Patrick Connors is guest blogging at the Gay American blog.
Like XGW, he is becoming unhappy with John Kerry.
It is the will of the politicians — local and federal — that prevent us from having our Constitutional protections. We are allowing this discrimination to continue. It becomes even more legitimate when we let Kerry congratulate state after state for enshrining discrimination without responding. We are watching the country make LGBT Americans less than full citizens. This is similar to believing that slaves are to be counted as 3/5 of a man. This is taxation without representation. We pay into a Social Security system that will not recognize the death of our spouse. This is about families that cannot get their employer to provide medical insurance because they don’t count. Straight families pay less for insurance and taxes. What can Kerry do, when/if he is elected to repair the damage done this November when potentially 20 states total will have amendments to their constitutions denying us our rights? Does he even understand the impact this has on us?
I don’t know how to answer these questions, and Kerry is not giving us ANYTHING to go on. We can read between his lines, and search his speeches for subtext and hidden meaning, but it doesn’t mean a thing unless he actually says something.
One thing I am not doing is giving his campaign any money. I am not giving the HRC any more money. They support Kerry and are doing nothing to demand explanations from him.
I disagree only in that Kerry and the Democratic leadership have said something: They support state constitutional bans on gay marriage.
Go read the blog entry. And this one.
In both cases, the concluding remarks remind me of the need for Americans — not just gays and ex-gays — to stop waiting for politicians to lead; walk away from their TVs and computers; and become more active in cooperatively leading their communities and the nation. The politicians of the center (Kerry) and right (Bush) are following, not leading. And the leftist (Nader) is just a pawn of the rightist.
Vote Nader!
Since I’m from MA, it doesn’t really matter who I vote for.
On the other hand, given that HRC appears to be willing to hold advancement of gay&lesbian civil rights hostage to advancement of transgendered rights along the same timetable, I may very well withhold support from HRC. I’m referring to ENDA, of course. I don’t have much of an objection to addition of “transgender” to federal anti-discrimination legislation–although it would be nice to have a bit of a coherent definition of what “transgender” covers and what particular rights they would be looking for–but holding ENDA and other anti-discrimination legislation at the state and local level hostage like that would be unforgivable, as far as I’m concerned. It almost happened in NYState a few years ago.
ENDA itself doesn’t have much chance of passing in the foreseeable future anyway. But I have to admit that I am tired of seeing groups that were established to promote equal rights for gay&lesbians allowing themselves to be diverted to other purposes.
I would LOVE to be able to vote for Nader. I signed the petition in San Francisco to get him on the CA ballot. Unfortunately, he did not collect enough signatures in time to meet the deadline. Unless he convinces the Green Party to drop their “non candidate” from the ballot in CA and put Nader on instead, we won’t have a choice. This is another example of Democratic party BS and ass kissing from LGBT’s who insist that we vote for a candidate who objects to our equality. Here is a link to an account from a signature gatherer for Nader: https://www.counterpunch.org/chretien08052004.html
We need someone to vote for.
Why the hell should ANYONE vote for Nader? He called gay rights “gonad politics” in 2000? He barely mentioned gay rights this year, and only said he supported gay marriage after Russert forced it out of him. He has taken tons of cash from Phyllis Schlafly and Grover Norquist, both of whom are very anti-gay.
Why should we vote for this person? Why should we vote for a man who lied to homeless people in Pennsylvania? His organization told them that they would be paid if he got signatures. They did. Then they got no money. His group fled town in the middle of the night.
Bush has destroyed America in so many ways. Not just gay rights.
Why should we vote for Nader just because Kerry says that marriage should be left up to the states?
There’s no reason to support Nader. None
Actually, there are plenty of reasons to vote for Nader, if you take a look at the issues he lists at his website: https://www.votenader.org/
I don’t know anything about homeless people being ripped off in Pennsylvania. I don’t think it was Ralph himself who did it, and I’d like to read the source the story came from.
As for contributions he has received – Schlafly isn’t one I had heard about, and I’d like to know the source on that story too. Take a look at the contributors to the Dems and the Reps campaigns. They recieve huge contributions from corporations that are much more evil and influential than that old hag Phyllis Schlafly. The same Inc’s give to both parties and use their influence on each candidate….the contributions are filthy no matter what party receives them. Nader’s campaign is not receiving anywhere near the amounts of $$ that the others are.
Besides, it doesn’t matter….Nader has been marginalized by Kerry. Bush and Co tell us we have to vote for them or the terrorists will get us. Kerry tells us we have to vote for him or Bush will get us. If anyone honestly allowed another major candidate to participate, they might actually have to talk about issues not ONLY about each other. Democracy at its best, eh?
Kerry isn’t telling me anything. I’m voting against Bush because I have eyes and ears and because I am terrified of the future.
You don’t seem to know anything about Nader or the people who are backing him. Did you know that he only got on the ballot in Oregon and Michigan because he accepted signatures from Republicans who said that their only goal was to make sure Bush won those states? Did you know that in Arizona, he hid his name underneath petitions to gut the Clean Elections law and to pass anti-immigrant laws? That’s one of the reasons he was thrown off the ballot in Arizona.
