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Showing posts with label Legislation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Legislation. Show all posts

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I Oppose ENDA Because It Could Lead To The Extinction Of Humanity

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, first introduced in 1994, would prohibit job discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Contrary to what some activist judges would like you to believe, this is not an isolated piece of legislation. The Proponents of the “gay agenda” are systematically setting the stage for same-sex marriage and the silencing of those who would call their lifestyle immoral and sinful. But that's just the first step in their agenda.

Once we allow that first domino to fall, we are setting foot on a slippery slope. Same-sex marriage will lead, logically and inexorably, to the legalization of polygamy, bestiality, and pedophilia. And in the murky cesspool waiting at the very bottom of that slope lies a society with no moral compass -- a society where a man is free to marry his dog or his horse.

But do you see the truth? Even this is only the beginning.

After the dregs of our society are allowed not only to slake but to sanctify their every fleshy want, whence will their hungers lead them? Logically, they must turn beyond the flesh and into the microscopic world.

Having long ago left behind the sanctity of the marriage of man and woman, the men of this future society will cast aside all common sense in their perverse need to bond with ever more unlikely partners. Their gaze will fall upon the most readily available and eagerly bonding element of them all, and a new perversion will become commonplace: the marriage of a man to the lowly oxygen molecule. This will not only destroy the natural order of covalent carbon-oxygen bonding, but leave our very children gasping for breath.

We must protect the children.

And what is the next step in this clear logical progression? What will happen when that strumpet oxygen, sharing its electrons with anyone it meets, loses its allure? Man will turn to the simple, sublime charm of the hydrogen atom.

Our sun is only about halfway through its main sequence evolution; if it continues to follow God's plan, it has five billion years' worth of hydrogen fuel remaining at its core. Ah, but what if the voracious liberals of tomorrow are allowed to work their deviant ways upon our very cosmology? Far-fetched, you say? Let us turn to the Bible.
Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Do you still doubt that love, the kernel around which misguided liberals want to reform marriage, is powerful enough to tear apart our molecular bonds and through them our very firmament? Nuptuals between man and hydrogen atom will quickly deplete the solar reserves and push the sun prematurely into its red giant phase, engulfing the earth and ending all life.

Everybody likes new ideas, new rituals. The sanctity of marriage will never be replaced by liberal ideas about love. In the end, life and family are about the connection between one man and one woman. And ENDA is about trying to sterilize the earth with fire.

And to me the choice is easy.



The above satire is my humble contribution to the Bilerico Project Enda blogswarm. Please visit the Bilerico page, urge Speaker Pelosi to support ENDA, and fill in the form to let us know how the call went. The text of the Bilerico page is copied below

Take Action: Demand LGBT Employment Rights Today

Note from Bil: The Bilerico Project is participating in a blogswarm today with

Daily Kos,
Open Left,
Towleroad,
Pam's House Blend,
Joe My God,
Michelangelo Signorile,
David Mixner,
Daily Gotham,
Culture Kitchen,
Taylor Marsh,
PageOneQ,
Good As You,
Americablog,
Dan Savage, and others.

We're asking our readers to contact Speaker Nancy Pelosi and ask that she move the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (HR 3017) to a floor vote. Contact info at the end of the article.


The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, first introduced in 1994, would prohibit job discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But LGBT people have never been able to achieve the enactment of the bill, known by the acronym of "ENDA".

Last year, the Administration's highest ranking gay official, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, indicated that ENDA was highest priority on the LGBT civil rights agenda.

"If we can get ENDA enacted and signed into law, it is only a matter of time before all the rest happens," he said. "It is the keystone that holds up the whole bunch, and so we need to focus our energies and attention there."


Hearings were held in the House and in the Senate to demonstrate the need for the bill, and testimony was heard on the severe unemployment, underemployment and harassment experienced by LGBT workers. Witnesses testified to the scientific studies demonstrating this.

