Poor Marco!

Feb. 9th, 2016 03:51 pm
[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com


Mario Rubio was challenged and corrected on some misinformation by a gay New Hampshire voter on the campaign trail on Monday.





Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio, in an exchange with a gay New Hampshire resident today, showed a lack of historical knowledge and got accused of wanting to put LGBT people back in the closet.

Rubio was campaigning today at the Puritan Backroom diner in Manchester, where Timothy Kierstead asked him, “Why do you want to put me back in the closet?” according to The New York Times, which cited press pool reports. Rubio responded, “I don’t. You can live any way you want.”

Kierstead pointed out that he’s a gay man in a same-sex marriage, and said Rubio’s opposition to equal marriage rights shows the U.S. senator from Florida thinks gay people don’t matter. Rubio said, “No, I just believe marriage is between one man and one woman.”

When Kierstead said, “That’s your belief,” and noted that half the nation disagrees, Rubio replied, “I think that’s what the law should be. And if you don’t agree, you should have the law changed by a legislature.” As Rubio prepared to move on, Kierstead noted that the law already has changed [by the New Hampshire legislature]. He could have been referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision last year or to the fact that New Hampshire’s marriage law was indeed changed by its legislature to include same-sex couples — back in 2009. And in 2012 the legislature rejected an effort to repeal marriage equality.

Kierstead told reporters afterward that he's a Manchester restaurant owner, a father of three, and a registered independent voter. He will vote in the Democratic primary Tuesday because of Republican opposition to marriage equality, he said. “They want to take my rights away as a citizen of the United States,” he said of Republicans.

It wasn’t the only gay-related conversation Rubio had in the diner, the Times reports. Another patron asked him if U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who recently dropped out of the Republican presidential race, is gay. Rubio chuckled and said no, according to the Times.

The Human Rights Campaign, in a blog post about Rubio’s exchange with Kierstead, stressed that Rubio is staunchly opposed to LGBT rights. He has said he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would reverse the marriage equality ruling and has voiced support for the First Amendment Defense Act, which would allow broad exemptions from antidiscrimination law if the discrimination is based on religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage.

“Let’s dispense with this fiction that Marco Rubio is a moderate. He knows exactly what he’s doing when he telegraphs his desire to allow discrimination in last week’s debate, and then tells a married gay man to have the legislature vote on his constitutional rights," JoDee Winterhof, HRC’s senior vice president for policy and political affairs, said in the post. “Marco Rubio’s so-called ‘New American Century’ is one in which LGBT people are treated like second-class citizens, where they remain at risk for being fired or denied a job because of who they are or who they love, and where they could lose the right to get married. He’s threatened to revoke, repeal, and overturn the gains made on LGBT equality during President Obama’s two terms in office. Rubio would be a disaster for LGBT Americans, plain and simple.”

Watch a portion of Rubio’s conversation with Kierstead in the video below, from American Bridge 21st Century, and find more Rubio faux pas caught on camera here.

Source

Video of the exchange:



[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com
Regarding Indiana's new law enacted to allow discrimination against gays and lesbians and transgender people, under the guise of "religious freedom," Governor Mike Pence was asked 8 times a simple yes or no question about the law. He couldn't answer the question.



[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com





The day after the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling, a group of religious leaders sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking that he exempt them from a forthcoming executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT people. The letter, first reported by The Atlantic, was sent on Tuesday by 14 representatives, including the president of Gordon College, an Erie County, Pa., executive and the national faith vote director for Obama for America 2012, of the faith community. "Without a robust religious exemption," they wrote, "this expansion of hiring rights will come at an unreasonable cost to the common good, national unity and religious freedom." The leaders noted that the Senate-passed Employment Non-Discrimination Act included a religious exemption.


Source: Talking Points Memo.
[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com


Given the recent ruling on free speech and buffer zones, I've noticed a bit of a ramp-up in Christian protestors who seem fine with bringing their battle to gay events.


A few weeks ago, at the Folsom East Street Fair in New York, someone protesting with a sign from the Highline Park (see photo below). The sign read "Jesus Saves from Hell." Usually such protests aren't allowed from the vantage point of New York City parks, and if you're blocking pedestrian traffic, the NYPD has no reluctance telling someone to move, which is what happened here I believe, this person was gone after an hour.



