Once again, this has NOTHING to do with BIAS or ANYTHING ELSE.
Americans could NOT CARE ANY LESS about who is doing whom. Americans simply DO NOT WANT to talk about the matter (leave it all private) and RESENT having an AGENDA SHOVED in their FACES (pun intended).
“What I hear from my community and from straight, progressive individuals is that they now see the church as a force for evil.... Mormonism teaches that homosexual sex is a sin, but gays are welcome in church and can maintain church callings and membership....
"The Mormons are coming! The Mormons are coming!" warned ads on newspaper websites in three Eastern states last month. The ad was rejected by sites in three other states, including Maine, where the Kennebec Journal informed Californians Against Hate that the copy "borders on insulting and denigrating a whole set of people based on their religion.""
What is with the HATE, sleepy-soul, lovey-dovey gays?
"National ‘kiss-in’ is latest protest against antigay actions; Mormon Church one of the targets of demonstrators" by Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press | August 16, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY - The Mormon Church’s vigorous, well-heeled support for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California last year, has turned the Utah-based faith into a lightning rod for gay rights activism, including a nationwide “kiss-in’’ yesterday.
The event is being held after gay couples here and in San Antonio and El Paso were arrested, cited for trespassing, or harassed by police for publicly kissing....
You just gotta keep pushing, don't you?
"This list shows the extreme concentration of a particular political power base in respect of the gay movement and who is behind it."
Others have also noticed:
Support Zionism or else
Video: Is the Gay Agenda, a Zionist NeoCon One?
Hey, kiss away. No law will ever fix the revulsion I'll feel inside though.
The court case was dismissed, but the kiss sparked a community backlash and criticism of the church.
?! By WHO? The GAY AGENDA-PUSHERS and the MSM and THAT'S ABOUT IT!
“I don’t think that kiss would have turned out to be the kiss heard round the world if it were not for Proposition 8,’’ said Ash Johnsdottir, organizer of the Salt Lake City Kiss-In.
Atali Staffler, a Brigham Young University graduate student from Geneva, said she joined the 200 or so people who filled a downtown amphitheater for the event because she has watched her gay father and many gay friends struggle to find their place. The 31-year-old, who was raised Mormon but is not active in the church, said the church shouldn’t be involved in Proposition 8.
They get coverage -- and glowing coverage at that.
See: The Protests the Paper Cares About
Yup, if it's a protest you must read the fine print of AmeriKa's agend-pushing Zionist MSM closely.
“I encourage them to promote the values they believe in and to defend their religious principles in advertisements, but civil rights have nothing to do with religious principles,’’ she said.
WTF is the little idiot taking about?
It's ALL OVER the FIRST AMENDMENT!!!!
Government shall not establish OR PREVENT!
Twenty-two people, many of them strangers to one another, gathered under the scorching sun on Washington’s National Mall to participate in the national smooch. They were gay and straight, couples and singles of all ages, with placards that read “Equal Opportunity Kisser’’ and “A Kiss is a Not a Crime.’’
“This is America. A kiss on the cheek is OK,’’ said Ian Thomas, 26, of Leesburg, Va., who organized the Washington Kiss-In. “It’s got to be OK. If not, we’re in serious trouble.’’
Well, it is better than RAINING DOWN BOMBS and MISSILES on people who never did anything to us, killing their loved ones and destroying their families.
About 50 people, mostly gay and lesbian couples, gathered at
You know, these handfuls of people they are promoting all over after shitting on antiwar protests and ignoring the Wall Street demonstrations.
Yup, AGENDA-PUSHING NEWSPAPERS to the CORE!
National organizers say the demonstrations were not aimed specifically at the Mormon Church.
Really? They said that?
This is the tolerant, loving, equal-rights, gay club that will respect others?
"Protest organizers said they hoped to tone down the anger that has characterized some previous demonstrations"
What, ANGER, INTOLERANCE, and HATRED at a GAY PROTEST?
Related: Gays Get After Mormons
Btw, if gays have a complaint, why don't you take it to the BLACK CHURCHES? From what I heard, they voted 70-30 FOR the BAN!!! How come the gay rights folks only have it in for the Mormons? Or why don't you go after Hispanics, who voted FOR the ban by 53-47? In fact, one wonders HOW the VOTE could have been so CLOSE -- although one does not wonder long in the land of rigged elections.
