Minnesota House Panel Advances Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
Minnesota's House Civil Law Committee has voted 10-7 along party lines to advance a bill that would place a voter initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the state on next year's ballot.
The Minnesota Independent has a few details:
The committee heard several hours of testimony, including that of Bishop Bob Battle of the Berean Church of God in Christ. Battle said, “I don’t consider gay marriages as the same as whites not being allowed to marry blacks.”
“Gay marriage advocates have attempted to hijack the civil rights movement,” he said. “I know what civil rights are, and gays in America have all the civil rights as anyone else.” He pointed out the right to vote, the right to housing, the right to employment and “the right to ride in the front of the bus.”
Despite that testimony, 40 states currently allow discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations. Battle added, “God gave marriage as a gift to Adam and Eve.”
On the other side, Jeff Wilfarht used his time in front of the community not to rally the support of legislators but to urge veterans to oppose the amendment. His son, Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt, died in an attack in Afghanistan and was an openly gay man before he enlisted (and, despite “don’t ask don’t tell,” was open with his unit, according to his family).
Wilfarht told the committee that he realized none of the supporters of the amendment would change their minds, so he appealed to the veterans of Minnesota to oppose the amendment.
You may recall a moving clip I posted of the Wilfahrts (pictured, above) talking about their son in March.
Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...
The letter of the law versus the spirit of the law
The letter of the law versus the spirit of the law is an idiomatic antithesis. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words (the "letter") of the law, but not the intent of those who wrote the law. Conversely, when one obeys the spirit of the law but not the letter, one is doing what the authors of the law intended, though not adhering to the literal wording.
"Law" originally referred to legislative statute, but in the idiom may refer to any kind of rule. Intentionally following the letter of the law but not the spirit may be accomplished through exploiting technicalities, loopholes, and ambiguous language. Following the letter of the law but not the spirit is also a tactic used by oppressive governments.
Posted by: I'm Layla Miller I Know Stuff | May 2, 2011 6:00:32 PM
So not only do we have a bishop openly pursuing political stances, which is against the rules, but he also thinks that we have all the exact same civil rights. Gotcha. Ugh.
Posted by: Yuki | May 2, 2011 6:03:53 PM
Can the GOProud folks please tell us that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans?
Posted by: Clairvoyant | May 2, 2011 7:53:22 PM
Is there even a Minnesota equality?
By the lack of comments I guess not. So many of these states are going to suffer.
Posted by: Rowan | May 3, 2011 1:03:17 AM
F you BIGOT PARTY
Posted by: curtis | May 3, 2011 5:26:07 AM
@Clairvoyant, GOProud have no intention of doing that. They exist as a group solely to convince themselves of one thing, and one thing only: that their parents actually love them.
In truth, they don't. GOProud is a group of white men who are reluctant and resentful homosexuals. Their families do not accept them, nor love them. They merely tolerate them on the condition that their sons cut off their own balls, never fight for LGBT Equality, and tow the line for the GOP.
GOProud's members have to convince themselves that Lefty-Liberals are the enemy, and that the GOP has their back. It's the only way they can deal with the daily strain that it is to be such cowards. The need a group of similar cowards to congregate with, to reassure each other that all the lies they tell themselves are true.
Don't believe me? Ask Christopher Barron what his parents think about Marriage Equality.
GOProud is not about building bridges, nor about representing LGBT people within the GOP: it's merely a collection of gay white men who resent being gay, who suck up to their bigoted families in hope that they'll be allowed to sit at the Big Kids' Table during mealtimes.
Posted by: Little Kiwi | May 3, 2011 1:20:02 PM
Little Kiwi
I suspect it's very rare for a parents in a family to fully love their gay/lesbian children unconditionally. Even when it seems that they love them, in reality they're just tolerating them. Straight people don't really have a way to relate to gays, so at the end of the day they just tell themselves that all they have to do is just learn to live with gays. They will never see gays as fully human, normal beings. Sad, but that's just the way it is. After my first boyfriend introduced me to his extended family, they tried behaving nicely to me and making me feel like a member of their family but still it was hard not to notice the discomfort they were hiding.
Posted by: Mark | May 3, 2011 6:38:06 PM