To the American People....as a gay man, I'm tired of being demonized.

[terrya]

I'm not responsible for the deterioration of marriage. I'm not responsible for the alleged problems facing the family.

Please stop putting the blame on these problems on gay people like myself. I'm sickened and disgusted to hear the likes of the President of the United States telling the American people that a Constitutional amendment strictly defining marriage as between a man and a woman is "imperative". I, and other gay people merely want the same rights you have.

Is that asking too much? I don't really think so, do you?

Thanks,
Terry

[LynneSin]

1. I'm thinking you're responsible for Abbott peeing behind my Ent. Center

I have to blame someone!!!

[Misunderestimator]

8. Nah... that's MY fault.

Watcha gonna do about it?

[LynneSin]

23. KICK YOUR ASS

Don't go teaching my Abbott any bad habits!!!

He's a naughty boy who'll end up back in the dumpster I found him if he doesn't quit peeing behind there.




(ok, I'd never throw him away - but I can use the threat on him not like he'd understand)

[Misunderestimator]

24. You might be taller than me.... but I can run faster, I bet....

Good luck kicking my ass! :P

[LynneSin]

27. you just want me kissing your ass

Toasterwench!

[Misunderestimator]

28. Would you? Here:

:evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin:

[LynneSin]

35. I'm not going to kiss it but I know who here on DU probably is right now

:eyes:

[Misunderestimator]

39. LMAO....so to speak

:bounce:

[Commendatori]

52. Hell, why wasn't I shadowing you THEN?

Christ, take one lousy weekend off around here, and you miss all the fun.

Hope you had a good one, though.

:)

[Warren DeMontague]

61. Just Tell Me Abbott

isn't your significant other.

[H2O Man]

2. As a husband, father, and uncle....

....I have to say that I have never seen any "threat" to my values, lifestyle, or family from any of the gay people in my community. But I do note threats to my values, lifestyle, and family from the half-wits in the republican party who use this "issue" as a divisive weapon.

[shraby]

6. Threats to marriage take

the form of poverty, infidelity, spousal abuse, incompatibility, alcoholism, and drugs. I have yet to see where homosexuals have threatened a marriage unless a homosexual has married a heterosexual..that seems to cause problems that will end in divorce.

I'm truly sorry that some people including our sad excuse for a president find it fashionable to bash homosexuals. It's not only terrible, but it can also be dangerous to the well being of homosexuals because it tends to cause hate crimes.

[jpgray]

3. We're past demonizing you

We now are moving into the martinizing phase. Kindly report to this homosexual post-demonization facility.



In all seriousness, people are just engaging in what they see as acceptable discrimination. Denied the usual outlets, it gives people a rush to deny a group of people something they don't value at all, until there's a chance to discriminate by it. Then there will be loving odes composed to the greatness of whatever institution we are denying some minority group.

[hlthe2b]

4. As a female professional (aka "feminazi) AND a dreaded "liberal,".

all I can say is you are in good company....

[TexasProgresive]

5. As a hetero,white male

who grew up on the fringes of a famous/infamous gay area of Houston, I can honestly say that I have never felt threatened by any gay person. My marriage is not threatened by gay marriage or anything else that the gay community has done since coming out in the early 70's. Take hope. I think that the majority of people are much more tolerant then we are lead to believe. This is just another issue that Du(m)bya wants to wedge up our asses.

[Misunderestimator]

7. Personally... I WANT to be responsible for deteroriating marriage...

it sucks that straight people have already ruined it before we even get a chance!

:bounce:

[LynneSin]

9. Come on, us heteros exude family values!!"

"Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire", "Joe Millionaire", "The Bachelor", "Temptation Island", "Who wants to Marry my father", "For Love or for money" - they all promote family values in trying to get two total strangers to hook up and get married.

Then again we have J-Lo. Now there is a girl who is in desperate need for a toaster!!

[MisterP]

48. "Outback Jack"...

[Atlas Mugged]

10. Ditto

Thanks for saying it. I feel the same way.