Related(?): Black Ministers of Boston, Massachusetts, Want to Keep Black Youth Down
And before I get charged with being some sort of bigot for opposing the wishes of the divisive, globalist agenda-pushers, reflect upon this...
"The Role of Feminism in the New World Order"
"What do factory workers, women, blacks and homosexuals in Western societies have in common? They all used to have reasons to feel discriminated against. What else do they have in common? Their grievances have been addressed and largely resolved as the result of intense pressure by mostly Jewish intellectuals, media and liberal politicians. Shouldn’t we all be grateful for their effort? Isn’t it proof that Jews are actually making this world a better place? Of course there is nothing wrong with addressing legitimate grievances of parts of society who are unfairly discriminated against. Factory workers shouldn’t be exploited and worked to death. Women and blacks shouldn’t be refused equal rights because of gender or colour of skin. And homosexuals shouldn’t have to fear being bashed for being homosexuals.
One of the most difficult things to get our heads around though is the fact that the driving forces behind fixing those grievances did so for all the wrong reasons. The same masterminds and their puppets who pretended to care so much about the plight of the disadvantaged had no qualms about bringing death and misery upon them for their selfish financial and political gains. What they really were interested in is dividing society and turning us against each other like roosters in a cockfight..... --more--"
You will PARDON ME if I DO NOT believing the agenda-pushing gay.
But observers say the church’s intervention into California politics will linger and has left the faith’s image tarnished.
Oh, like ZIONISM has DESTROYED JUDAISM?!!!
“What I hear from my community and from straight, progressive individuals is that they now see the church as a force for evil and as an enemy of fairness and equality,’’ said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, based in San Francisco. Kendell grew up Mormon in Utah. “To have the church’s very deep and noble history telescoped down into this very nasty little image is as painful for me as for any faithful Mormon.’’
Mormonism teaches that homosexual sex is a sin, but gays are welcome in church and can maintain church callings and membership if they remain celibate....
--more--"
That isn't enough, huh?
LOS ANGELES - As more states take up the debate on same-sex marriage, some advocates of legalization are taking a very specific lesson from California, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dominated both fund-raising and door-knocking to pass a ballot initiative that barred such unions.
With the battle moving east, some advocates are shouting that fact in the streets, calculating that on an issue that eventually comes down to comfort levels, more people harbor apprehensions about Mormons than about homosexuality.
Not here.
"The Mormons are coming! The Mormons are coming!" warned ads on newspaper websites in three Eastern states last month. The ad was rejected by sites in three other states, including Maine, where the Kennebec Journal informed Californians Against Hate that the copy "borders on insulting and denigrating a whole set of people based on their religion."
"I'm not intending it to harm the religion. I think they do wonderful things. Nicest people," said Fred Karger, a former Republican campaign consultant who established Californians Against Hate. "My single goal is to get them out of the same-sex marriage business and back to helping hurricane victims."
Oh, DAMN THEM with FAINT PRAISE, back-stabber!
You ain't ever gonna be president, Mitt. Save your money.
The strategy carries risks for a movement grounded in the concept of tolerance. But the demographics tempt proponents of same-sex marriage: Mormons account for just 2 percent of the US population, and they are scarce outside the West.
Of course, if you change the word Mormon to Jew, it is NO PROBLEM at ALL to the biased, racist, supremacist Zionist MSM.
Nearly eight in 10 Americans know or work with a gay person, according to a Newsweek survey. Only 48 percent know a Mormon, according to a Pew Research Center poll.
Well, whoop-de-doo. I still don't want to see them making out in front of me.
Many Mormons acknowledge a problematic public profile could make it hard for them to lead the fight. A 2008 poll by Gary Lawrence, author of "How Americans View Mormonism: Seven Steps to Improve Our Image," found that for every American with a strong liking for Mormons, four express a strong dislike.
I'll bet it is getting that way for the J**s, too!!!!!
Among the traits widely ascribed to Mormons in the poll: "narrow-minded" and "controlling."
