difference between right and wrong. It’s a very positive thing.”

Feinstein had previously said that while she would not endorse a statewide ban on same-sex marriage, she supported civil unions over “redefining” marriage.

Proposition 8 – Successful Financial Companies DO NOT support Yes on 8

One of the most horrific displays of Anti-Americanism and Anti-Humanism in History came on November 4, 2008 when 51% of Americans voted to take rights away from a minority group because they disapproved of their lifestyle.  Nevermind that their lifestyle wasn’t hurting anyone, they still felt it best to strip away rights from them just to be nasty.  Plain and simple.

The demographics on who voted Yes on Proposition 8 were very clear, most who voted Yes were statistically uneducated and never voted before.  They were also religious, black, minorites themselves.  Whereas the ones that voted No registered statistically as far more intelligent, college graduates, young, rich and even more powerful.

Read on…

Although thousands of individuals, organizations, and businesses donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, not one Fortune 500 company is among those names. But on the opposite side, the side of fairness and basic rights, you’ll find some of the nation’s most successful and powerful corporate players.

It was communities of faith, who with breathtaking efficiency raised millions of dollars to enshrine discrimination into the Golden State’s constitution.  They forgot the basic teachings of faith that included thou shall not judge and thou shall exhibit compassion, and turned to evil and were a big chunk of the reason for the ban’s passage; and the lasting ramifications of those premature, divisive, and ultimately false assertions that they preyed on the most innocent and unintelligent voters who now regret check marking the Yes box next to Proposition 8, unaware of what they were doing until it was too late. 

Although thousands of individuals, organizations, and businesses donated to the Yes on 8 campaign, not one Fortune 500 company is among those names. But on the opposite side, the side of fairness and basic rights, you’ll find some of the nation’s most successful and powerful corporate players. The popular vote was lost, but the steadfast backing of one important segment — the nation’s largest employers — remains.

American corporations have gone beyond the four walls of their headquarters, factories, and retail stores and made a firm commitment to equal treatment of LGBT people. The nation’s largest and most successful businesses are not just fostering inclusive and safe work environments– they’re taking the fight for full equality to the streets and the halls of government. Though it may still be a struggle to capture 51% of the popular vote, same-sex marriage and other manifestations of equal rights have already won the vote of corporate board members and CEOs.

Although the Yes on 8 voters and supporters just want the No on 8 voters to sit silently and accept defeat, they are angered even more into bitter territory that this isn’t happening.  Yes on 8 voters and supporters want LGBT people back in the closet and to keep quiet while they rule the way they want to rule, which is through hate and discrimination.  Unfortunately for them, although they have a temporary win, the United States and California laws have clauses written in the books that prevent this kind of dispicable and callous thought process.

According to a Witeck-Combs/Market Research.com study, the buying power of the LGBT community is estimated to be $759 billion in 2009.  During difficult economic times, our nation’s businesses know that every dollar spent by consumers figures into the success of their organization.  The LGBT community has proven to be the top dollar bread winners, more successful, financially and the biggest contributors to boosting the economy, but trying to explain those numbers and figures to the less evolved Yes on 8 supporters and voters is like trying to explain something to an adult with the mindset of a child. 

Focus on the Family – Donated to Prop 8 – now faces financial crisis

The Focus on the Family Ministry spent more than $500,000 to pass California’s Prop. 8 gay marriage ban.

UPDATE: Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide — an estimated 20 percent of its workforce. Initial reports bring the total number of remaining employees to around 950.

 

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire this week. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.  Now because of this a big chunk of their staff is out of a job.

 

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.

“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”

In all, Focus pumped $539,000 in cash and another $83,000 worth of non-monetary support into the measure to overturn a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed gays and lesbians to marry in that state. The group was the seventh-largest donor to the effort in the country. The cash contributions are equal to the salaries of 19 Coloradans earning the 2008 per capita income of $29,133.

