Making a Fetish of Democracy, Cont'd

Let's vote, shall we?

Savannah, GA. The god-fearing followers of the evil god of Abraham may have to confront their 'majority-rules and I deserve a vote on everything' dogma in ways they never considered.

It's a pretty sure bet at the voter's craps table that many of the opponents of gay marriage are still smarting over the fact the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the wishes of the majority in 1967. In that year--in fact, up until the early '90's--a majority of Americans were opposed to interracial marriage. Right up to the SCOTUS decision majority-vote-holding Americans supported varying miscegenation statutes in locales around the country.

And wouldn't you know it--they used scripture to justify the bigotry:

Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with this arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix. -- Virginia trial judge Leon Bazile, January 6, 1959, sentencing the Lovings to a one year prison term.

Loving vs. Virginia put an end to all of that democratic chauvinism.

But people in CA, and now in WA and ME, are demanding votes on the rights of a minority vs. the greater number.

Since we're making a fetish of majority rule, let's vote on a few more topics, eh?

How about: Is Scientology a religion? (Or just bad science fiction with 501c3 tax-exempt status?)

How about the great cult of the 19th Century: The Latter-Day Saints? Is Mormonism for real? You just know a majority of Americans--deep down--don't really believe it's a legitimate branch of Christianity. Let's put it up for a vote--but not in Utah--and find out, shall we?

Heck, the First Amendment only guarantees Freedom of Religion; it says absolutely nothing about that freedom extending to taxes on the generation of income. We'll even be magnanimous: Houses of Worship--tax exempt. Everything else, to every property, every strip mall, and to every apartment complex owned by these religions--well--meet your friendly I.R.S. auditor. Let's vote on it!

Follow CA's lead (again) with their recently filed, "2010 California Marriage Protection Act" which would outlaw nearly all divorces. "Every divorce is the death of a traditional marriage." Vote. Vote. Vote.

Making a Fetish of Democracy

Erik S. Lesser for the New York Times

The Majority is Always Right

Savannah, GA. Let us be perfectly clear: The rights--the civil rights--of the minority should never be subjected to the tyranny of the majority. Full stop.

No tax-paying, law-abiding, American should be forced to ask permission of another if they may have equality under the law. See Proposition 8 in California, Referendum 71 in Washington, Question 1 in Maine, for example. Another example:

Yet this is exactly what is occurring within our Republic, today. An entitled majority is demanding and being allowed to vote on the rights of a disenfranchised minority, all in the name of democracy. This is wrong, this is perverse, this is evil.

It is time for America to accept civil marriages between two gay women, or two gay men.

Religious arguments against civil marriage for homosexuals absent a theocracy are irrelevant. Religious leaders and their followers have no place writing State or Federal law. Their freedom to believe in deities of their choosing is guaranteed by Amendment I, of The Bill of Rights, of the United States Constitution. That freedom does not allow forcing nonbelievers to have to live by the same.

Democracy has limits; it is not absolute. Majority dominion without restraint is nothing but rabble, gangs, mob rule.

We're better than that.

via gayrights.change.org

Christian Drama Queens

Chicken Littles

Savannah, Ga. Holy jeebus. What is it with these Ichthysians? Something drives the Fundamentalists--American Christians in this case--to melodrama. Histrionics. Hyperbole. They are hammy, campy, overacting drama queens; the hyperactive children of all things spiritual. Click on the clip above to see for yourself.

Hell must be a theatre workshop run by these people.

P.S. Somebody give the V.O. talent in this spot a throat lozenge...

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

(Diane Olson, l; Robin Tyler, r.)

Savannah, GA. We announced the lawsuit on Feb. 12, 2004, at 9 AM in front of the Beverly Hills Courthouse. -- Robin Tyler, plaintiff (along with partner Diane Olson) in the case that has led to legal same-sex marriage in California. They met decades ago, and were friends for over a quarter century before becoming a couple. In 1979 they were active in the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

Today, at 5:01pm PDT, by order of the California Supreme Court, same-sex couples were legally entitled to all of the rights and privileges afforded opposite-sex married couples. Contrary to the fears (and hopes--let's be honest) of some Xtians, the sky is still intact, the rivers do not run with blood, and sulfur emissions in California have actually declined.

There are a few bureaucratic changes, naturally. There will be one marriage certificate form for everyone, and secular--not religious--civil ceremonies conducted by the State will be gender-neutral. The wording recommended from the County Clerks Assn. of California goes thusly: "By virtue of the authority vested in me, as a Deputy Commissioner of Marriages for the County of XXX, I now pronounce this couple united in marriage under the laws of the state of California."

Ms. Tyler and Ms. Olson became legal spouses early this evening. Congratulations.

Somewhere my friends Jean and Marilyn are very, very happy...