J**ish traits if I've ever seen 'em.
--more--"
So WHY does the ZIONIST POWER STRUCTURE HATE Mormons so much?
I'm surprised it's not pimping Jews. Oh, right, Slow Saturday.
WORCESTER - .... The facility, called a bishop’s storehouse, is a key part of a vast Mormon welfare system that is largely without parallel in the world of religion. And now, in yet another indication of the toll the recession has taken on the United States, usage of Mormon storehouses is up by an estimated 30 percent, according to church officials in Utah and Massachusetts....
It was during the darkest days of the Great Depression that the Mormon church organized its novel system for providing for its neediest members: a vast network of ranches, factories, canneries, grain silos, trucks, thrift stores, employment centers, and food distribution centers.
Mormon culture tends to discourage, but the church does not prohibit, its members from accepting government assistance.... At the heart of the system are the 140 church-funded storehouses of groceries that congregational leaders can distribute to church members in need....
The storehouses do not accept cash.
Yeah, I can see where that might be a problem for the money-changing Zionist controllers.
Related: The World's Best Banking System
Whadda ya know, another group hated by the Zionist banking clan.
The only way to get food and supplies is with a checklist filled out by a Mormon bishop, who is the leader of a Mormon ward, or congregation. The vast majority of the storehouse beneficiaries are Mormons, although bishops can help anyone, and local Mormon congregations are also donating goods from the storehouses to area food pantries to help non-Mormons in need.
Translation: Mormons are not exclusive like some folks we know.
The system is financed by church members who, in addition to tithing, are asked to fast one day a month and contribute the money they would have spent on food that day to the welfare system. The facilities serve not only needy Mormons, but also church members seeking to comply with a church teaching urging them to have enough food on hand to survive for at least three months in the event of a sudden emergency, such as a hurricane, or an unexpected financial setback, such as a layoff. To that end, many of the storehouses, including the one in Worcester, include canning facilities, where Mormons can come to can their own long-term supplies.
Right; the Mormons are hoarding the food and are a little crazy.
That's the message I'm getting from my Zionist paper.
The welfare system and, in particular, the distribution of free food are intended to be used only as a short-term solution by those in need, so the bishops also offer employment counseling, financial planning, English classes, networking, whatever it takes to help a family get back on its feet. And recipients, whenever possible, are expected to give back by volunteering themselves. In Worcester, there is just one full-time employee, and the other workers are volunteers. Some receive food themselves, and others simply choose to help out....
Nice people who get a really bad rap in our Zionist-dominated propaganda system.!
--more--"Related: Mormons More Faithful Than Government
Oh.
Also see: One-Day Wonder: Israel's Organ Harvesting Operation
Back to the "fun."
"Calif. gay marriage opponents gear up for rallies" by GARANCE BURKE The Associated Press Sunday, May 31, 2009 7:26 AM
FRESNO, Calif. -- Hundreds of gay marriage supporters marched in rural, conservative California, but before the dusty roads could clear, opponents of same-sex couples planned to take to the streets to renew their resolve....
Just a day earlier, gay marriage advocates marched along dusty roads, saying they wouldn't be dissuaded the state Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8, which enshrined the ban on gay marriage in the state Constitution. The gay marriage supporters pledge to put a new initiative before voters to overturn the ban -- perhaps as soon as next year -- and to take their message to Washington in October.
Why should WE RESPECT THEIR VIEWS when THEY RESPECT NO ONE ELSE?
The event attracted veteran activists and celebrities, including Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron and Eric McCormack. It was organized by a lesbian mother in Fresno who was removed from the parent-teacher association at her son's Catholic school after she spoke out against banning same-sex weddings.
Lead organizer Robin McGehee, a 36-year-old college professor who married her longtime partner last year. "We're doing exactly what the freedom riders would do in the South in the 1960s...."
I am OFFENDED by the comparison of RACE with GAY!!
"The civil rights once denied to black Americans included the right to register as a voter, the right to cast a ballot, the right to use numerous public facilities, the right to get a fair hearing in court, the right to send their children to an integrated public school, and the right to equal opportunity in housing and employment. Have gay people been denied any of these rights? Have they been forced to sit in the back of buses? Confined to segregated neighborhoods? Barred from serving on juries? Subjected to systematic economic exploitation?" --source--"
I don't often agree with the Globe's resident neo-con; however, on this one, he is correct.