Interestingly, at the end of F/911 during the credits, the soundtrack is Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" from the CD 'Freedom'. As a fan of Neil Young, I've owned it ever since it's release in 1989. One of the lines is, "(I)don't feel like Satan but I am to them". That one line guts me every time I hear it.

As an aside, not every gay man listens to Streisand, Cher, showtunes, Madonna, Spears and Aquillara. In fact I do not own, nor have I ever owned, anything by those artists - and never will. I listen to the Stones, Neil Young, Nirvana, Dire Straits, Pearl Jam, Sex Pistols, Clash, Tom Waits, etc.(okay, I'm "mature" - so, what?), with diversions into archival (or ancient) classical. My friends are completely convinced that I'm a closet heterosexual solely based on my musical tastes. But, at least they're friends in the truest sense of the word so I don't let it bother me.

Much. :evilgrin:

[arwalden]

11. You're Absolutely Correct. -- I Cannot Comment Further On This Subject

without hijacking your thread and turning it into one of my obscene and vulgar and blood-curdling nauseatingly gross rants.

:hi:

-- Allen

[pagerbear]

18. Oh, go ahead!

[arwalden]

29. Ya Big Troublemaker...

... always trying to stir things up for your own entertainment. You and I are too too much alike. :hi:

-- Allen

[pagerbear]

50. If you weren't already spoken for....

[Beware the Beast Man]

12. Because of you-

My marriage is in decay after only a year. Damn you! Damn you! Who will protect my marriage from the Pink Menace???
/sarcasm off

Seriously, "marriage protection," WTF is that? I am a happily married, heterosexual male, and I don't feel the least bit threatened because some folks want the same privileges I take for granted.
You're in good company :)

[Magrittes Pipe]

13. But Terry, who will think of the children?

I mean, don't you go around with a lavendar briefcase trying to convert them to a live of deviance? :shrug:

Well, if it makes you feel any better -- near as I can tell, the biggest threat to families in this country is Republicans. You know, shifting the tax burden to the poor, spiraling deficits, teaching hate, sending young people off to die for lies, etc....

Let's introduce a Constitutional amendment to stop REPUBLICANS from marrying. :hug:

[terrya]

17. And the dirty raincoat and sunglasses, Al.

And I'm at the schoolyard, without fail. :-)

Good idea about that amendment you proposed, Al. :hug:

[Magrittes Pipe]

20. Yes.

Let's round those perverts up and keep them from breeding.

Dare to dream: a future without Republicans! :loveya:

[truthspeaker]

14. you're right, but it's a hell of a lot easier to blame you ...

...than work on the real problems.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

15. I got your back Terry!

Fuck 'em if thats what they think. You've got alot of people willing to defend you from this ignorant discrimination!

[madaboutharry]

16. If I could change the world,

there would be no hate. I have spent my life trying to understand the need for scapegoats and I know I will die never finding the answer.

[philosophie_en_rose]

19. You dream the impossible dream.

You know that the freepers are much too obsessed with homosexuals to mind their own damned business. They won't be able to help themselves from homophobic paranoia.

You see, they have to blame someone. If it's not you, if it's not a conspiracy of uppity women that won't mow the lawn barefoot while making dinner, if it's isn't immigrants, if it isn't Bill Clinton's penis, then freepers might have to look at themselves. That's not as fun as blaming you.

What those morans think shouldn't matter, though. I've been at DU for years, but I have yet to see any reason why anyone should have control over adult relationships.

[SoulDiva]

21. GRRrrr

I sooooo understand where you are comming from and I have 2 things to say about this!

1) As a child of Lesbain parents that was raised within a tight community, Im sick and tired of these right wing biggots "speaking for the children". I say "Fuck you! I can speak for my goddamn self" along with thousands of other children, foster children, adopted children, and the children that are still waiting to be adopted. Go ahead and ask my how allowing gay marrage would affect the children, and I would preach about how I could have been out of the poverty level and could have had significant health insurance. (and maybe my mother would have settled down... nahhhh) I will tell them that my mother raised 2 going on 3(grandson) well rounded, tolerant, accepting, individuals.

