Obama hopes to persuade all Americans

[Karlis]

President Barack Obama says that while he’s dedicated to expanding homosexual rights, many Americans still cling to what he calls “worn arguments and old attitudes.

Read more...

[Enigmatic Ghost]

Meaning the Christian and Catholic Church and all of the Christian Religious Ideologies moral Values don’t Jive with President Obama’s Beliefs so he wants to persuade the Christian Religious followers of the Christian Bible to toss out what they have been following and believing in for centuries, so that President Obama’s perfect society will fall into place and exist. Good luck with that challenge Bro, because he will deemed Satan out right and p*** off a who lot of the nation throughout the bible belt of Good old U.S.A. If he starts mandating radical changes for the better or not, he better start riding around in a bullet proof Obama Mobile like the Pope in his Pope mobile. I didn’t mean for that to end sounding so very radical but there are a Whole lot of people out there that don’t and aren’t going to even go for such radical Changes within the Christian Religious societies, I mean look at how crazy the Abortion clinic situations have been throughout sense the legalization of Abortion. It will never fly because there are just way too many religious followers nationwide and some are out right Radical Religious followers.

Pavot

[chemical-licker]

so all Americans now have to be gay. so wrong, Escape while you can, the use of gaffer tape might work.

[Karlis]

so all Americans now have to be gay. so wrong, Escape while you can, the use of gaffer tape might work.

Sarcasm, C-licker?

There is a practical consideration behind this policy, imo. For example, Clinton was promised and received a large election donation from the gay lobby when he was nominated. Since then, the gay lobby has expanded, and has much more money to support its agenda.

I guess there are many other reasons for Obama to support the gay lobby.

Karlis

[Cadetak]

Sarcasm, C-licker?

There is a practical consideration behind this policy, imo. For example, Clinton was promised and received a large election donation from the gay lobby when he was nominated. Since then, the gay lobby has expanded, and has much more money to support its agenda.

I guess there are many other reasons for Obama to support the gay lobby.

Karlis

Equality? Tolerance?

No wait some sort of bribe, conspiracy, or secret agenda must be at play.

Edited July 5, 2009 by Cadetak

[Cadetak]

so all Americans now have to be gay. so wrong, Escape while you can, the use of gaffer tape might work.

This is the worst thing in American History...I already blame Kennedy and MLK for turning people black, and those damned lefties for turning men into women when they allowed females drive and vote!

What's next? They going to force us to accept those dirty Atheists?

You know what this means right? It opens the door for people to be allowed to have sex with animals...

[Lt_Ripley]

Good for Obama ... yet he could do more . Not just persuade , but make law and not just give lip service.

to the ignorant morons in America ? deal with it.

PS - hey Karlis ... going to join the Westboro Church soon ? they could use the likes of you. !! you would get to picket !!

Edited July 5, 2009 by Lt_Ripley

[GreytMuse]

No persuasion needed here. Matter of fact, I intend to help him. Worrying about other people's sex lives detracts from the vast number of real issues facing America.

War. Health care. Education. Economy.

If I am going to judge someone, I'm going to judge them on something way more important than who they choose to cuddle with at night. Other people's sex lives are simply not my business.

[GreytMuse]

I have to add -- gay people are first and foremost citizens of America, and should have all the rights and privilieges that non-gay people have. And all of the burdens, too. The right to marry? yes. The right to serve their country? yes. The right to be who they are without fear of losing their job, facing discrimination or other penalties.

Unfortunately, to get to this place of absolute equality, we (GLBTQ and their allies) are going to have to continue fighting, and continue being a distraction. It's the only way to make it happen.

[+susieice]

No persuasion needed here. Matter of fact, I intend to help him. Worrying about other people's sex lives detracts from the vast number of real issues facing America.

War. Health care. Education. Economy.

If I am going to judge someone, I'm going to judge them on something way more important than who they choose to cuddle with at night. Other people's sex lives are simply not my business.

[stevewinn]

so all Americans now have to be gay. so wrong, Escape while you can, the use of gaffer tape might work.

Love your avatar Escape to where? even our Ed Balls is on the same sort of band wagon. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...l-bullying.html

[jaylemurph]

Good for Obama ... yet he could do more . Not just persuade , but make law and not just give lip service.

to the ignorant morons in America ? deal with it.

PS - hey Karlis ... going to join the Westboro Church soon ? they could use the likes of you. !! you would get to picket !!

I agree. Obama made a lot of promises to the gay community during his campaign and needs to be held accountable for not acting on them.

Gays aren't an issue as long as they show loyalty to the state.

Sexuality is a personal thing, not something that should be involved in politics.

I could probably get behind that statement a little more if it wasn't couched in such fascist terms. I'm not sure out and out "loyalty to the state" is a requisite for any citizen: not committing acts of out and out treason is, but even the founding fathers admitted protest was an integral part of their form of democracy. Not even soldiers swear loyalty to The State as a fixed entity; they swear to uphold the Constitution.