Also see: The Most Important Civil Rights Issue of the Century
Hundreds of spirited marchers were escorted by the California Highway Patrol along an aging highway to Fresno, a city of more than 450,000 and the largest in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley. On the lawn adjacent to City Hall, organizers flew a massive rainbow flag on loan from San Francisco's Castro District, the nexus of the city's gay and lesbian community. Some wore wedding dresses or carried rainbow flags, a symbol of support for gay rights....
You know, at this point the thing is so whacked, rewritten, redited, and reworked from what is in my paper, fuck it!! I don't want to waste any more time on this s***.
--more--"
Document dump:
"Obama to unveil benefits for gay couples
President Obama will sign a presidential memorandum today to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, administration officials said last night, but he will stop short of pledging full health insurance benefits.
Obama is expected to announce, in the Oval Office, the details about which benefits would be provided. It is the highest-profile statement he has made on gay issues, and it comes as he faces intense criticism from several gay-rights leaders over what they suggest has been a failure to live up to campaign promises in the first months of his presidency.
Obama will be weighing in for the first time on one of the most sensitive social and political issues of the day: whether the government must provide benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. While he will announce a list of benefits, officials said, they are not expected to include broad health insurance coverage, which could require legislation to achieve.
“Extending benefits to partners of gay federal employees is terrific, but at this point he is under enormous pressure from the gay civil rights community for having promised the moon and done nothing so far,’’ Richard Socarides, an adviser to the Clinton administration on gay issues, said last night. “So more important now is what he says tomorrow about the future for gay people during his presidency.’’
The breadth and scope of the memorandum to be signed by Obama was being finalized last night, according to administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the president’s announcement today.
The issue stems from a California case, where two judges of the federal appeals court said that employees of their court were entitled to health benefits for their same-sex partners under the program that insures millions of federal workers. But the federal Office of Personnel Management has instructed insurers not to provide the benefits ordered by the judges, citing a 1996 law, the Defense of Marriage Act.
As a presidential candidate, Obama vowed to “fight hard’’ for the rights of gay couples. As a senator, he sponsored legislation that would have provided health benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. But since becoming president five months ago, Obama has not addressed the issue or whether gays can serve openly in the military, a point of contention for gay-rights groups.
--more--""Same-sex activists angry at Obama; Impatience grows as promises slow to be delivered" by Philip Elliott, Associated Press | June 18, 2009
Pfffft! Get in line. The end is way, way, way, back there.
WASHINGTON - President Obama signaled to gay-rights activists yesterday that he is listening to their desire for greater equality in “a more perfect union.’’ But he did not give them everything they want, bringing to the surface an anger that has been growing against the president....
But THEY are NOT TERRORISTS, right? Angry gays?
I never heard of such a thing in my pro-gay, agenda-pushing MSM.
Obama.... signed a memorandum extending benefits, such as visitation or dependent-care rights, to same-sex partners of federal employees.
But the president’s critics - and there were many - saw the incremental move to expand gay rights as little more than pandering to a reliably Democratic voting bloc, with the primary aim not of making policy more fair but of cutting short a fund-raising boycott.
“When a president tells you he’s going to be different, you believe him,’’ said John Aravosis, a Washington-based gay activist. “It’s not that he didn’t follow through on his promises, he stabbed us in the back.’’
Yeah, US ANTIWAR FOLK know the FEELING! Wees in FRONT of the LINE!!!
Obama has refused to take concrete steps toward a repeal of a policy that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, though as a candidate he pledged to scrap Clinton-era rules. He similarly has refused to step in and block the dismissal of gays and lesbians who face court-martial for disclosing their sexual orientation....
Hey, GO FIGHT the WARS based on LIES if you want.
It will SAVE SOME REGULAR American kid from being sacrificed on the altar of Zionism.
“The community has been growing frustrated and the administration has been working on this since day one,’’ said Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay-rights group.
Can't get their rocks off? A limp pud? Need Viagra?