My Mother is now in a custody battle in Texas over my nephew. Trying to gain custody over his drug addict/dealing father. But the judge is saying that he doesn't approve of her "lifestyle"!

2) The GLBT community are not the ones to blame for the deterioration of marriage, nor do I believe the deterioration of marriage is a bad thing!! The deterioration of marriage can be blamed on the faminist movement.... women are no longer forced to stay in abusive marriages, feel socially obligated to be married before 22, have options to be single even with children through child care and support groups. PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY MARRIED AND STAY MARRIED FOR "LOVE".


ok im done, sorry so long. You all just got my rant for the day.

[Misunderestimator]

25. Good rant, SoulDiva.... love your energy!

[CBHagman]

22. A thought that went through my mind this morning.

As I was listening to NPR today, I heard discussion of the plans to vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. What a complete waste of time, I thought. (Sarcasm alert) I'm sure those people jumping from the burning towers on 9/11 were thinking, "I wish Congress would pass an amendment to ban gay marriage."

And as usual, the Cheneying losers in Congress and other branches of government are going to expend precious time on a whine fest about th dignity of marriage. If they want dignity, they're going about it the wrong way.

NO, Terry, you are not asking too much. Apparently, though, the tiny little minds on the Hill and at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are not up to the task. Shame on them.

[MissMillie]

26. People should be more worried about people like me

Single, heterosexual, and a person who has fell in love with and slept with more jerks, losers and deadbeats than any other woman on the planet.

I mean, if we're going to judge people according to those with whom they fall in love.... you all should be scared to death of me.

I am a huge threat to society.

[Duncan Grant]

30. Now you know at least one gay couple here at DU who are married...

San Francisco City Hall - 94114_San_Francisco and publichealthnut1 married under the rotunda, March 11, 2004. Celebrating 8 years together this August! :toast:

[terrya]

31. Congratulations, sweetie!

My sincere, heartfelt wishes for many happy years of wedded bliss for you guys. :-)

:hug:

[Duncan Grant]

32. Thanks terrya!

GLBT people have to 'come out' every day. Great thread! :pals:

[Misunderestimator]

40. WOOHOO!!! Very cool and congratulations!

So happy for you both! :toast:

[Duncan Grant]

42. Think of us the next time * starts pontificating about the culture war...

or is it the class war? I can't follow the logic of these republiCON arguments anymore, can you?

Thanks Misunderestimator! ;) :hi: :toast:

[m-jean03]

43. Congratulations!

That's a beautiful picture, thanks for posting. :cry: :hi:

[Duncan Grant]

44. We are everywhere, m-jean03!

:hug:

[gator_in_Ontario]

55. Congrats!

Married to the love of my life September 11, 2003, Whitby, Ontario, Canada!

[Duncan Grant]

57. HiYa, gator_in_Ontario!

Hence, your username! :D :toast: :hi: Congrats to you, too!

[chicaloca]

33. Don't worry, Terry....

I've got a lot of anger. I'll beat the shit out of the homophobes for you, with the help of my judo-trained roommate. Homophobic assholes just bring out a horrible violent streak in me. Honestly, are heterosexual marriages really going to start ending at an even faster rate if same-sex marriage is legal? "Well, honey, the guys next door got married...I guess it's time for us to break up." :wtf: :shrug:

There's no bloody logic to their argument. I don't understand why that's not blatantly obvious to the entire world.

[Dr Fate]

34. I've got your back, friend.

And as a practicing heterosexual, part of the blame is on me & others, who have often made "harmless" comments, associations, sterotypes or "jokes"- which do marginalize homosexuals.

It took several posters at DU to make me understand how uncool & harmfell that was.

I hope you all can forgive that kind of ignorance that some of us show from time to time...

As it is, I've got your back.

