LGBT people are fighting for their rights

It is bigoted to slander the community who continues to fight for full rights by trying to get others to believe they are selfish, unappreciative, spoiled little brats, because they believe half measures are not enough.

I'm sick of that framing. And anyone who can't see how that framing is insenstive and bigoted, should reflect on this:

If everyone is satisfied with half rights there would never be any push for full rights.

Anyone who would try to shame people in any manner into accepting half rights for any reason, especially a political reason, ought to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are really a friend to our brothers and sisters who live everday with discrimination enshrined in state and federal law and the the out and out bias and cruelty in every day life.

that's probably the most bitter thing to me.
especially after candidate obama used the ex-gay ministry to advertise himself.

oh well. i think no better of them than they think of me, i suppose.

...for everyone.

Every state and the entire nation.

It's just one more way that other countries prove that they're more advanced.

It's like America is backsliding or refusing to mature.

:patriot:

They're eroding women's rights in many states. I feel like this country is taking giant steps back to the Dark Ages.

I admire the people pushing for more.

That is the only way they will get it.

It's consistently ratcheting backward, sometimes a bunch of little steps to make a huge backslide and then one giant step. I just don't get why Americans are such lambs. For the most part many just don't seem to care. They've got their heads in their own little world and if it doesn't smack them in the nose, then they don't give a F.

What amazes me is any time a person/group/minority loses justifiable rights, we all lose, and in the big picture the whole county will eventually lose. That's how it's worked throughout history and there's absolutely no reason it can't happen again.

This will be known as "The Age of Stupidity and Authoritarians."

I'm not sure which part of "Everyone deserves equal rights" people do not understand. I do not see how anyone could ask another to wait to have equal rights... it's fucked up.

full marriage equality becomes a reality. That said, there will be a mighty celebration in Illinois on June 1 to celebrate the new civil union law.

For many people, getting halfway there appears to be worth celebrating. That doesn't mean that the fight for full marriage equality should end. But I'm very happy for all those couples who will join in the civil unions that are now possible in that state. Some will not, and will wait for full equality. for those, the battle continues, as it should.

any and all pressure in the push for full rights.

cause marriage equality to occur. The real answer is to elect legislatures, both federal and state, that will do the job. That's where it will be done. Presidents cannot make law; they can only advocate for Congress to make law.

It worked with DADT, but marriage equality is going to require a different congressional makeup, and that's really up to us all. 2012 is fast approaching. Our work is cut out for us.

of hearts, the shaming of politicians is a way to make it happen.

That is how it usually happens.

To try and make it seem as though the ones doing the fighting in the struggle are an enemy to their own struggle is abhorrent, imho. I'm glad we can agree on that.

People need to step away from their love of a party or politician and understand this is a struggle where there are not many friends, and almost any peaceful tactic to gain full rights is a step in the right direction.

Electing representatives to state and federal legislatures, however is far more important. In my Congressional district, Betty McCollum is our House member. She has always stood behind marriage equality, among other things. She is in Congress because people in her district support her and we have worked hard to get her re-elected each time she runs. You can look up her position on marriage equality.

She can introduce bills. She can work to get them passed. A President cannot introduce bills. That is why it is so important to focus on the people who can actually make this happen. You live in a state where same-sex marriage is legal. How did that happen? That's a rhetorical question. We need to elect people who create laws who will create laws that make marriage equality a fact.

President Obama would sign such a law. There's no question about it. But the current Congress isn't about to pass such a law. 2012 is coming, and after that 2014 and 2016. The Congressional and state legislature elections in those years are where the focus needs to be. Truly. President Obama has no power available to him to make such a change possible. Only the legislatures and the judiciary can do that. If we focus on the changes needed to make it happen, that will be the best use of our energy.

that forces a change or brings to light the inequality is within bounds in this struggle.

I'm telling you where I'm working to make it happen.

especially "social conditions" and "sources of legislation"

http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64text.htm

The specific source of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was the President of the United States. John Kennedy began the process of gaining support for the legislation in a nationally televised address on June 11, 1963. Discouraged by the violence accompanying the Birmingham demonstrations, Kennedy urged in eloquent language that Americans take action to guarantee equal treatment of every individual, regardless of color.

Kennedy proposed that Congress consider a civil rights act dealing with the following subjects: voting rights, public accommodations, desegregation of public schools, establishment of a Community Relations Service, continuation of the Civil Rights Commission, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs, and formation of an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. One hundred years after Abraham Lincoln announced his Emancipation Proclamation, the executive branch of government readied itself to ask Congress to pass a major civil rights bill into law

Civil Rights law. I was part of it, and in what followed to make things actually happen. My activism started with that struggle. I was just a young kid, 19 years old. I learned many things in the ensuing years. The single lesson I took from that all was that it all comes down to votes in Congress. In the 1970s, I switched my activism from public demonstration to working to elect legislators at the state and federal level who would vote for the things I believed in. I have never looked back from that decision, nor will I today.