Trying to quell that anger, Obama approved small changes in benefits available to same-sex couples. For instance, employees’ domestic partners can be added to a government insurance program that pays for long-term conditions. They also can take sick leave to care for a sick partner or nonbiological child....
Yeah, he LISTENS to THEM!!!! Pffft!
“People feel they’re owed an apology,’’ said Richard Socarides, a New York lawyer who advised President Clinton on gay issues. “People in the gay community feel he overpromised and underdelivered.’’
Yeah, it MUST be a JEW-BACKED MOVEMENT! The ARROGANT, UNGRATEFUL CHUTZPAH gives it away!
Why they complaining? He's working the pipes hard.....
"Same-sex couples allowed to use spouses' surnames on passports" by John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | June 18, 2009
The Obama administration has agreed to let same-sex couples use their spouse’s surname when they apply for passports from the US State Department, an activist group said yesterday in Boston.
A gay married couple, Al and Keith Toney, joined the group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders in challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed during the Clinton administration, in federal court in Boston.
I just can't get used to that.
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Kerry Endorses NAMBLA
One issue the couple and GLAD raised was the State Department’s refusal to allow Keith Toney - his name before marriage was Keith Fitzpatrick - to seek a new passport under his spouse’s surname....
Mary L. Bonauto, lead counsel for GLAD, welcomed the shift by the current administration, but urged a more sweeping rejection of the federal law. The Toneys were among nine same-sex couples who are suing the federal government in US District Court, seeking to have their rights as married couples recognized by all federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration....
Ooooooooooohhhh! It's ALL ABOUT $$$$, not LOVE , huh?!!!!!!
NOW I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY!!!!!!!
In phrasing that irritated gay activists, the Justice Department went on to say Congress should move slowly to rewrite federal law, even as Massachusetts and other states approve same-sex marriages....
I have NEVER seen a group of people command such tap-dancing on cue.
They MUST HAVE COMPROMISING PHOTOS or something!
Bonauto said such a view endorses discrimination nationally. She added, however, that the current administration has been more receptive to concerns of gays and lesbians than the Bush administration. “I believe this is a fresh look by the Obama administration,’’ she said of the change in passport rules.
According to GLAD, Keith Fitzpatrick and Al Toney III were married in 2004 and jointly decided to change their name to Toney, in part, because Al had a daughter, Kayla, and the couple wanted to make certain they would share the same name.
That's really more than I want to know.
--more--"
Talk about PUSHING an AGENDA!!!!
"Politics lag on gay-rights issues; Shifts come slowly, even as cultural acceptance grows" by Adam Nagourney, New York Times | June 28, 2009
WASHINGTON - For 15 minutes in the Oval Office the other day, one of President Obama’s top campaign lieutenants, Steve Hildebrand, told the president about the “hurt, anxiety, and anger’’ that he and other gay supporters felt over the slow pace of the White House’s engagement with gay issues.
It is a J**-run movement; look at 'em whining with the victimhood.
But tomorrow, 250 gay leaders are to join Obama in the East Room to commemorate publicly the 40th anniversary of the birth of the gay-rights movement.... The conflicting signals from the White House about its commitment to gay issues reflect a broader paradox: Even as cultural acceptance of homosexuality increases across the country, the politics of gay rights remains full of crosscurrents.
Who is "accepting?" WE VOTE IT DOWN EVERY TIME!
Of course, I'M a PERFECT EXAMPLE, aren't I?
I've waved the white flag because I'm tired of wasting my time on this issue -- and the American people sure as hell are tired of reading about it in the newspaper.
It is reflected in the surge of gay men and lesbians on television and in public office, and in polls measuring a steady rise in support for gay-rights measures.
What BULLSHIT!! Because the AGENDA-PUSHING MSM tosses up a few more gays and lies about a few polls?
Despite approval in California of a ballot measure banning same-sex marriage, six states have now authorized it. Yet if the culture is moving on, national politics are not, or at least not as rapidly....
IMPATIENT LOT, huh?
Meanwhile, us ANTIWAR FOLK have been told BE PATIENT, BE PATIENT, for YEARS!!!!!
An effort to extend hate-crime legislation to include gay victims has produced a bitter backlash in some quarters.