Doc

[Susang]

36. Actually, I'm responsible for the deterioration of marriage

Yup, that and all of the problems facing the family. It was me. I'm really sorry. I promise to try harder and not do it again. }(

On a serious note, isn't it amazing that these fundamentalist assholes couldn't get behind an amendment to give equal rights to women, over half the fucking population, but they're all fired up to deny rights to a small amount of people who just want to live their lives in peace? Simply astounding. :mad:

[Donkeyboy75]

37. You know the 'pukes are getting desperate when they use

"the sanctity of marriage" as the reason to ban same-sex marriage. They don't even explain how this happens...how does a homosexual couple marrying hurt marriage? :shrug: I'll bet you can't get a straight answer out of any of these assholes.

Hang in there, Terry.

[chicaloca]

38. But heterosexual marriage IS sacred!

Just look at Britney Spears' sacred 48-hour marriage! Do we really want marriage to be between people who love each other, when it could instead be between two drunk kids with too much money and time?

[Donkeyboy75]

41. Exactly.

This mantra the right is chanting is simply a euphemism for bigoted behavior. How else could they explain the example you provide? If they really cared about marriage, they'd do something about that kind of bullshit.

[MisterP]

49. it was 52 hours, you sickening, benighted deviant!

You left off 4 hours! That's the length of a TV marathon! How dare you!

[chicaloca]

53. I'm sorry...

I fear the devil is taking me and caused my egregious error, and I KNOW it's because of this gay marriage business! If it's not stopped immediately, I WILL become a vessel of Satan!

[hrhdeb]

45. It is not too much. It is not even enough.

The fact that who you choose to love is even an issue means that gay rights have not come even close to far enough. Chin up. There are a lot of us breeders out here who absolutely support your rights. We will overcome.

deb

http://www.votewhileyoustillcan.com/item_pages/unisex_t.html

[MissAnnThrope]

46. The President Isn't the Brightest Crayola in the Box

He's pandering to the religious right to get votes in a very dangerous way. If you look at the Freeper posts, they try to tell you only 1% of the population is gay and no one is gay naturally, that everyone who was gay was molested as a child. That it can be cured. All utter bullshit. We know the numbers are higher. We all know people who tried to go for the cure and ended up more screwed up than before. I don't know one gay person who was ever molested as a child.

It's impossible to point out to them sexual child abuse is more likely to be a heterosexual crime, perpetrated by a relative. Oh no. It's all those damned gay gym teachers, feeling the kids up in the showers. Or some crap like that.

I love how they quote Paul's letter to the Corinthians, but totally manage to gloss over how on the same page, he came out against heterosexual sex too. That if you HAVE to get laid, then you should get married. But you really shouldn't have sex, period. Paul was also the reason women had to cover their hair in church for centuries, as he found hair seductive. The man was a repressed pervert.

I've found that the trouble with most homophobes is, they're repressing their gay feelings. I knew several of these types when I was younger. Didn't care to associate with them at all. In all the cases, I ran into them years later, they had all come out of the closet. They were much happier for it too.

So listen up, you Freeper homophobes who lurk here! It's time for you to come out of the closet! You're more of a threat to molest your children than anyone else here. So come out and wear that rainbow proud before you end up going for your basest urges and putting your kids at risk.

(As an aside, why is it always the really ugly, really fat, balding, wife-beater wearing rednecks who think gay men are going to hit on them?)

[ChickMagic]

47. Where I work

There's this fella that complained mightily about gay marriage. Every single day since Massachusetts passed their law, I've asked him how his marriage is holding up. Every. Single. Day. I believe he's starting to get a little perturbed. :D

[gator_in_Ontario]

56. Oh that is sweet!

Thanks for the laugh!
:yourock:

[m-jean03]

51. I especially hate how

they restrict the word family to such limited use. Their tactics are SO hateful. I totally agree with you, Terry. I was watching the Senate debates on C-SPAN earlier and I finally said, I can't watch this, these people are so hateful and insane.

