“Just press the red button; the color of no. It will stop all the nonsense and not strike a blow, a blow that hurts thousands across this great state and taints our constitution with the language of hate.”Not unexpectedly, our own Rep. Clere's comments leave ample wiggle room for placating the many theocratic fascists among his constituents, but at least he got the pesky Constitutional part right by voting no on HJR-6.
Indiana House approves constitutional ban on same-sex marriage (Weidenbener in the C-J)We must look elsewhere for our daily dose of opprobrium, and accordingly, given the special place he occupies in the exurban hearts of both Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK) and One Southern Indiana (1Si), the supposedly Democratic Rep. Steve Stemler plays a wonderful, down-home role in this same-sex rejection production, one reminiscent of Larry Linville's archetypal Frank Burns on M*A*S*H, or perhaps Dan Coffey.
INDIANAPOLIS — The House approved a proposal 70-26 Tuesday that would make Indiana the 31st state to ban same-sex marriage in its constitution. Indiana law already defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but advocates of a constitutional amendment say it’s needed to protect traditional marriage from activist judges ... ... If approved by the Senate this year, the proposal can be considered again either in 2013 or 2014. If approved by the General Assembly a second time, the proposal will be placed on the November ballot in 2014 for ratification.
Hurriedly speed-dialing ROCK's Ayatollah Wickens for direction, Stemler first beat the pander bear rush to become co-author of HJR-6, but did not cast a vote either way yesterday. Weidenbener explains:
Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, was excused from House action on Tuesday and did not vote. However, he was listed as a co-author of the bill.Professional grade fluffing like that belongs in California, not Indiana, but I digress. Kindly permit me to publicly ask a question that surely must have occurred to many readers: Is there any known way to distinguish Steve Stemler from a garden variety GOP stooge, save for his own declaration of affiliation, one regularly contradicted by his political actions?
Crickets chirp, pins drop.
HJR-6's prime mover, Rep. Turner, is quoted by Weidenbener in the act of pandering to John Q. Public:
“Ultimately, it’s the public that decides whether we want to put this in our state constitution.”Turner had no comment as to whether he belongs to the Flat Earth Society, and so we're free to surmise to our creationist hearts' content. Spanish Inquisition, here we come ... make that, "return."
2 comments:
First and foremost, I would like to thank Ed Clere for taking a stand against hate that much of his base will be upset about. Secondly, I would like to say that today, I am sad to say I am a Hoosier--I grimace while viewing the tally of this vote.
If and when the Supreme Court takes on same sex marriage, how ridiculous will this vote look in the history of civil rights after it is ruled unconstitutional under the equal protection clause?
John Bottorff, a man who has earned my vote twice in the 9th district congressional primaries, took a stab at what a representative might say if they were actually concerned enough about human rights.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/john-bottorff/the-indiana-legislature-is-wasting-time-on-same-sex-marriage/10150190274264325
The first part speaks to what Larry mentions, how this hateful effort is essentially wasted because it will be struck down anyway, probably before it even gets a chance to become a part of Indiana's constitution.
The second part, though, is about the message it sends. I've copied it here because I find it much more direct than fumbling around with vagaries.
All Indiana is doing is letting their gay sons and lesbian daughters know they have no value in Indiana. They are being told that another class of people get precedent, priority and greater benefits than they do because gays and lesbians are considered 2nd class citizens in Indiana. What you are doing is saying your own particular animus against gays is more important than their rights, benefits and responsibilities under the U.S. Constitution. What you are saying is your own particular animus is more important than the love of two gay or lesbian people in Indiana who are designed by God to love a person of the same gender.
You are telling their parents that their GLBT kids don't matter to the State of Indiana. You are telling their siblings that their gay brothers or lesbian sisters don't matter to the State of Indiana. You are telling employers that their valuable employees are worth less to the State of Indiana than heterosexual employees are. You are telling students that their gay and lesbian friends in school are less valued than other classes of people in the State of Indiana. You are telling churches their gay or lesbian parishioners are less valued to the State of Indiana than those whom the pastor can legally marry.
Most importantly, you are telling kids of gay and lesbian parents that they don't get the same rights, security or benefits as the kids of their straight counterparts because their parents are less valuable to society than heterosexual couples. But, I’ll let you be the one to tell the them because I don’t have the heart.
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