DAMN RIGHT since it ISN'T ABOUT THAT at all!!!!!
“America is changing more quickly than the government,’’ said Linda Ketner, a gay Democrat from South Carolina who came within 4 percentage points of winning a congressional seat in November. “They are lagging behind the crowd. But if I remember my poli sci from college, isn’t that the way it always works?’’
Then END the WARS and GIVE US GOOD SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE!!!!
Some elected Democrats in Washington remain wary because they remember how conservatives used same-sex marriage and gay service in the military against them as political issues. The Obama White House in particular is reluctant to embrace gay-rights issues now, officials there say, because they do not want to provide social conservatives a rallying cry while the president is trying to assemble legislative coalitions on healthcare and other initiatives.
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, a group that opposes gay-rights initiatives, said Obama’s reluctance to push more assertively for gay rights reflects public opinion. “He’s given them a few minor concessions; they’re asking for more....’’
Give 'em an inch and they will.... euwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!
Conservative Democrats have at best been unenthusiastic about efforts to push gay-rights measures in Congress; 30 Democrats voted against a bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation that passed the House in 2007. (It died in the Senate.) And a half-dozen Democrats declined requests to discuss this issue, reflecting what aides called the complicated politics surrounding it.
Interviews with gay leaders suggest a consensus that there has been nothing short of a cultural transformation in the space of just a few years, even if it is reflected more in the evolving culture of the country than in the body of its laws.
“The diminution of the homophobia has been as important a phenomena as anything we’ve seen in the last 15 years,’’ said Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, who is gay.Yeah, see: Barney Frank Benefited From Bailout Bill
That from a guy whose lover was running a prostitution ring out of his Washington condo back in the 90s.
Gee, did I lose the link for that one? Awww.
"Allies’ stance cited in ‘don’t ask’ debate; Policy’s advocates say situation in military unique" by David Crary, Associated Press | July 13, 2009
NEW YORK - When it comes to dealing with gay personnel in the ranks, the contrasts are stark among some of the world’s proudest, toughest militaries - and these differing approaches are invoked by both sides as Americans renew debate over the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy.
In the United States, more than 12,000 service members have been dismissed since 1994 under the policy. Current targets for discharge include a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran, Army National Guard Lieutenant Dan Choi. In Britain, on the other hand, uniformed gay and lesbian service members marched in the annual Pride London parade July 4. Gay Australian soldiers and sailors had their own float in Sydney’s Gay Mardi Gras parade. In Israel, the army magazine this year featured two male soldiers on the cover, hugging each other.
Yeah, well, THIS AIN'T ISRAEL or BRITAIN, this is AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!
America’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy - which prohibits gays from serving openly - is the target of intensifying opposition, and President Obama says he favors lifting the ban....
From WHO other than this ORGANIZED, AGENDA-PUSHING bunch of cretins?
Representative Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania Democrat and the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress, has launched a campaign for a bill to repeal “don’t ask.’’ He observed British troops in Iraq operating smoothly with a serve-openly policy and bristles at the contention that American forces would suffer morale and recruiting problems if they followed suit.
“I take it as a personal affront to our warriors,’’ he said. “To say that other countries’ soldiers are professional enough to handle this and American soldiers aren’t is really a slap in the face.’’
Those seeking to preserve the US ban question whether the allies’ experiences have been as smooth as advertised and depict America’s military as so unique that lessons from overseas should be ignored anyway.
“We are the military leaders in the world - everybody wants to be like us,’’ said Brian Jones, a retired sergeant major who served in the Army Rangers. “Why . . . would we try to adjust our military model to be like them?’’
Israel, a nation in a constant state of combat readiness, has had no restrictions on military service by gays since 1993. Gays were permitted to serve even before then, but not in certain intelligence positions where, at the time, they were deemed possible security risks vulnerable to blackmail. Now, gays and lesbians serve in all branches of the military, including combat duty.
Fine, as LONG AS they LEAVE OUR BOYS and GIRLS OUT of THEIR WARS!!!!!!