In addition Elsa Prince, the auto parts heiress and longtime funder of conservative social causes who sits on the Focus on the Family board, contributed another $450,000 to Prop. 8, but she doesn’t seem to be losing any sleep at night that she’s also contributed to job losses with her own supporters.

“They should do more with their half-million dollars than spending it to collect signatures to take the rights away from a class of people,” said Fred Karger, the founder of the anti-Prop 8 group Californians Against Hate. “I think it’s wrong and it’s hurtful to so many Americans.”  Not to mention pointless, counter productive and a waste of time.  Your own personal beliefs on same sex marriage should remain hum.

In addition to promoting socially conservative issues such opposition to abortion and gay rights, and supporting abstinence-only education, the evangelical Christian ministry is a purveyor of Christian books, CDs and DVDs. Two months ago, citing Wal-Mart and online retailers as having cut into its product market, Focus announced that 46 employees would be laid off from its distribution department. Late Friday, Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger confirmed that more layoffs are in store, but said the ministry will not release details until Monday afternoon. Schneeberger hinted that some programs may be eliminated entirely, but declined to elaborate.

“We’re going to need to talk to our own family first,” he said. “We need to respect the people who are affected.”  Although at this moment most would agree to little too late, as this horrible lay off is something that could’ve easily been avoided, but Focus on the Family chose to be fiscally irresponsible because of their religious values, now they’re seeing they just shot themselves in the foot.

Schneeberger also refused to discuss the funding priorities that Focus made this fall, including pumping money and in-kind contributions into Proposition 8.  Schneeberger refuses to disuss it, because he knows this is the first most obvious thing that people will notice is the #1 cause for the layoffs of innocent people in their organization for a socially violent effort. 

This is the third year that Focus has laid off employees due to budget cuts. In its heyday, the ministry, which relocated to Colorado Springs from Arcadia, Calif., in 1991, employed more than 1,500 people. Many of those employees worked in mailroom and line assembly jobs, processing so much incoming and outgoing correspondences that the U.S. Postal Service gave Focus its own ZIP code.

In September 2005, nearly 80 employees were reassigned or laid off in an effort to trim millions of dollars from its 2006 budget. In addition, 83 open positions were not filled in the layoff, which included eliminating some of the ministry’s programs. At the time, Focus employed 1,342 full-time employees.

“To the extent that we can place them within the ministry, we will try to do that,” said then-spokesman Paul Hetrick. “Most of them will not be able to be placed.”  Focus on the Family more or less admits that they’ve given a lot of money towards banning same sex marriage and Proposition 8, a fight that deep down they know will get them nowhere, as it’s the trajectory of history shows us that same sex marriage is to come to light at some point in time.

In September 2007, amid a reported $8 million in budget shortfalls, Focus on the Family laid off another 30 employees; 15 more were reassigned within the company. Most of the layoffs were from Focus’ constituent response services department (i.e. the mailroom).

At the time, Schneeberger, who had replaced Hetrick, said that giving was actually up by $1 million during the fiscal year. However, a very “aggressive” budget goal of $150 million did not materialize.

In a statement issued this September, marking the end of the ministry’s fiscal year, Chief Operating Officer Glenn Williams weighed in on the additional layoffs of 46 people.

“It is certainly heartbreaking that in this case fulfilling that duty means having to say goodbye to some members of our Focus family, but industry realities really leave us no alternative,” he note in his statement. “We are accountable to our donors to spend their money in the most cost-effective and productive manner possible.”

But Lewis, the Colorado Springs activist, wonders whether the families who donate to the nonprofit ministry, realize where their funds really end up.

“Seriously, I would imagine their supporters have got to be asking the question about whether their church is really practicing their theology.”

For Lewis, who is straight, the issue boils down to the significance of targeting a class of citizens for exclusion, at the expense of the families that the ministry could be helping — in this case their own employees.