The reason that workers need this protection is that the LGBT community is a relatively small minority, probably around 5% of the U.S. population, and there are many people with prejudices against them. This is also one reason that the bill has had difficulties in Congress: the minority in need of protection from discrimination are drowned out by the many bigots.

Civil rights, by definition, are needed most by those against whom there is most prejudice.

Various sponsors promised that the bill would move to a vote in August, September, October, and November of 2009. But in order to go to a vote, the bill had to pass through the House Committee on Education and Labor via a "markup" procedure. Markup was finally scheduled for November 18, 2009. But at the last minute, the markup was postponed, and has still not been rescheduled.

Initially, the Committee said that some technical language required tweaking, ostensibly to insure that plaintiffs could not recover too much money or attorney fees, and to prevent lawsuits based on inadvertent discrimination. But it has become increasingly clear that something else is at work.

A clue to the inaction: Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly told Democrats that she would not move controversial bills. Meanwhile, the House Committee has stated its readiness to move, but is waiting for a signal from Speaker Pelosi.

That signal has not come. Meanwhile, LGBT Americans continue to suffer discrimination and harassment with no recourse.

President Obama famously said in a campaign speech that "Power concedes nothing without a fight."

We demand that LGBT people receive the same job rights as other people: to be able to get and keep a job based only on relevant factors, like job performance, and not on irrelevant criteria, like sexual orientation or gender identity.

There is a majority in both Houses of Congress in favor of ENDA. Now is the time to move it.

In 30 states across America, there is no law against firing someone based on his or her sexual orientation, and the same is true in 38 states for gender identity.

Will you join with us in asking that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people be protected from job discrimination?

Click here to contact Speaker Pelosi.

Please call Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-4965. Ask that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HR 3017, move to a vote. Please be polite, but firm.

After you call, please tell us how the call went by clicking here. If you get a busy signal or hang up, let us know that too.

If you want more information on Speaker Pelosi's position, you can find it here

Let's work together to let Speaker Pelosi know that we want action now!

At the end of the day, we will post a round-up of how the day went. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Soloist Project - Central New York Kickoff


If you got here from Twitter, you've taken the first step toward showing Central New York that you support LGBT equality! Now you're just seconds away from sending a letter to your local newspaper. Please click the link below and raise your loving voice above the chorus of hate, anger and misunderstanding.


For more on this project, see below.





Last week Senator David Valesky voted "Yes" on S4401, the gay marriage bill. As the Syracuse Post Standard noted, he was the only Central New York senator to do so.

I think this deserves a big "Thank you!". That's why I wrote this letter, which was published in the Post Standard and will supposedly be printed tomorrow in the Madison County Courier.
To the Editor:

Wednesday the New York Senate voted 38-24 against S4401, “An act to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to the ability to marry.” I’m disappointed, but not surprised. Neither am I particularly discouraged.

A New York Times article said that “The vote means that the bill, pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson, is effectively dead for the year and destroys the optimism of gay rights advocates.”

The Times is dead wrong. My optimism is not destroyed. Far from it. I’m delighted with those numbers: 38-24. That means that 39 percent of New York state senators voted for marriage equality. Just 10 or 20 years ago, that would have been unimaginable. That is breathtaking progress.

Of the six senators from Central New York, only Sen. David J. Valesky voted “yes” on S4401. Sen. Valesky: Thank you. You bolster my faith that I will live to see gay people attain the same legal rights that I take for granted.

Hugh Yeman
Larchmont
But I think it deserves a bigger "Thank you!" than that. As a matter of fact, I think it deserves a "Thank you!" from every LGBT individual and ally in the Central New York area.

I've been meaning to start a nationwide grassroots letter-to-the-editor campaign ever since I had the thrilling experience of seeing my letter about the Link Trail published in the Oneida Daily Dispatch. This represents the perfect first step.

It will take a long time to develop a database of all U.S. newspapers along with their editorial contact information and/or their online letter submission URL. But, by limiting myself to Senator Valesky's district, I was able to put together just such a list in a fairly short amount of time.