--Jaylemurph

[Wickian]

I just found out a few weeks ago that one of my buddies back from high school came out of the closet. When he came over later that day, about the only different is he was wearing tight jeans and had painted fingernails...

[ExpandMyMind]

This is the worst thing in American History...I already blame Kennedy and MLK for turning people black, and those damned lefties for turning men into women when they allowed females drive and vote!

What's next? They going to force us to accept those dirty Atheists?

You know what this means right? It opens the door for people to be allowed to have sex with animals...

only if they give consent...

[momentarylapseofreason]

That this is still an issue only shows how ignorant we are here. Disgusting!

The sin of homosexuality is important to conservative Christians because it is a sin of which they can pretty much complain about without being concerned that they might commit it themselves?

"Focus on the Family".........................I say

[momentarylapseofreason]

Here is what Lewis Black has to say about it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-id4GKsaQk

[Paranormalcy]

So he is "trying to persuade" people to not just be tolerant, as that indicates you react indifferently to something but still feel it is WRONG, but actually accept and acknowledge something that is a fact in every country in the world?

OH NOES! What if he also tries to persuade people the earth is round, water is indeed wet, and some people are naturally left-handed! Utter chaos I tell you!

I can only say, Good, it's about time someone re-read our national documents and written policies and realized that "discrimination" is a very real and officially legislated piece of antiquated ignorance that somehow has continued into the 21st century in the US.

Edited July 5, 2009 by Paranormalcy

[Luckless13]

That's good, but he can start himself by repealing DADT (which may take a whole of a day or two), DOMA, and other things.

Homosexuals are people too, disagreeing with homosexual acitivity is okay. Discrimination against them is wrong and anti-American, just like discriminating against different races, religions, disablities, ect. is wrong and anti-American. Not only that, but anti-human also.

but seriously, why is he afraid to repeal DADT? Because some old bible-thumpin' home down old fuddy duddy that's knocking on death's door might be a-scared cause of dem homasexshuls bein' in his military with guns and manly men? So you can sleep in trenches, kill people, be shot at by radical Islam extremists, shave your head and look identicle to every other man and woman around you, but nope you can't take another dude or girl checking you out. Wow.

Edited July 5, 2009 by Luckless13

[momentarylapseofreason]

+

Homosexuals are people too, disagreeing with homosexual acitivity is okay. Discrimination against them is wrong and anti-American, just like discriminating against different races, religions, disablities, ect. is wrong and anti-American. Not only that, but anti-human also.

True that you can't force people to like homosexuality, but they are our equals and deserve equal rights

Edited July 5, 2009 by momentarylapseofreason

[ninjadude]

Meaning the Christian and Catholic Church and all of the Christian Religious Ideologies moral Values don’t Jive with President Obama’s Beliefs so he wants to persuade the Christian Religious followers of the Christian Bible to toss out what they have been following and believing in for centuries, so that President Obama’s perfect society will fall into place and exist.

1. There is no such thing as the "Christian Church". It is a religion that is a loose collection of very different faiths. Many who have no problem with gays. It is only the bible literalists that mostly inherit the southern US that have a problem. And you wonder why people say the "bible belt" is uneducated.

2. Obama is not trying to persuade anyone of anything. Were do you get this stuff? You can believe whatever you like. No matter how misguided.

3. The government has and should have no interest in religion. As Roger Williams wrote, there should be a high wall between church and state. He was one of the greatest founders of our nation and society. In fact, as I understand it, Rhode Island would not join until the separation of church and state clause was adopted. I claim some ancestry to these very people.

[Dr. D]

Just curious . . . . if you don't accept it, what are you going to do about it?

[jaylemurph]

1. There is no such thing as the "Christian Church". It is a religion that is a loose collection of very different faiths. Many who have no problem with gays. It is only the bible literalists that mostly inherit the southern US that have a problem. And you wonder why people say the "bible belt" is uneducated.

2. Obama is not trying to persuade anyone of anything. Were do you get this stuff? You can believe whatever you like. No matter how misguided.

3. The government has and should have no interest in religion. As Roger Williams wrote, there should be a high wall between church and state. He was one of the greatest founders of our nation and society. In fact, as I understand it, Rhode Island would not join until the separation of church and state clause was adopted. I claim some ancestry to these very people.

Roger Williams never explicitly said anything about the separation of church and state although it is implicit in his writings. The term was coined by Thomas Jefferson in a 19th Century letter to the Baptist congregation of Danbury, Conn. Jefferson was building not only on the ideas of Williams, but on those of John Locke, Martin Luther and others.

Rhode Island was the last state to join the union, but this was attributable to a strong anti-federalist sentiment in the state rather than a specific disagreement over church and state. (Again, this was over ten years before the term even existed.)