Lewis likened Proposition 8 to Colorado’s Amendment 2, the 1992 anti-gay measure that was designed to prohibit gays and lesbians from seeking legal protections. Colorado voters approved the measure, which was marketed by proponents, including Focus on the Family, as an effort to prohibit gays and lesbians from seeking “special rights.” The U.S. Supreme Court stuck down the measure as unconstitutional four years later.

“You can’t make homosexuals second class citizens — we’ve learned that already,” Lewis said. “People will look back on this and see how absurd it is.”

Days before this year’s election, Focus founder James Dobson appeared at a closing rally at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to rally the anti-gay troops.

Karger of Californians Against Hate, termed the rally a “big bust.” Organizers promised that more than 70,000 supporters would show up; the final tally was close to 10,000, he said.

Yet three days later, California voters approved the measure with 52 percent of the vote. While the measure will certainly head back to court, California has become the 31st state in the country to pass measures that define marriage as being between a man and woman only. In all, Proposition 8 has proven to be the most expensive social issue in the country, with more than $73 million pumped into the cause from both sides. One of the larger contributors to the anti-Prop. 8 efforts was Colorado gay philanthropist Tim Gill, who contributed $720,000 to oppose the measure.

“I’m very disturbed by organizations from out of state like Focus on the Family,” Karger said. “They came in early to make sure the measure got on ballot; they’ve got muscle and they are out to hurt a lot of people and destroy a lot of lives.”