So now that I have my list, all I need to do is start Twittering, like so.
#LGBT and allies near Lenox, NY! Would you please write a letter to Madison Eagle? [link to this page]
Let's see what happens.



LIST OF CENTRAL NEW YORK NEWSPAPERS BY TOWN






























































BaldwinsvilleBaldwinsville MessengerEditor: Erin Smith
Email: messenger@cnylink.com
BridgeportMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
CamillusEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
CanastotaMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
CazenoviaCazenovia Pilothttp://www.cazpilot.com/wordpress/index.php/forum/
CazenoviaCazenovia RepublicanEditor: Doug Campbell
Email: republican@cnylink.com
ChittenangoMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
CiceroStar ReviewEditor: Farah Jadran Pike
Email: fpike@cnylink.com
ClayStar ReviewEditor: Farah Jadran Pike
Email: fpike@cnylink.com
DeWittDeWitt TimesEditor: Tami Zimmerman
Email: bulletin@cnylink.com
DeWittEagle BulletinEditor: Tami Zimmerman
Email: bulletin@cnylink.com
EatonMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
ElbridgeEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
ErievilleCazenovia RepublicanEditor: Doug Campbell
Email: republican@cnylink.com
FairmountEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
FayettevilleEagle BulletinEditor: Tami Zimmerman
Email: bulletin@cnylink.com
FennerCazenovia RepublicanEditor: Doug Campbell
Email: republican@cnylink.com
HamiltonMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
HamiltonMaroon Newshttp://www.maroon-news.com/options/send-a-letter-to-the-editor
HamiltonMid York Weeklyhttp://media.uticaod.com/editorial/tools/share/submit_letter.php
Jack's ReefEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
JordanEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
KirkvilleMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
LakeportMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
LenoxMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
LincolnMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
LiverpoolStar ReviewEditor: Farah Jadran Pike
Email: fpike@cnylink.com
LysanderBaldwinsville MessengerEditor: Erin Smith
Email: messenger@cnylink.com
MadisonMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
ManliusEagle BulletinEditor: Tami Zimmerman
Email: bulletin@cnylink.com
MarcellusEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
MemphisEagle ObserverEditor: Ami Olson
Email: aolson@cnylink.com
MinoaEagle BulletinEditor: Tami Zimmerman
Email: bulletin@cnylink.com
MorrisvilleMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
NelsonCazenovia RepublicanEditor: Doug Campbell
Email: republican@cnylink.com
New WoodstockCazenovia RepublicanEditor: Doug Campbell
Email: republican@cnylink.com
North SyracuseStar ReviewEditor: Farah Jadran Pike
Email: fpike@cnylink.com
OneidaMadison County CourierMartha Conway, Editor/Reporter 315-813-0124 or martha@m3ppublications.com
OneidaMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
OneidaOneida Daily Dispatch315-363-5100
Kurt Wanfried, Managing Editor, ext. 137
kwanfried@oneidadispatch.com
PerryvilleMadison EagleEditor: Beth Pantzer
Email: bpantzer@cnylink.com
RomeRome Observer130 Broad St.
Oneida, New York 13421
Phone: 315-363-5100 Fax: (315) 363-9832
editorial@mohawkvalleymedia.com
RomeRome Sentineleditor@rny.com
337-4000
SalinaStar ReviewEditor: Farah Jadran Pike
Email: fpike@cnylink.com
SkaneatelesSkaneateles PressEditor: Miranda Pennock
Email: mpennock@cnylink.com
SyracuseCatholic Sunhttp://www.thecatholicsun.com/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=1&Itemid=71
420 Montgomery St.
New York
13201