They make it seem like heterosexuals are the only wholesome, family-oriented people. Everything that's not traditional or not HETERO is automatically unwholesome... That is ultimately what they are trying to convince people of. And it makes me almost unbearably sick and angry. :puke: :puke:

[geniph]

54. The Constitution has only once been amended to DECREASE freedom

Prohibition. We all know how THAT turned out. Amending the Constitution to limit individual freedoms is a) a cheneying bad idea, and b) doesn't work. You cannot put the egg back in the shell. When society changes, sorry to those of you who fear change and romanticize the past, but for the most part, the changes are permanent.

It's really about time we GREW THE FUCK UP as a society and stopped spending so much time and energy worrying about what consenting adults do in privacy. It's not my business unless I'm doing it with them. Besides, gender-change surgery has reached the point now where defining a "man" or a "woman" is an exercise in absurdity. Do we want to permanently identify someone as male because they were born that way, even if they no longer have the requisite parts, and are taking hormone therapy that identifies them as female, and they appear in every way to be female? What right do we, as a society, have to prohibit such a person from marrying a male? We don't prohibit them from marrying a woman, even though they appear, live, and function as a woman. Is that not same-sex marriage?

So what it all boils down to, is what is the societal purpose of marriage? It is NOT procreation, or else we'd require fertility tests before permitting marriage, and we wouldn't let postmenopausal women marry. The purpose of marriage is to create stable familial units. So now someone please explain to me how PREVENTING committed couples from marrying contributes to that goal?

My husband and I are both bisexual. If either of us were tilted slightly more on the Kinsey scale, either or both of us could have formed a relationship with a same-sex partner. Since neither of us is fertile (both of us were fixed before we met), in what way would the two of us each marrying a same-sex partner rather than marrying one another alter society?

Love is love. You can't legislate it. That's the height of absurdity.

[Duncan Grant]

58. Kicking for all the masquerading freepers who just showed up in GD.

Hope you catch this while you cruise the lounge. Please keep in mind that there are gay and lesbian people who don't fear you. :kick:

[Rhiannon12866]

59. It's not the majority of the American people that you have to worry about

It's the "compassionate" conservative squatter-in-chief who is currently trying to rewrite the Constitution to reflect his own prejudiced personal beliefs.:grr:

[Warren DeMontague]

60. Well, Frankly, as a Secular Humanist...

I'm tired of having to compete with you folks, the feminists, and the abortionists, for the mantle of who incurred god's wrath the most and caused him to remove his hand of protection thusly allowing Sept. 11 to happen. Although if I find a gay, secular humanist, feminist who also performs abortions, maybe that'll settle who gets the blame once and for all.

[davsand]

62. As a human being I'm TIRED of seeing GLBT folks demonized.

This is the same damn hatred that let Ronnie Raygun's administration let so many men die with AIDS, and it is the same damn hate that killed people in Germany that wore different colored triangles--not just the pink ones.

This is the SAME ugliness of the soul that killed Matthew Shepherd, and the same bone stupid bullshit that did the lynchings in the south.

It killed Medger Evers, JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Dr. King, Malcom X, and that poor man in Texas dragged to death by stupid f*&^ing rednecks. It will kill us all, ultimately, if we don't just stand up and say NO MORE!

I wonder--when will we realize that attack on one group deemed as "different" is an attack on us all?

I hear you, Terrya. I'll watch your back--and I'll walk side by side with you too.


Laura

[ScreamingMeemie]

63. I would gladly give you half my rights so we could be equal Terry.

In my eyes, and in the eyes of my children, we already are. Now let's work together to open up the eyes of those who refuse to see the simplicity and neccesity of this.

Laura

[theivoryqueen]

64. okay - I've got a spare halo you can use

that should help, for a while.

[Warren DeMontague]

65. As A Demon...

I'm Tired Of People Calling Me "Gay".

[Warren DeMontague]

66. In all seriousness...

Anyone read about this? This is seriously fucked up.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/181734_march12.html