My “source” for the Pennsylvania news was Google News Ralph Nader Pennsylvania. Try it for yourself. Go to Open Secrets or Red Meat and look at Phyllis Schlafly’s donation. Or how about Ben Stein, who recently said that the only reason we should leave Iraq is because “those people don’t appreciate us”, and who said that Abu Ghraib was not as bad as 9/11, so we shouldn’t say a word of protest.
Can you honestly tell me that you believe Kerry and Bush are the same? That Kerry will appoint Bill Pryor or Leon Holmes to the Supreme Court? That Kerry will roll back all our environmental laws? That Kerry would go to the Supreme Court and ask them to uphold sodomy laws? That he would appoint people who remove protection for gay and lesbian federal employees? That he would praise Rick Santorum as “inclusive”? That he would take away hundreds of millions of dollars in AIDS funding because he would rather spend it on abstinence “education”? That he would promote an amendment to ban all benefits for gay couples for all time, in every state, on a federal level, just to get reelected? Would Kerry try to destroy separation of church and state? Would Kerry give hundreds of millions of dollars and huge political appointments to people that call you a Sodomite and a child molester and worse than Pearl Harbor? Would Kerry say that if you complain about being beaten or abused by anti-gay zealots, you are being ‘bigoted’ towars Christians?
If you can tell me these things, then by all means, vote for Ralph Nader. But Ralph Nader is not a victim. Or a hero. Or a messiah. And anyone who thinks he is obviously hasn’t spent any time bothering to research his positions or the people he now associates himself with. Then again, considering the dismissive attitude you have towards David Cobb, who (unlike Nader) actually earned the Green nomination instead of shunning the party for years and then begging them for ballot lines when no one else was interested in supporting him (besides Republicans), maybe you agree with Nader. Maybe you have an all-consuming belief that anyone who does not revolve around Ralph Nader is an enemy, and a menace, and unworthy.
There are so many people who are going to die if George Bush gets reelected. There are so many people who will be raped and beaten and jailed and persecuted. There are so many unborn who will not have any real future in this world if George Bush gets reelected. I’m just sad that you don’t realize how much Nader wants to support Bush, especially after he did such a good job of the exact same goal in 2000.
Oh, and I also think it’s extremely hypocritical that you rail against Kerry voters who say that Bush is worse, that we have to vote against Bush, and yet you happily brush off Schlafly (who continues to have influence and whose Eagle Forum is extremely well-funded — she was testifying before Congress only last month, and she was one of those who helped found the anti-gay extremists in America) by saying “hey, Nader isn’t as bad as _____.”
So even you stoop to the tactic you deride.
I have little desire to hear the fringe rantings of people at Counterpunch, particularly if they are the likes of Cockburn or Palast who are very wealthy and have dual citizenship and can leave at any time, with a huge amount of money at their disposal. They have nothing to lose with their purity tests. We are not so lucky .
Woah!!
Ok, dude, you win. I will vote for Kerry because its obvious that Ralph Nader is an undercover commie who is secretly working for George Bush.
I don’t care to debate my choice of candidate for president. That is not the intention of the piece I wrote regarding marriage equality.
I apologize if I led this conversation to be about Nader. I am not his defender, or his promoter. I would like to be able to vote for him, which is my choice. You may vote for anyone you choose.
My point is that should Kerry win, which is the only alternative at this point, we must make the equality issue a thorn in his side, or he will continue to “pretend” that it is something the states can decide, thus its OK with him if they amend their constitutions to exclude LGBT’s from equal protection and liberty. The only remarks he makes on marriage equality show that he is opposed to marriage equality. He likes to talk about Civil Unions, which is a separate, but equal solution. That kind of “solution” is directly opposed to Brown v Board. If he really is going to propose Civil Union legislation, I want to hear about it. It is not too much to ask that we know how he proposes to protect our right to exist. I wonder how much we will hear him discuss this flawed idea after he is elected.
You win, ok? Nader will do anything to get elected. Kerry is just a good man with only honest intentions and doesn’t accept money or support from anyone who might be an asshole. Its all above board at Kerry HQ.
Elect Kerry/Edwards in 2004 – and dont let them off the hook one day of their tenure.
Supreme Court and appellate court appointments will be made by the next president, and should that president be Bush again, you can bet that one or two Scalia clones will be added to the SCOTUS. Since I live in one fo the 8 states whose sodomy laws were invalidated by Lawrence v. Texas, and in a state in which it did not appear that the law would be repealed within the next 20 years, I do think that SCOTUS decisions affect many people’s lives. It matters who gets that lifetime appointment.
After hearing Kerry’s remarks during the debate I will NOT be voting for him. The end does not justify the means, which is what Kerry is trying to pull. It’s an embarrassment and a form of rape. I most likely will not vote for a president this time around, but if I do vote it will be for bush.
Ana, it would help everyone if you explain which remark was an embarrassment or a form of rape, and precisely why you felt that way.
Were you referring to his remarks about people being born gay, or about Mary Cheney? If so, then respond here.
If you were reacting to Kerry’s remarks on gay marriage, then feel free to explain on this page.
Thanks.