315-422-8153 (phone)
315-422-7549 (fax)
SyracuseCentral New York Business JournalAdam Rombel
Editor-in-Chief
Phone: (315) 579-3902
E-mail: arombel@cnybj.com
SyracuseDaily OrangeStephanie Musat, Editor in Chief
Meredith Galante, Managing Editor
(315) 443-9798
editor@dailyorange.com
SyracuseFamily Times1415 West Genesee Street
Syracuse, NY 13204
315.472.4669 (F) 315.422.1721
SyracusePost Standardhttp://www.syracuse.com/contactus/
SyracuseSyracuse City EagleEditor: Ellen Leahy
Email: city@cnylink.com
SyracuseSyracuse New Timeshttp://www.syracusenewtimes.com/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3
SyracuseSyracuse Parenthttp://www.syracuseparent.net/contact/
Syracuse Parent
5910 Firestone Drive, Syracuse, NY 13206
email: editor@syracuseparent.net


Editor
Brittney F. Jerred
315.434.8889 ext 322
SyracuseUrban CNYhttp://urbancny.com/contact/index.php
Kenneth Jackson, Editor and Publisher
PHONE: (315) 422-7778
FAX: (315) 434-8883
EMAIL: kjackson@urbancny.com
SyracuseWSTMhttp://www.cnycentral.com/news/News_bloggers.aspx
Matt Mulcahy
Anchor
mmulcahy@CNYcentral.com
SyracuseWSYRhttp://www.9wsyr.com/content/contact/default.aspx
SyracuseWSYRhttp://www.570wsyr.com/pages/contact.html?feed=120907&article=366507
SyracuseWTVHhttp://www.cnycentral.com/about/contact_us_form.aspx
Van BurenBaldwinsville MessengerEditor: Erin Smith
Email: messenger@cnylink.com

We Few, We Happy Few...

UPDATE: The vote was postponed but it's still important to call your senator and make your voice heard!


If you want to bring yourself up to speed on the state of the gay marriage battle, CNN Political Ticker has a very concise summary. The New York Daily News has a somewhat expanded overview, and NJ.com has an article about the supporters and opponents of the bill who showed up in Trenton yesterday. All of them remind us that the battle moves to Washington, D.C. next month.

Last week the New York State Senate voted 38-24 against S4401, the gay marriage bill. As I wrote here, I don't consider this vote a loss. I do consider it a call to action. And action is just what we're getting in New Jersey right now.

Over the weekend gay marriage supporters reacted to the news from New York with a fresh surge of activity and opponents realized that they had to take the battle a little more seriously.

Yesterday the bill cleared the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee. The full Senate vote is set for this Thursday.

I have a modest proposal.

Let's make those marriage equality opponents take it really seriously.

Let's win.

And.

Even if we don't win, that's not the point. We're progressives, so let's make progress. Let's make every call, every letter, every conversation count. The vote last week in New York was 38-24. 39% of the senators voted for the bill. How about we push those numbers as far as we can? And push. And keep pushing. And push some more. And after we've pushed as much as we possibly can, we put our hands on our knees and wheeze for a bit and then we stand up again and we push.

Here's one way folks in New Jersey can do that right now.

1. Show up in person at your senator's office.

2. Call your senator.

3. Write a letter to your senator.

4. Send an e-mail to your senator.

Most people don't have time for #1, so that leaves 2-4.  You may be surprised to hear me recommend #2 next: phone calls. I know I was surprised when I heard that senators pay more attention to phone calls than to letters. Don't buy that? Read this article about why New York Senator Joseph Addabbo, who was funded by LGBT groups, decided to vote "No" on gay marriage last week.

So get on the phone, New Jersey and Washington D.C.! Hate tends to get people off their asses and yelling into the receiver more easily than compassion, so you'd better believe that monsters like this are burning up the lines. Don't let them speak for you. Make yourselves heard.

List of links from this article:







Thursday, December 3, 2009

"Loss" My Ass!

OK, first of all: we did not lose anything yesterday. We failed to gain something. There's a sodding great difference, isn't there?

New York State has never allowed same-sex marriage. Yesterday the New York State Senate voted on a bill intended to change that aspect of the law. The bill did not pass, so the law did not change.