Equal Rights For All People

If you were one of the couples affected by the gay marriage bans voted into law in the states of Florida, Arizona, or California, our sincerest condolences go out to you and your family in this time. The same if you were affected by the adoption ban in Arkansas. It’s a bittersweet time in our history, with the country’s first African American President in history set to take office; while chickens and cows won more rights than gay-people did in California. “Everyone is hurting and don’t know what to do,” said Kimberlee Woods at a protest Nov. 7th. She is the executive director of The Gay and Lesbian Center of Long Beach. “The overwhelming response is not surprising. People are tired of being relegated to the back of the bus”, she said. You can bet that there are a lot of us here in California, around the nation, and across the world who are angry and ready to act, so here is a list of the things that we can all do to answer to the marriage bans and the fact that California just wrote discrimination into their Constitution, and other states have banned gay marriage as well. They will continue to do so unless we stand up united and fight for our rights. If not, who knows which rights of ours will be voted away next! Here is a checklist of things for you to make sure to do to voice your disagreement with the gay marriage bans: ____ File a Lawsuit. Lawsuits are being filed on behalf of the couples who were married in California, and you should check to see if there are lawsuits you should be included in where you live. Filing a lawsuit when your civil rights have been violated is a duty you have to yourself and those who look up to you, and can have a huge impact on these discriminatory laws. ____ Sign Petitions. Voter signatures can work wonders, and you should sign every petition that comes your way that will aid in removing the gay marriage bans in Florida, Arizona, and California, and that will prevent gay marriage bans from occurring in other states as well. A petition you should sign right now is the petition to remove the tax exempt status of the Mormon Church which you can find here and the petition to Invalidate Prop 8 below. Petitions help change the legislature. ____ Donate to The Invalidate Prop 8 Campaign. Send a message to the Mormon Church, whose members raised more than $15 million to fund the deceitful advertising campaign for Proposition 8, the initiative that takes away the right to marry for same sex couples in California! Make a donation to support the legal organizations working to invalidate Proposition 8 and to fund grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. For every donation of $5 or more, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will send a postcard to President Thomas Monsonʼs office in Salt Lake City, acknowledging your donation in his name. ____ Attend a Local Protest. You can find a list of protests going on around the nation here, including a national cry to call for equal rights at the steps of your city hall on November 15th. Bring signs with valid points plus your camera or take video. Be friendly and peaceful to the media, make your point with your signs. Wear your walking shoes and bring a bottle of water. More info on the National Protest can be found at JoinTheImpact.com. ____ Join The Rainbow Dragon Network. The Rainbow Dragon Network is a list of organizations around the world who are ready to be called upon when members of the LGBT community are in need. If you lead a local LGBT outreach organization or program, please send your contact details to therainbowdragon@yahoo.com. ____ Display Signs and Graphics. On The Smoking Cocktail I saw that Rob at Scout Productions (producers of Queer Eye) made signs that are really catchy. If you are going to a protest, these are some cool signs to have. Here’s a picture of Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the original plaintiffs in the gay marriage lawsuit here in California with one: You can also find more of these graphics to put on your web pages online at The Smoking Cocktail. The Rainbow Dragon Network has also put together a graphic for LGBT bloggers here: And if you are one of the couples affected by Prop. 8 here is a graphic for you to display: ____ Set Your Email to Away. Let your friends and family know that you are speaking out for equal rights and that you support the LGBT civil rights movement. Set your email, and MySpace messages, etc. to send or display a message to those who try to message you. An example message would be: “Please note that I am speaking out for equal rights because I support the LGBT civil rights movement. Please visit InvalidateProp8.org for more info.” ____ Divert Gay Money from Our Opposers to Our Supporters Refuse to spend your money with anti-gay companies and shop at gay friendly establishments only. Do you have a gay friendly business? Put The Rainbow Dragon Network logo on display to show your support of our community: You can find out who the major supporters and opposers of Prop. 8 here, or you can find out who donated to the campaign in your area here. ____ Start Your Own Website or Blog. Sharing your voice with the world or maintaining a resource site for the LGBT community is one of the best ways you can help spread the message of equal rights around the world. We have a database of sites that are available and waiting for you to manage them!! Please contact Julie Phineas if this is something that interests you. ____ Help Our Campaign Land Celebrity Endorsements. Many celebrities have spoken out for us Madonna, Chelsea Lately, Darryl Stephens, Samuel Jackson, Melissa Etheridge and more. Celebrity visibility is important to keeping our issue in the spotlight! If you’ve heard about the theory of 6 degrees of separation that means that some of you out there know celebrities and can make contact with them. If you ever needed to call in a favor, NOW is the time to do so! Reach out through your network and get the message to celebrities that we need their help and support towards the LGBT civil rights movement. Send letters and emails to people like Oprah. Encourage them to help raise money and awareness for our community and let them know about this post so they know what else they can do to help! ____ Mass Mormon Resignation Planned. If you are a Mormon, consider joining the mass resignation planned. Visit this site to find resources and information about resigning and to post your letter of resignation. ____ Call for A Separation of Church and State. Donate to the Freedom from Religion Foundation started by people who are active in the call for a separation of church and state. ____ Go to A Church Where You Are Supported. If you are a church-goer (or not), attend local church services where you know that you and/or your family will be accepted and invited. ____ Join the Fight to Revoke the LDS Tax Exempt Status. Visit this website which gives out detailed information on how to do that. You can find other churches that promoted the Yes on 8 campaign here. ____ Appeal to Obama by Writing Letters Write letters to your local government officials, which are usually listed in the front of your local Yellow Pages, and write letters to the national government officials including Barack Obama and The Supreme Court as well. Let them know about your disapproval of the gay marriage bans. Tell them you don’t feel comfortable paying taxes to their institutions if they can’t protect your civil rights from being voted away. Let them know our community is funneling our gay money to each other, and boycotting endorsers of Prop 8. We need to be clear NO CIVIL UNIONS. Civil unions are a separate but equal institution and we will only accept Civil Unions as a stepping stone. Our ultimate goal is equal rights for ALL people which means marriage for ALL people. ____ Keep the Conversation Going. Continue to discuss this issue online and with your family & friends. Don’t let them forget about you! Appeal to other minorities such as African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, etc. We may have fought different fights, but we all want the same thing – to be treated equal under the law. ____ Participate in All Calls to Action. Make sure you are signed up for the email list of your local LGBT organization so you can get reports of any calls to action you might be able to take part in, especially those issued by The Rainbow Dragon Network. *****Remember, this is not going to happen overnight; but with all of us working together and staying organized & united we can change history by establishing equal rights for the LGBT community locally, nationally, and globally. Forward this message to your network and re-post!

