Oh, conservatives…
____
It is a requirement for office that any Republican at least affirm their hatred for the convenient minority as well as the poor, while in turn raising the fetus to demigodhood and threatening to usurp sovereignty of womens’ vaginas to ensure that it is carried to term, whether the mother is willing or not. (Without good health care, education, and nutrition programs to ensure the success of the child, that would be so-called socialism, but not really.)
With the New York State now the sixth – and largest – state to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a policy position declaring that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is “discriminatory.”
The AMA also reaffirms its existing policy to support relationship recognition of gay and lesbian couples as a means of addressing health disparities faced by those couples and their families.
“With this deliberate policy statement by the American Medical Association, the nation’s doctors diagnose the pain and injury that exclusion from marriage inflicts on lesbian and gay couples, their children, and loved ones – and make clear that ending marriage discrimination is the cure,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry.
“The AMA now joins every other mainstream public health organization in America in making the case for providing the freedom to marry – and the critical safety-net that comes with marriage – to loving, committed same-sex couples.”
The policy, H-65.973 Health Care Disparities in Same-Sex Partner Households, was adopted the AMA on Monday, June 20, and states:
Our American Medical Association: (1) recognizes that denying civil marriage based on sexual orientation is discriminatory and imposes harmful stigma on gay and lesbian individuals and couples and their families; (2) recognizes that exclusion from civil marriage contributes to health care disparities affecting same-sex households; (3) will work to reduce health care disparities among members of same-sex households including minor children; and (4) will support measures providing same-sex households with the same rights and privileges to health care, health insurance, and survivor benefits, as afforded opposite-sex households. (Modify Current HOD Policy). (Emphasis added.)
“GLMA applauds the AMA for recognizing the discrimination, bias and stigma gay and lesbian couples and their families face because they are unable to marry in almost all parts of the country,” said Hector Vargas, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.
“Through GLMA’s work to address health disparities, we know that bias and stigma contribute significantly to the health disparities LGBT people encounter, which is why it’s so important that the AMA adopted this policy and reaffirmed its commitment to work to reduce health disparities affecting lesbian and gay couples and their families.”
The policy the AMA adopted on June 20 is the latest in a series of policies the AMA has approved to address not only the needs of LGBT physicians and medical students but also the needs of LGBT patients. The policy reaffirms the consensus among leading professional medical, scientific, and social science communities that ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage would provide additional support and stability to couples in committed relationships.
“Marriage inequality is not only unfair, it literally places families in harm’s way. Right now, all across this country, same-sex couples and their children are needlessly being put at risk because they are denied the freedom to marry. They are vulnerable to greater health disparities because they are blocked from important protections and benefits afforded through civil marriage, including access to health insurance and federal survivor benefits. No family should have to suffer because of discrimination. We thank the AMA for recognizing and responding to this critical issue,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Other professional health organizations that support the freedom to marry include the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
My thanks to the AMA for pointing out the obvious… that many of the health risks that LGBT people experience are due to the fact that our overly religious culture has made it their prerogative to alienate, demonize, and otherwise enforce their view of the worthlessness of queer people.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has come out against proposed regulations to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in federally funded housing.
The regulations, being considered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are “at odds” with the Defense of Marriage Act and could force faith-based programs receiving HUD funds to violate their religious beliefs by providing housing to gay couples or unmarried straight couples, lawyers for the Catholic group said in comments filed with HUD last Friday.
HUD released the regulations for public comment in January, with Secretary Shaun Donovan calling the nondiscrimination provisions “a fundamental issue of fairness.” They do not require congressional approval, but HUD officials can adopt them as they see fit after considering public input. They would apply to both rental housing and homeownership programs that receive HUD assistance.
The bishops’ group does not want to see any individual denied housing, but shared housing is another matter, wrote general counsel Anthony Picarello and associate general counsel Michael Moses. They said they fear that faith-based groups will be forced, “as a condition of participating in HUD programs and in contravention of their religious beliefs, to facilitate shared housing arrangements between persons who are not joined in the legal union of one man and one woman.”
A Daily Kos contributor commented that issue indicates Catholic leaders “are desperately afraid that they won’t be able to participate in public programs and practice their private discrimination.”