With regard to marriage equality, I've worked for Al Franken and Betty McCollum here in Minnesota. Both are in full support of marriage equality. Our other Senator, Amy Klobuchar, will vote for it, as well, although she's not a vocal advocate. My activism, at age 65, is in getting people elected to legislative positions who will vote in ways that promote the goals I have as priorities. My state legislators are also pro-equality in marriage. That is what I do. You may do whatever you think will be effective, but that is what I do.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

helped write the legislation.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

I guess you should have nibbled on their ear first before giving them the bad news they didn't want to hear.

Thanks for saying it anyway, bean.

:hi:

:)

:hi:

Its a long tough row to hoe but in the end if we don't give up we'll win. I already see changes for the good in people I know and interact with.
The line of. When did you decide to not be gay stops them dead in their tracks every time I've used it and I've used it many of times since I first read that here at the DU.
Its not always changed their minds but it does make them stop and think and with contemplation many will in time change their minds.

edit to change an offensive 'them' to LGBT
My apologies

must stab their heart in the most painful way.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

I'm done being patient, and I have been patient. The time is now.

And resources? No ones asking anyone to buy the wedding cake. :)

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Equal rights are equal rights. Anybody who tolerates unequal rights for one minority will tolerate unequal rights for everybody else. Women's rights, in particular, go hand-in-hand with gay rights and always have. The arguments against treating gay people equally usually boil down to an authoritarian insistence on traditional gender roles that protect the supremacy of white men.

Don't be fooled by false equivalencies. Gay rights are human rights and the more people who insist on this the more rights we'll see for everybody.

hey, you left yourself open to that.

:patriot:

and (((hugs)))!

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Education for me is the nation's most important issue because failure to have an educated populace will send the country back to the dark ages. Working toward a fair tax code is an important issue for me. Getting troops out of Iraq is an important issue to me as well as reforming the military budget so that more emphasis is directed toward whether weapons programs are effective. Individuals that are gay have gained important rights, for gays and humanity at large, I fully expect the trend to full rights to continue, I am simply not ready to preempt focus on issues which have a direct bearing upon all groups in society.

A year from now? A decade from now? Mid century? I'm curious to know if I will live long enough for the time when folks such as yourself will feel magnanimous enough to grant my relationship equal status.

will be enacted into law as a right because it is a right. But the reality is that super majority does not exists and likely won't exists until the percentage of ignorant people is reduced via education. Blacks and women waited centuries for the rights that both groups have, and those groups still don't have full equality. Why do you think your struggle is any more important than the struggle of Blacks and women to grasp the last straws of equality that they do not have?

there's no reason to wait for that day --and there's no guarantee it will come.

but that you're all over this thread giving a hard time to people who fight for same sex marriage is pretty bad.

Wouldn't want to step ahead of anyone else in line that happens to be waiting for equal rights in America! Oh well, I obviously won't be around for "centuries" so guess I should just say fuck it. Of course my partner will never have access to my pension as is accorded to married couples. Would have been nice for him since he had no pension through his work. Maybe we can plan to have him die first....problem solved, right? We can also continue to pay for "individual" health plans since we don't qualify for a family plan at a lower rate. There's also about 1100 or so other things that we will never have access to in our lifetime, but at least folks such as yourself will be spared the indignation of legal recognition of LGBT relationships. Glad you could set that straight for all of us here since you obviously have it so well figured out. Priorities, priorities....guess I'll head back to the end of the line again where I apparently belong.

is causing cute little children with big eyes to go hungry?

and bow to the wisdom of bigoted hearts.

Precisely why doesn't "centuries" apply to your own priorities also?

this President promised he could walk AND chew gum. Only certain flavors, I suppose. Valuable focus eh?

don't ask LGBT to help you get elected in that case.civil rights is everyone's business. We are supposed to wait until some privilged strait tells us when it's OK to move foward?. Bullshit

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

and wait their turn.

and it's not like you said to fight for gay marriage AND other issues simultaneously, you have said it should wait.

which is amazing.

Bullshit! Well said. Simple and to the point.

being that you're advocating for secondary status among issues here.

under discussion.

Or do you not get that they have been waiting for equality just as long, and in some cases even longer.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

:applause:

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

It was ugly even by the standards of what is considered civil discourse here.

Now, tell me...how is that different from: "see, see, see, what has been done for you, you ungrateful fags"? I mean, sure, we are called "fuckwits," not 'fags,' but seems the message is pretty much the same. Well, there is also the strawman added claiming we are encouraging people not to vote for Obama; so not only are we "fuckwits", we are violating DU policy by disagreeing with the way our issues have been handled by the Obama administration.