--Jaylemurph

[Michelle]

Many who have no problem with gays. It is only the bible literalists that mostly inherit the southern US that have a problem. And you wonder why people say the "bible belt" is uneducated.

Where did you get this misguided, uneducated opinion? Haven't traveled much have you?

[momentarylapseofreason]

Well this ought to be interesting when it comes out

Gay and living in the Bible Belt: Author to present cultural research http://www.kentuckylgbt.org/ht/display/Eve...tails/i/1248717

April 5, 2009 by News Staff

By Sarah Wilder

1. How does it affect an individual to hear comments that slander the group of which one is a member? What is it like to grow up gay in a homophobic church?

2. What stories do lesbians and gay men have to share about their experiences of discrimination living in a culture highly saturated with conservative religious ideology?

For, while much is said about homosexuals and homosexuality by those attempting to restrict gay rights, there has been little research analyzing how homophobic religious speech affects those living in communities in which the majority of individuals identify as fundamentalist.

This powerful multi-media presentation – including original interview data from lesbians and gay men living in Texas and Kentucky, video clips and photographs – illustrates the effects of religious-based homophobia on individual lives. Living in the Bible Belt forces many gay men and lesbians to hide a key aspect of who they are. Doing so causes a variety of destructive psycho-social consequences including poor relationships with families, compromised intimacy with others, feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, and, most significantly, the perception of being a second-class citizen to heterosexuals.

Bernadette Barton (Ph.D. University of Kentucky 2000) is Associate Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Morehead State University. She is the author of Stripped: Inside the Lives of Exotic Dancers (2006), New York University Press, and numerous articles on sexuality studies. Dr. Barton’s current research project examines the experiences of gays and lesbians, and is the focus of an upcoming book titled, Pray the Gay Away: Religion and Homosexuality in the Bible Belt. Dr. Barton writes and lectures on contemporary issues of gender, culture, sexuality and the sex industry.

Growing up in the Bible Belt can present unique challenges for gays and lesbians. In an upcoming lecture, a researcher will discuss those challenges.

Bernadette Barton, a UK graduate and associate professor at Morehead State University, will give a lecture entitled “The Toxic Closet: Being Gay in the Bible Belt” from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Cats Den Monday. During the lecture, she will discuss sexual identity in the Bible Belt, a term for a region in the southern United States where socially conservative evangelical Christianity plays a key role in the culture.

Her research will be featured in an upcoming book entitled “Pray the Gay Away: Religion and Homosexuality in the Bible Belt.” She writes and lectures on contemporary issues of gender, culture, sexuality and the sex industry.

Barton started researching what it is like to be gay in the Bible Belt during the 2004 election, when the issue of gay marriage was on the ballot. She said there was a lot of visual representation against gay marriage, such as the bumper stickers and ads on television, mainly because of the Bible Belt culture.

She felt she needed to see what the gay community had to say, and hear how they were affected by the election.

Barton said that during the Monday lecture, heterosexuals will have an opportunity to see what it is like to be gay in this environment. Gay students will be able to present their experiences and connect with people who have went through the same things.

“Students should expect for some interesting ideas to be posed,” Barton said. “They will come away thinking about social justice in a different way, along with an understanding of their sexual identity.”

“The Toxic Closet” is co-sponsored by the UK College Democrats, OUTsource, the UK chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Student Government. It is free and open to the public.

They also like to interfere in abortion rights

Every state in the Deep South -- Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina -- restricts low-income women's access to abortion. Most ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy. None explicitly protect heath care facilities from harassment or violence. All have mandatory delay laws that unfairly burden women who have limited access to transportation and time off work, and Louisiana and South Carolina both passed unconstitutional laws requiring a husband's consent for a married woman's abortion. In the past 16 months, two abortion clinics in Alabama have closed, and new regulations are making it difficult for other clinics to stay open. Now, anti-abortion groups are strategizing ways to outlaw birth control and eliminate sex education.

Michelle Colon, president of the National Organization for Women's (NOW) Mid-South region (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee) calls it a "war on women" -- the gravity of which citizens in more progressive parts of the country don't appreciate. "The rest of the country kind of writes off the South -- people feel the battle has been lost here," Colon says.

Colon is part of a vocal, scrappy cadre of grassroots activists challenging the well-funded, entrenched anti-abortion movement that has long dominated state legislatures and local pulpits across the region. One Southern feminist put it this way: "Women here are sick and tired of being sick and tired." "It's not legal, is it?" http://www.alternet.org/story/64551/

Edited July 6, 2009 by momentarylapseofreason

[Michelle]

That's very interesting, mlor.

One of these days I would like to see how it pertains to the other parts of the nation and how they percieve gays considering most of those more 'progressive states' have yet to give gays equal rights..even California.

I'm sure I could find equally damning articles about anywhere you wish to mention.

Edited July 6, 2009 by Michelle