Major Yoni Schoenfeld, a gay officer who is the editor of the military magazine, Bamahane, said there was little friction in the ranks related to gay soldiers. In 1992, Anita Van Der Meer was threatened with discharge from the Australian navy for being a lesbian. She denied the allegation to save her job - and later that year the military’s ban on gays and lesbians was lifted.
This spring, Van Der Meer marched proudly with more than 100 other service members in Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade under an Australian Defense Force banner.
Chief Petty Officer Stuart O’Brien, who joined the navy 19 years ago, said being openly gay has not been an issue, even when working alongside US military personnel in Baghdad in 2006.
“They valued the work that I did and that’s all that it comes down to at the end of the day,’’ O’Brien said.
You know, I THINK THAT'S GREAT -- and I also think it is a LIE!!! When I WAS AT COLLEGE a MERE FEW YEARS AGO I talked extensively with a lesbian who had served in the military. SHE said they (not alone was she) were HARASSED ALL the TIME!!!!! If not for being gay, then some soldier or officer was always trying to "bag" a lesbian (prideful boast after, right).
So, ONCE AGAIN I do NOT BELIEVE the AGENDA-PUSHING, WAR-PROMOTING MSM.
And nothing like trying to wreck some other society:
BEIJING - The first time director and movie buff Cui Zi’en tried to hold a gay and lesbian film festival in 2001, it was shut down by police before it even opened. When he tried to organize a gay cultural festival in 2005, five dozen police officers swarmed the venue, closing it.
But on Wednesday, Cui and other organizers managed to pull off the opening to the five-day Beijing Queer Film Festival with no police and no disruptions - drawing only an appreciative and low-key crowd to the Songzhuang Art District on the city’s outskirts.
For China’s gay community, this week’s film festival and an art exhibition on sexual diversity in Beijing, along with last week’s first gay pride festival in Shanghai, are quiet steps forward after years of slow but unmistakable progress.
Cui, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy, said the events mark a significant moment for China’s fledgling gay movement.
“The biggest change is that I’m not the only one doing this,’’ he said. “There’s more support from the gay community. Society has become more relaxed and open-minded in its thinking.’’
But he sounded a note of caution that progress is often accompanied by setbacks, saying organizers would not consider the events a success unless they make it to their closing ceremony today unscathed....
China has indeed eased its control over some aspects of gay life. In 1997, sodomy was removed from the country’s list of crimes, although homosexuality was not taken off the list of mental disorders until 2001.
In recent years, the gay community in China has gone from being virtually invisible to establishing a small foothold in society. In large cities, gay bars have opened, and gay and lesbian activist and support groups have sprouted. Internet access to gay groups online has helped ease the isolation for those who live in rural areas.
Even so, the vast majority of the country’s gay and lesbian population continues to face discrimination and stigmatization. Most remain deeply closeted in a still highly conservative society. Gay websites are often blocked by the government’s Internet firewalls.
Still, community organizers see progress in the fact that gay-themed events that would have been banned outright a few years ago are now being permitted.
“Ten years ago, this would have been completely impossible,’’ said curator Yang Ziguang, who helped put together the Beijing art show, the first in the country to explore sexual diversity and gender issues. The works by 16 artists include explicit explorations of gay and gender issues.
“I think the government has given a lot of space for the local gay community to grow and flourish,’’ said festival spokesman Kenneth Tan. “I’ve been in China for seven years, and the changes I’ve seen in the Shanghai gay scene is tremendous. It’s a metamorphosis.’’
A TOLERANT China?
Related: China Admits Abortion is Wrong
Final statement:
I am MORE THAN WILLING to meet halfway! I'm not happy about it, as my state has signed off on gay marriage; however, I ACCEPT IT! As a wiser man than me once said:
"The issue would revert to the states, where it constitutionally belongs.... anyone expecting perfection in this world is going to be consistently disappointed.... "
There are so may other issues to worry about; why is this making my divisive, Zionist-controlled, agenda-pushing War Daili... oh, never mind.
I no longer will: Get Me to the Church on Time
Gay Bigots Reside in Massachusetts
Volcanoes of Poop in Provincetown
Do you hear church bells, readers?
Oh, it was just the sump pump.
(This concludes the "Reason No One Reads the Boston Globe Anymore" series)