We are just very bad people. No Easter egg rolls for us!

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

closeted people who have deep shame about their own 'sinful' homosexual desires; therefore, it troubles them to see gay people who are NOT ashamed that, for example, they have romantic same-sex partners, or that they ALSO enjoy the act of fellatio, or whatever it is that is supposedly 'sinful' or 'shameful'. Religious and cultural conditioning.

Certainly, I don't have any data or anything to back it up. Having grown up in a repressive community (like many people), I know the mindset that leads people to keep others down.

There are plenty in our own party who don't really like us, they just like our votes. We are supposed to shut up and vote for Democrats because Republicans are worse. And they are - it just galls me that the party we overwhelmingly support don't overwhelmingly support us.

Those of you wanting to ride the evangelical rails but are Democrats can take that anyway that you like. I love my country, and I want America to move forward. That's for ALL of us - gay and straight alike.

:kick:

There are examples of why this OP is still necessary right in this thread.

The rest just naturally happens. Accurate enemy identification is an important skill IMHO.

I've been a Democrat all my life. Haven't missed an election in decades, not even primaries. I send money, volunteer, encourage strangers to vote Democratic even when it's a little awkward to initiate the conversation. I spend a fair amount of time trying to educate people, deflect Republican lies, etc.

The Democrats take my money and they like my votes but when my sisters and brothers and I remind the Democrats that now it's time for them to be MY friend they get all weird and everything. Apparently talking about "gay" is icky and makes a lot of my friends in elected Democratic positions uncomfortable and they hem and haw and can't really bring themselves to vote for you know equal rights.

So I'd say that yeah, maybe it's time for me to remind the Democratic Party that to have a friend they need to be a friend. And then maybe the GayTM will just naturally open back up and I'll donate to Democrats and the Democratic Party again.

Right now I'm sending my money to organizations that are actually fighting for human and environmental rights.

Well, I certainly agree. Being a friend needs to be a two-way street.

I don’t contribute nearly as much (about ¼) to the Democratic Party, or democratic candidates as I used to. When they call (and they do frequently) I simply explain to the caller that I need to see a little more action from our leadership before contributing again. I give specific examples, and I encourage them to share this information with leaders. I speak in a reasonable tone, and always thank them for calling.

A couple years ago, our city passed an anti-discrimination ordinance which made it illegal to discriminate against people based on (among other things) sexual orientation. Just the other day, I had this asshole on my porch trying to get me to sign his petition. I pressed him to find out exactly what he wanted to get on the ballot. He was evasive and was obviously lying. He was wearing a T-Shirt that had a bald eagle in front of an American flag that had FREEDOM written on it in very large letters.

“How can it be”, I asked, “that you are so interested in Freedom but you want to deny the freedom to marry to some of our citizens?” “Why is it that you wish to enjoy the protection and advantages of our laws while denying the same to others?” “How is this Freedom?”

I really think he was too stupid to understand my question because he started ranting about A Christian Nation under God and taking back America before we are punished as a Nation for tolerating abortion and homosexuality.

At this point, I told him to get off my porch while he ranted. I was yelling louder than he as I escorted him to the curb telling him to “get the fuck of my property”. He gave me the Christian middle finger at the curb and I responded “IN THE NAME OF JESUS, BE GONE YOU REPUBLICAN BASTARD”!

I remember being treated like that when I went door to door for the democrats and how it made me feel like not knocking on any more doors. I treated him roughly for the very same reason.

Now for my point: I do not treat everyone who comes to my door the same way. I have learned to treat would-be friends better even if they see different urgencies than I do. I think MLK may have thought about this also. I believe he would say that if you are a minority, then it is prudent to appear mainstream at the public level while causing your opponents to appear like the lunatic fringe. Don’t get me wrong, I have been jailed for civil disobedience myself in a younger political life.

Not so long ago, I saw would-be-friends and supporters mercilessly attacked because they were less than fanatic about some issues while still being supporters. False charges of bigotry were flying all over the place right here on DU. IMO this is a bad strategy for long term success. It would be the strategy of Religious Operatives to separate gay leadership from its support, no mater how weak that support appeared to be.

I do not want to tell anyone how to conduct their political life. This is simply my experience and opinion. We both want the same thing in the end; maybe we just see a different (shorter) path to get there.

Did you notice that the SPLC is including anti-homosexual groups on its hate map? I realize that it is not too significant, but I am heartened when any organization takes a good and reasoned stand

The GBLT community has been a great friend to the Democrats.

:sarcasm:

There. See how stupid that sounds?