Thursday, November 6, 2008

In the Midst of Joy, Sorrow


Proposition 8, banning gay marriage in California has now passed, basically 'un-marrying' all those who had rushed to take advantage of the right to be wed while it still stood.

Bummer for Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi and all those other smug queers, eh? They were getting mighty uppity. Good thing they got put in their place.

Here are the salient paragraphs from the New York Times' reportage today:

California Voters Ban Gay Marriage

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and ABBY GOODNOUGH

LOS ANGELES — California voters have adopted a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, The Associated Press reported Wednesday, joining voters in two other states who went to the polls Tuesday to overturn such unions.

. . .

Only three states this year had ballots that included bans on same-sex marriage, compared with 8 in 2006 and 11 in 2004.

The ban passed in all three states — the other two being Florida and Arizona — but its success in California, a trend-setter in so many arenas, was seen as major defeat for gay rights activists.

A total of $73 million was spent on the race there, a record for a ballot measure on a social issue, resulting in incessant television and radio commercials from both sides. Advocates of the ban played up their belief that without it, children could be taught about gay marriage in schools, while opponents likened approval to denying fundamental civil rights.

The measure came only months after California’s highest court ruled it constitutional, spurring thousands of gay couples to marry there.

“We pick ourselves up and trudge on,” said Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “There has been enormous movement in favor of full equality in eight short years. That is the direction this is heading, and if it’s not today or it’s not tomorrow, it will be soon.”


The article may be found in full here. Further coverage can be found at abc local's site here.

Meanwhile, you can sample the sort of viewpoint behind 'Yes on 8', at a blog run by Stephen Black of Oklahoma, a self-professed recoverer from, among other things "sex, drugs, sexual abuse, sexual distortions, and identity conflict in homosexuality".

The post of Black's that I'm referring to - actually an article by the similarly-minded Oklahoma pastor Paul Blair - has the following highlights:

We in America have taken great care for the well being of our fellow man.

We require seat belts to be worn in order to save lives. Cigarette smoking is discouraged because of the increased risk of lung cancer. We even have limitations on vending machines in schools because of the danger of obesity. Yet, if someone dares raise a question about the obvious dangers associated with homosexual behavior, that person is labeled a homophobe. It is more loving to speak the truth in love than to placate those practicing self-destructive behavior.

Homosexuality is dangerous. Homosexuality is sinful. Homosexual marriage will destroy the very existence of the home in America. Never in the history of America is the traditional home facing the threat of extinction as it is today. Christians, we must take a right stand and cast our vote in defense of the sanctity of the Traditional Judeo-Christian Home. There are over 60 million “Evangelical” (political definition of professing believers with more traditional beliefs) Christians in America. We need a Spiritual Revolution and Awakening in America. If we wake up, pray up, show up and vote we can BEGIN to take a right stand for America.


As ever, you can read the whole of the post here.





The above image was taken from this site.

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