 

A Mormon in the Aftermath of Prop 8

A Mormon in the Aftermath of Prop 8

Guest blogger Vanessa: There are two sides to every story. Here’s mine.

(Los Angeles – November 13, 2008) – I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known to most as the Mormon church. Two months ago, I had no idea what Proposition 8 was or how much it would affect me.

Deciding to support it was one of the greatest emotional conflicts I have ever been through in my entire life. I dearly love all of my gay friends. They are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met and I want them to be happy. I fully support domestic partnerships because I know that everyone wants to be with the one they love.

Yet there was an unsettled feeling in the pit in my stomach — the definition of marriage. I am religious and believe the Biblical definition as being between a man and woman, going all the way back to Adam and Eve. Marriage is the crucial partnership that makes it possible to biologically have children together and seal a family unit.

But what would people think? Would they understand?

I wasn’t alone in my confusion. Many of my church friends where going through the same turmoil. Firm in their beliefs, but not wanting to alienate their gay friends and coworkers.

After a month of praying about the issue, I came to a personal realization. What is this really about? The definition of marriage. Man and woman. I decided that I would follow my faith, although a large part of me was left sorrowful.

I didn’t donate money to Yes on Prop 8, but like many others, I donated my time. I held “Yes on Prop 8″ signs and went polling. I was flipped off, called horrible names and was the target of much yelling. It’s okay, though, I understand. They have the right to yell, and I listened to what they had to say.

Could they understand? Could they know how much I still cared for them?

Election Day came. I was proud to see all of the “I Voted” stickers on everyone in my city and I celebrated what I thought would be a new era … where we would come together to work through the issues facing our nation.

The next morning, Prop 8 passed. I was honestly surprised. I don’t watch much TV, and all of the ads I had heard on the radio were against the proposition. Officials such as Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Diane Feinstein (who I have complete respect for) had both opposed it.

Although I was glad that the hours of time invested had paid off, I was far from happy. My heart broke for all of the couples that woke up that morning, not knowing if they were married or not. I cried at my desk when I was alone. I couldn’t imagine what they were going through and I prayed that they might be comforted.

That’s when I noticed a change. People who opposed Prop 8 were angry. A completely natural reaction of course, but this was different. This was a kind of anger that I had never been exposed to. The anger seemed filled with hate and distrust … and the search was on to find a reason Prop 8 passed. And someone to blame.

Then the protests started. I couldn’t believe it at first. The blaming finger had pointed at the Mormon church, a religion that makes up under two percent of the California population (and later I found out that we made up LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT of the yes vote). Yes, a large portion of Yes on Prop 8’s donations came from members of our church. But didn’t they have the right to donate to a cause that they believed in?

And it wasn’t just blame, it was accusations of hate and prejudice … everything that I have stood against my entire life.

The protesters were at the Los Angeles Temple … MY temple. My place of worship. Somewhere that I had always felt safe. I had so many emotions inside of me that I couldn’t differentiate one from the other. Would they desecrate my place of worship? Would my family and friends be safe from harm?

I had to know for myself and headed down to the temple as soon as I got off work.

The sea of protesters were marching peacefully but were carrying cruel and offensive anti-Mormon signs. My heart sank and I left determined to prove their accusations wrong.

I wanted to make sure that my church friends understood the other side of the story and felt compassion for all those who were hurting.

I discovered that they already did understand. They were going through the same thing I was. Not all of them had even voted yes on the issue. But no matter how they voted, their hearts were still open to those who were standing against them.

Over the next few days, things were rough for both sides. The protesters continued, although I helplessly felt there was nothing I could do for them. Our gates were written on, they banged on the doors of our chapel and stood outside our parking lot to take photos of our license plates. The members who had donated money to Yes on Prop 8 were exposed online, open for attack.