Everyone focuses on the supposedly devastating 38-24 vote. The New York Times, just minutes after the results came through, published an article saying that "the vote... destroys the optimism of gay rights advocates". BULLSHIT! My optimism was not destroyed. Those numbers simply prompted me to grab a calculator and quickly figure out that 39% of New York State Senators voted for the bill. 39%! Forget for a moment that, in the current political environment, we were guaranteed an upper ceiling of 51%, the percentage of Democratic senators. Even without taking that into consideration, the enormity of those numbers is staggering. Just ten or twenty years ago the very notion of same-sex marriage was unthinkable. Yesterday 39% of New York State senators voted for it. My god, people, if that's not progress then I'm... one of those hyperbolic animals.

How the hell can progressives see that kind of progress and not wake up with a smile on their faces, feeling invigorated and ready to push that 39% to 40% and to keep pushing until we get the progress that we want? I'll tell you how. It's easy if you have an overweening sense of entitlement.

People have worked and bled and died for the progress of the last few decades. Unfortunately that progress seems to have given this generation a pathological teleology. The world should be the way we want it to be, so if the requisite changes don't happen it… breaks us. We can't accept that the world hasn't already conspired to be the way we think it should be.

Yesterday I "listened" to people on Twitter and Facebook begin the predictable chorus of "Fuck New York". Even more disheartening were the self-satisfied microscreeds against all the "stupid hicks" who live "north of the Bronx". Never mind that, of the eight Democrats who voted "No" on the bill, only two were from upstate. That's right. Of those Democrats who had the temerity not to give us what we wanted, only 25% were dumb hicks.

Twenty years ago, few would have dared dream we'd make it this far. But here we are, and we're celebrating by... treating this as a loss? Having made massive progress, can it be that all progressives can think of to do is throw a hissy fit because we didn't get everything we wanted right now?

Progress takes time and effort. A 38-24 loss is not a defeat. It is the blowing of a horn. All who hear it should take heart, and throw themselves into the battle with renewed vigor. Else we don't deserve to call ourselves progressives.

Say it with me: "We did not lose anything. We failed to gain something."

Yesterday.

But what about tomorrow?

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Times Square Rally

It's too late for me to start writing about today's disappointing but unsurprising New York State Senate defeat of the marriage equality bill, so for now I'll just post pictures from the rally that occurred in Times Square tonight in response to the decision.















Keep the Pressure on for Marriage Equality

As a media contact for the office of Christine Quinn, I got the following e-mail a little while ago. Then I clicked the link and got the phone numbers of two Senators: David J. Valesky, D-District 049 (for Oneida, where I grew up and still own property); and Suzi Oppenheimer, D-District 037 (for Larchmont, where I live). I just called each office. I was thrilled to hear that Senator Valesky is supporting the bill, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone will get back to me about having him on this blog. I don't know yet whether Senator Oppenheimer is supporting it, but anyway I made the call and it felt great. I will be awaiting the outcome of the vote.

December 2, 2009

Dear New Yorker,

This is it.  The Marriage Equality Act is being debated on the floor of the New York State Senate today.  (You can watch it live at http://www.nysenate.gov/blogs/2009/dec/02/watch-senate-debate-marriage-equality.) 

We've been waiting for this day for a long time, and it's my hope that a majority of our senators in Albany will make the right decision and cast their votes for marriage equality.

Right now, I'm in Albany after having met with senators on both sides of the fence - and I can report that our leaders in the Senate are working very hard to get the votes.  Governor David Paterson, Senator Tom Duane, Assemblymember Danny O'Donnell and every one of our allies in Albany deserve our appreciation for getting us this far.

We need to keep pushing, though.  Please call or write your state senator now and urge them to vote for this bill.  You can find contact info. for your state senator at http://www.nysenate.gov/senators.  

It's my hope that marriage equality will soon be looked back upon as a great accomplishment that all New Yorkers achieved together.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
New York City Council