He added: “It seems to me if the Church is going to involve itself in the public business of helping the less fortunate, it might contemplate whether it’s appropriate to be sorting their charity cases into piles labeled ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy.’”
Read more here.
Perhaps they can worry about perceived sinners when they have the sack to dispense with the sex and war criminals in their own ranks. Until then, they really should resist the urge to moralize.
With that said, every one of us pays more in taxes to fund the lavish lifestyles of these scumbags, and we have every right to hold them accountable for their discriminatory practices.
If they went after domestic abusers as fervently as they pursue innocent gay men, who knows how much better their country would be?
As many as 200 gay men may have been arrested in Bahrain on Thursday when police raided a private party alleged to be a same-sex wedding.
Gay NZ reports that, “According to police sources some of the men were allegedly drunk, and others were described as wearing women’s clothing and make up. The police are now said to be checking if any have a history of ‘debauchery or sodomy.’”
The men, mostly from Bahrain and Gulf countries, were arrested on the charge of “conduct against public morals” and their cases will be handled by the Bahrain General Attorney, reports Gay NZ.
And of course, the homophobic scumbags flood the comments for their own amusement. I hope this person gets mouth cancer.
I truly hope the LGBT community in Iowa digs up the dirt on every one of the insecure hypocrites that voted for this, and out every damn one of them. If they want to vote to restrict peoples’ rights, let their hypocrisy be known to the world, I say.
Via the Iowa Independent:
A constitutional ban on gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships passed the Iowa House Tuesday afternoon 62-37. Democratic Reps. Dan Muhlbauer, Brian Quirk and Kurt Swaim joined 59 Republicans in support of the measure. Thirty-seven Democrats voted “no,” and one Republican was absent.
The legislation, House Joint Resolution 6, was the subject of nearly three hours of debate with only two lawmakers speaking up in support. The rest of the time was filled with Democrats denouncing the bill as nothing more than writing prejudice and discrimination into the constitution.
In particular, they need to dig up dirt on this guy, Rich Anderson. As we’ve seen so often, the most vile and vehement opponents of same-sex marriage are often closeted members of the community themselves.
After discussing his belief that marriage is about “responsible procreation,” state Rep. Rich Anderson (R-Clarinda) asked what could come next if the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage is allowed to stand. He concluded that it would lead to legalized polygamy and incest.
To answer his bigoted and illogical use of popular discredited myth, not a single state that has legalized same-sex marriage has experienced a cultural push for legal polygamy or incest. One would think that twelve years of empirical evidence on same-sex marriage in Canada (And seven in Massachusetts) would be enough to sufficiently disprove these myths, but that’s simply not the case in a country filled with ignorant and, I’m sorry to say, stupid people.
I was raised by a gay couple and I’m doing pretty well. I scored in the 99th percentile on the ACT. I’m actually an Eagle Scout, I own and operate my own small business. If I was your son Mr. Chairman, I believe I’d make you very proud.
I’m not really so different from any of your children. My family really isn’t so different from yours. After all, your family doesn’t derive its sense of worth by being told by the state, “You’re married, congratulations.” No, the sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other, to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us. That’s what makes us a family.
So what you’re voting here isn’t to change us. It’s not to change our families. It’s to change how the law views us, how the law treats us. You are voting for the first time in the history of our state to codify discrimination into our constitution… a constitution that, but for the proposed amendment, is the least amended constitution in the United States. You’re telling Iowans that some among you are second-class citizens who do not have the right to marry the person you love.
So will this vote affect my family? Will it affect yours? Over the next two hours, I’m sure we’re going to hear plenty of testimony about how damaging having gay parents is on kids. But in my 19 years, not once have I ever been confronted by an individual who realized independently that I was raised by a gay couple. And you know why? Because the sexual orientation of my parents has had ZERO effect on the content of my character. Thank you very much.
"Zach Wahls, a 19-year-old Univ. of Iowa engineering student, who spoke before the Iowa House of Representatives today against a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Iowa. The resolution passed 62-37.
Watch the wonderful, riveting three-minute speech here.
(via pantslessprogressive)
Courage.
(via agirlcalledchris)