Blog posts and emails from church members started to pop up everywhere — messages of love and peace and encouragement. Every prayer at church that Sunday spoke for the safety of our members and that those who where yelling outside our gates would be comforted and feel our love for them.

This was not an issue of hate. For me, it was purely an issue of religious belief. We have all made sacrifices. Many have lost friends, and others abandoned by their coworkers. I, myself, had to find another place to live.

I believe that God loves all of us, and it is our duty to love one another as his children … through all of the trials and tribulations that we face together.

LINK: http://www.momlogic.com/2008/11/a_mormon_in_the_aftermath_of_p.php

Olbermann: Gay marriage is a question of love

SPECIAL COMMENT

By Keith Olbermann

Anchor, ‘Countdown’

msnbc.com

updated 6:13 p.m. PT, Mon., Nov. 10, 2008

Keith Olbermann Anchor, ‘Countdown’ • Profile

Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.

Some parameters, as preface. This isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics, and this isn’t really just about Prop-8.  And I don’t have a personal investment in this: I’m not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn’t about yelling, and this isn’t about politics. This is about the human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don’t want to deny you yours. They don’t want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Only now you are saying to them—no. You can’t have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don’t cause too much trouble.  You’ll even give them all the same legal rights—even as you’re taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can’t marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn’t marry?

I keep hearing this term “re-defining” marriage. If this country hadn’t re-defined marriage, black people still couldn’t marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal in 1967. 1967.

The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn’t have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it’s worse than that. If this country had not “re-defined” marriage, some black people still couldn’t marry black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not “Until Death, Do You Part,” but “Until Death or Distance, Do You Part.” Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.

You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are gay.

And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing, centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children, all because we said a man couldn’t marry another man, or a woman couldn’t marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage.

How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the “sanctity” of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless?

What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don’t you, as human beings, have to embrace… that love? The world is barren enough.

It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work.

And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling.  With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate… this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness—this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness—share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate.

You don’t have to help it, you don’t have it applaud it, you don’t have to fight for it. Just don’t put it out. Just don’t extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don’t know and you don’t understand and maybe you don’t even want to know. It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow person just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.

This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial.

But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this:

“I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam,” he told the judge. It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all: So I be written in the Book of Love; I do not care about that Book above. Erase my name, or write it as you will, So I be written in the Book of Love.”

Yes on 8 Supporters – Who are they?

We all know who they are.  They’re now easy to spot.  They usually look angry and full of judgement, you can see those lines on their faces.  They used there campaign and pushed it full of lies saying it will hurt the families and children.   No, it will create new families.  And it didn’t stop them from abusing their children by sticking yes on 8 signs in there hands.

They keep making all these stupid excuses, saying it’s not normal, it’s not what God wanted, well normal is more than average intelligence and we already know that the gay community tends to score high on their SAT’s, so we know that’s not it, and if it’s not what God wanted, then why the fuck did God create them?  After all this has been going on since the beginning of time, it just hasn’t been full on in your face, because they were ostracized by society and not allowed to show themselves, because lesser involved human beings didn’t get it. 

The bottom line is with these people who don’t like it is they can’t get their sick twisted minds out of the gutter, they’re always imagining the sex act, and sticking it in, which by the way is a false stereotype.  Most people attracted to the same sex don’t even like that, it’s different kind of a connection.

Okay, so we know the normal thing is out, and so is God, what else, what else, disease?  I’ve heard that, but I don’t even know what that means, you mean like malaria, or cancer?  What’re you talking about?  They’ll have to re-evaluate the definition of disease and how that equates with homosexuality.  So far I haven’t heard anything that makes any sense except for the fact that they can’t get around the sexual act.

A heterosexual guy recently said, “If people voted against me seeing my girlfriend or being with my girlfriend you can bet I’ll fuckin’ fight and protest to make it happen, so I get it, let whoever wants to be with whoever alone.  It’s not your life or your business.”