Republicans branching out to old Dem stronghold.

If I were a theist rather than an agnostic, I would thank my God for the fact that I am not so judgemental and up-tight that I would argue some of the things being argued in this thread by Au -- and applauded by Snood.

Good grief!

What we are talking about here is the desire of some people to commit to a permanent relationship.

Marriage, at least the civil component, should not be reserved for only one segment of the population.

As several people have noted, if a church wishes to marry same sex partners - they should be ble to. If a church wishes to refuse same sex marriages -- they should be able to.

But the state is something different.

If the state sees something of value in a marriage contract -- enough to have a civil component -- it should not be allowed to discriminate.

Get over the up-tightness! Get a life. Find something worthwhile to fret over.

How can anyone be so uptight as to

leave their balls in a pinch?

Setanta

Thanks for the links!!!

blatham

Obviously, our Bavarian policemen as small as the Mounties

Cleveland, Ohio - USA; eat my dust!

http://www.mypage.bluewin.ch/ecussons/8VhcUSAohioSwatanglais.html

LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS OF NEW YORK APPLAUDS REPUBLICAN
LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP FOR ADVANCING EQUAL RIGHTS

Senate Passes and Governor Expected to Sign Three Pro-Gay Bills



(Albany, June 23, 2003) -- Today Log Cabin Republicans of New York (LCR/NY) applauded Republican leaders in the New York State Legislature for passing three pro-gay measures at the end of the session. The three bills, all of which Republican Governor George Pataki is expected to sign, remove offensive references to "sodomy" and "deviate sexual intercourse" in state law, provide domestic partners of credit union members access to membership and banking services, and require colleges and universities to address campus bias crimes. All three measures received the unanimous support of Republican Senators and Assemblymembers.

While the New York Court of Appeals ruled the state's consensual sodomy law unconstitutional in 1980, the law remained on the books until Governor Pataki and Republican and Democrat legislative leaders repealed the statute in 2000. However, criminal "sodomy" and "deviate sexual intercourse" remain engendered in state law to this day. The passage of S.5690, sponsored by Senator Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn) and cosponsored by nearly all Republican Senators, will change the offensive terms to the more accurate terms "criminal sexual assault" and "oral and anal sexual intercourse," respectively.

"Once again, New York's Republican elected officials have taken a strong stance in defense of individual liberty and in respect for the dignity of gays and lesbians," commented Jeff Cook, Executive Director of LCR/NY. "The New York Republican Party knows, and we hope the U.S. Supreme Court realizes this week, that the government has no business judging and criminalizing the bedrooms of consenting adults. States should take a lesson from the Republican leadership of New York and spend their time combating the domestic violence and sexual abuse currently devastating families across America."

www.lcny.org/

Aw, no finish to the soliloquy.

But, to whom it may concern - I really don't "fret" about gays much. The only time I basically have any reason to say anything about gayness is when the subject comes up about making their unions equal to traditional man/woman marriages.

For someone to have a cow, and start blathering about how the other side of an argument needs to "get over themselves", especially in as hotly contested an issue as the sanctioning of gay marriage (and considering that learned and powerful people are arguing both sides of this debate nationwide, and it is by no means a done deal), I submit that it is that person who needs to reconsider his importance in the scheme of things. Maybe, perhaps, there's just the possibility that his opinion is not the sage, end-all pronouncement he thinks it is, and no one is going to take him as seriously as he does himself.

Let's take a quick inventory:
How many assholes and opinions is everyone in possession of? Just as I thought - 1.

Mayor Bloomberg parts with GOP platform on same-sex marriages

July 2, 2003, 6:59 AM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) _ Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg distanced himself from his party's position on same-sex marriage less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision to overturn a Texas anti-sodomy law.
"I have always thought that people should be allowed to go about their business themselves," Bloomberg said at a news conference. "I don't know why any of these platforms should deal with issues like that."
Bloomberg's comments come a year before New York hosts the Republican National Convention. The party's platform at the 2000 convention strongly supported a "traditional definition of 'marriage' as the legal union of one man and one woman," and is endorsed by President Bush.
Advocates of the gay and lesbian community have been lobbying for Bloomberg to support same-sex marriages. Councilwoman Margarita Lopez told Newsday in Wednesday editions that she plans to ask the mayor to perform a marriage ceremony for her and her partner.
"That would be a good test for him, to come out of the closet on gay marriages," she said.
But conservative activist Gary Bauer told The New York Post that Bloomberg's position on the GOP platform "would be disastrous for the Republican Party."

Let's acknowledge Sofia's contention that there is, at least, some reflection of change in her party. Dim, and as hotly contested as Satanic breakfast prayers, but it's there.

Walter
The VW car is a public relations move. Cop cars here follow the north american rule - big honking American sedans. My daughter spent last summer travelling around Europe and when she returned, she found herself aghast at the wasteful size of North American autos. But that's our style over here...big and dumb.

Well, the smart-patrol-car is the only one in use: PR as well.

Maybe there was more said in context that would change the meaning, but I don't read Bloomberg to be coming out for government recognition of gay unions here, I read him quite clearly stating that he doesn't think the government should be involved in the issue either way.

Handy, that.

Damn, I wish I had a photo, and when I get one, will you help me upload it? Here they're using Daimler Chrysler PC Cruisers, dressed up in black and white to mimic 1940's police cars. And this is TEXAS!

Tartarin

That's too cool! I hope they put the old style single cherry up top! I have to head off to work now, but some handy fellow will come to your aid.

Actually, I think they're called PT Cruisers, but of course they're quite PC too.

blatham


Could you introduce me to the lady on the left?

(btw: with hat, you really look much nicer, if you allow)

Yeah, them Canajuns is adoin' it, too:

set and tartarin

See how they fucked up the paint job though! And the lights. Dummies! Black car/white door (or the reverse, as in a classic Marx Brother's scene). But no, they have to go with this.

Walter

The lady is my sister. Yes, you may touch her. The two gentlemen with ties bought coincidentally by un-related mothers in law at the same sale, are the Prime Minister on left and the Mayor of Vancouver on the right. I have met neither, but a friend of mine, thirty years ago, threw a pair of panties in the Mayor's face (she told me what the infraction was, but I've forgotten). He's actually a good guy, and is pressing now for a European-style approach to the heroin problem (he was coroner previously, and decided to run for mayor because he was aghast at the numbers of people who were dying by overdose and how the system just did not care).

Puts ya light years ahead of Tarana, with Mayor Mel "Can I interest you in the Maytag Washer/Dryer set? Lastman . . .

Now I've gotta drive all the way down there, take a photo of our cruiser, come back, and get help posting. OURS are really black and white!!

Like this one, Tartarin?
Chrysler PT Cruiser DARE unit, side view, Kerrville, TX, Police