The protestor was heckled a bit by some MCs on the stage, but nothing major happened. I was more surprised the protestor knew about Folsom East, and its location. While it's no secret, it's mostly advertised in gay publications in New York and word of mouth. But I Googled around and lo and behold, I found a website encouraging protests with an article "NYC Folsom Street Homosexual Perversion". In an effort to manipulate the city from granting a permit, the website suggests the street fair has hundreds of nude men (LOL I WISH!) and public sex. It doesn't.


Meanwhile in Seattle: On Sunday a group of Christian protesters disrupted the start of Seattle's gay pride parade and got in the face of local drag star Mama Tits, who was not having it. The drag queens formed a wall and blocked the protestors. The protestors may have a right to free speech, but don't expect some push-back either and a dose of their own medicine.



[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com



On Friday morning, a CNBC segment of “Squawk on the Street” turned awkward after co-anchor Simon Hobbs accidentally “ outed” Apple (AAPL +1.18%) CEO Tim Cook as being openly gay. “I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact that he’s gay at the head of Apple isn’t he?” asked Hobbs to columnist Jim Stewart. During the segment, The New York Times journalist was discussing his upcoming column on John Browne, the former CEO of oil giant BP whose book, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good For Business, details his life as a closeted executive. “No,” Stewart answered after an awkward silence. “I don’t want to comment on anybody who might or might not be,” he added. “I’m not going to out anybody. I called a lot of people and no one at any major company would allow their names to be used.” Cook has never confirmed nor denied his sexual orientation.

More here, with video of the segment.

I think it's one thing to out a closeted politician who is consistently hurting people in their day-to-day lives by the legislation they're advocating and enacting into law (Charlie Crist was horrible in that regard in Florida, when he was governor). But I'm not sure about businessmen or executives. If their company's business policies are fair, sane, and not hurting anyone, I think outing them is unfair and a breach of their privacy.
[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com


Actor George Takei posted this today on Facebook.


I've spoken often about the "ick" factor — the visceral reaction many have to the sight of something unfamiliar, like two men kissing. When I was growing up, the reaction toward interracial couples was similar, and that disgust over white/non-white intimacy was used to justify laws against interracial marriage.

Many use their irrational discomfort over gay intimacy to justify discrimination. This video, shot in a restaurant in Mississippi, illustrates that all too clearly, underscoring deep social and religious divides over this question. But there is cause, too, for hope — especially among young people. The ick is fading away, as it inevitably will. So watch and ask yourself, "Do I have a bit of the 'ick' in me?"


The reactions are pretty much what you'd expect, but there is a surprising reaction supporting the gay couple, especially when they're asked to leave, due to offending the religious sensibilities of patrons. Worth watching the entire clip. I was pretty emotional by the end.







[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com
Journalists at Sochi are live-tweeting their hilarious and gross hotel experiences. No wonder so many poor Russians end up emigrating.









After CNN aired a piece on Maxim Martsinkevich, an international arrest warrant was issued. Martsinkevich has blamed "the pedo Lobby" for his arrest. Martsinkevich has over 130,000 subscribers to his page on Russian social networking site Vkontakte where he posts information about himself and his political beliefs.
[identity profile] telemann.livejournal.com







On Friday, a gay CBS journalist accused Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) of being gay and in the closet. Itay Hod said in a long Facebook post that he is fed up with closeted anti-LGBT politicians and the media the shields and coddles them, then named Schock as one such politician. “People always say, ‘No one has the right to out anyone,’” he wrote, “that coming out is a private matter. I disagree. As you can imagine, not a very popular opinion. But bear with me.”

“Here’s a hypothetical,” he continued. “What if you know a certain GOP congressman, let’s just say from Illinois, is gay? And you know this because one of your friends, a journalist for a reputable network, told you in no uncertain terms that he caught that GOP congressman and his male roommate in the shower…together?”

Raw Story.



Earlier this week, Schock's Instagram account was featured on a gay rights' blog "The 7 gayest Aaron Schock Instagram posts of 2013," and that Instagram account was made private just a few hours ago. Rep. Schock actively opposes gay marriage, and when asked by reporters why his only response was "I just haven't." His record for gay rights is pretty dismal:

Schock voted against adding sexual orientation to the already-existing hate crimes law.
Schock opposed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Schock opposes the repeal of DOMA.
Schock is against gay marriage; and
Schock is for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would add language to the US Constitution banning gay marriage and likely striking down every gay rights law and ordinance in the country.

The documentary Outrage looks in depth at the issue of outing closeted lawmakers, providing a detailed history and voting records. "They have been chasing us for years; we're going to chase back."



Profile

Political Cartoons

March 2023

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
121314151617 18
19202122232425
262728293031 

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 7th, 2025 06:46 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios