Associated Press photo
Last week, Washington, D.C., City Councilman Marion Barry raised eyebrowns when he predicted that there would be a “civil war” if the District of Columbia endorsed gay marriage legislation.
"All hell is going to break loose," warned Barry, the former D.C. mayor and one-time convicted felon, after the council voted 12-to-1 Tuesday to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere in America. "We may have a civil war," declared Barry. "The black community is just adamant against this."
Given his troubled background, Marion Berry isn't everyone's ideal spokesman for traditional marriage. As one of my fellow Examiners wrote:
"I never thought I would find myself supporting Marion Berry but he was the lone dissenting vote. Give the man credit when he is right. And on this issue, he is definitely right."
Barry's statement highlighted a rift in the "rainbow coalition" that the Left isn't eager to discuss: the deep divisions between blacks and Latinos (who normally can be relied upon to vote Democrat) and their fellow liberals in the gay community.
During the Prop 8 campaign in California, the tensions spilled onto the streets and got ugly.
“It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU N****R, one man shouted (...) Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the [Mormon] temple... me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the n*****s better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them.”
Along with hundreds of other homosexuals, “Geoffrey” (above) rallied outside the LDS Temple in Westwood, California last November to protest the Mormon’s (highly exaggerated) support of the state’s “anti-gay marriage” initiative known as Proposition 8.
He didn’t expect to hear racist insults and threats of violence hurled at him by fellow gays. Yet as his story wound its way around intenet blogs and chatrooms, other non-white homosexuals shared similar chilling tales. The narrow passage of “Prop 8” did more than make “gay marriage” illegal in California. It also revealed a rift in the “rainbow coalition”, with homosexuals taking out their anger on African-Americans, who voted against “gay marriage” at a rate of 70%.
For generations, African-Americans have been mostly impervious to public criticism in liberal circles, making it all the more shocking to hear highly visible Prop 8 opponent comedienne Rosanne Barr declare on her website that African-Americans who’d supported Prop 8 had “showed (sic) themselves every inch as bigoted and ignorant as their white Christian right wing counterparts.”
Gay rights activists took out their anger on more predictable targets too. California Mormons bore the brunt of the backlash: the LDS owner of a historically gay-positive Los Angeles restaurant was targeted nightly by belligerent protesters after they learned about her $100 donation to the pro-Proposition 8 cause.
The artistic director of the California Musical Theatre, also a Mormon, was forced to resign over his donation to the same campaign. Their names and addresses, along with thousands of others, had been published in an “Anti-Gay Blacklist” on the internet. Movie star Tom Hanks denounced Mormon voters as “un-American”, but later apologized.
Not surprisingly, Catholics came in for their share of abuse as well.
For instance, during last fall’s Prop 8 campaign, Jose Nunez was assaulted outside the St. Stanislaus Parish in Modesto, California. Nunez had volunteered to distribute pro-Proposition 8 signs; when his assailant saw the signs, he punched Nunez then stole the signs.
“I may be bloody and bruised,” said Nunez in a statement, “but I’m not giving up. I don’t want my kids taught in public school that same sex-marriage is the same as traditional marriage.”
Blatant anti-Catholic bigotry by homosexuals is nothing new, of course. Gay artists delight in mocking Catholicism’s distinctive symbols and rituals: the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (male actors in “nun” drag) have been the most recognizable Gay Pride parade participants since 1979; that same year, openly gay playwright Christopher Durang debuted “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You,” an absurdist burlesque of Catholic dogma.
Speaking of gay playwrights, one named Larry Kramer founded the notorious protest group ACT UP in 1987, as a reaction to the AIDS crisis. In December 1989, over 4,500 ACT UP protestors stormed New York’s St. Patrick's Cathedral during Mass, chanting “Stop the Church,” harassing those at prayer and desecrating the consecrated Host. More than 100 protesters were arrested.
“I thought we'd gotten over the adolescent tantrum phase of gay activism,” liberal lesbian culture critic Camile Paglia wrote in Slate.com last December in response to anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon assaults and intimidation. “Want to cause a nice long backlash to gay rights? That's the way to do it.”
“I may be an atheist,” Paglia continued, “but I respect religion and certainly find it far more philosophically expansive and culturally sustaining than the me-me-me sense of foot-stamping entitlement projected by too many gay activists in the unlamented past."
That spirit of the past has reemerged, however. This time around, activists are hoping to make the Church pay. Literally. Thanks to multi-million dollar clergy sex abuse settlements, the Catholic Church in America is no longer as wealthy as it once was, but that doesn’t matter to gay activists. Their goal isn’t so much to cash in as to shut down.
(Part One of Two -- to be continued)
Comments (32)
Love your column. Love it, love it, love it! I am the new Houston Single Parent Examiner and am still trying to figure out how to set up a great page with links. I can only hope and pray that someday my page will be as amazing as yours! Go GOP! Melanie Saxton
Reverend Art Cribbs, Pastor of the San Marino Congressional United Church of Christ, has a wife and children but disagrees with people who want to deny loving couples the right to marry because they are of the same gender. He said for the Constitution to have any meaning, core principles such as equal protection simply cant be up for grabs in every election.
I do not understand how my marriage to my wife has an influence on someone elses relationship or vise versa, so this idea that we need to amend or revise the California Constitution to affect a fundamental right is beyond conscience for me, he said. "I think its important for us to protect the rights, the dignity, and the relationships of all people in this state.
Well said, Reverend Cribbs. Thanks for defending liberty.
Socrates: If the good Reverend were correct, the issue of "equal protection" under the law would be satisfied with civil unions - which provide those legal protections (benefits, insurance, property rights, etc.) to gay couples sans the label of "marriage" - which clearly has personal and public religious meaning and significance.
If you are so thick as to read this article, and the numerous other publicized instances of gay intolerance toward persons who disagree with gay marriage (does the name Carrie Prejean ring a bell?), then there is little I can say to convince you that this movement is not about equality, but about intolerance toward and forced acceptance by persons of faith who hold to a traditional sexual morality.
Save that if all this blather is about "equal protection" - what about the right of Mormons and Catholics to worship peacefully, to vote according to their beliefs, and to express said beliefs in the public sphere without fear of harassment, threats of violence, and other reprisals? Until our actual, real, Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and free expression of religion are tolerated by the gay-rights movement to the same degree they demand we tolerate them, this is going to be an ever continuing argument and debate.
sooner or later homosexuals will experience what sodom and gomorrrah did. it won't matter a damn how many people agree with them.
If Marion Berry is still an elected member of the DC City Council, DC has got much more serious issues than recognition of gay marriage.
Oh, but we know this already from the daily headlines coming out of this dysfunctional, sadly comical, flagship cesspool of purely liberal ideas of government in action. Add Detroit, Cleveland, Oakland, Chicago, and all other dysfunctional, dirty, and dangerous cities managed by liberal politicians.
Oh, and add the rest of the country to the dysfunctional, dirty, and dangerous places after four years of Obama. Add busted.
Maine passed same sex marriage last week and EXCLUDED multiple and family marriage.
Nothing like passing a law for the reason that disallowing same sex marriage is discriminatory and then enshrining into the same law discrimination against those sorry souls who want to marry 2 women.
Why is a man who would marry 2 other men denied the exact same consideration that just 2 men are afforded?
Twisted is what it is.
Happy Indep:
Maine's law will stand as is. For now. Because if the argument is it's "discriminatory" to limit marriage to one man/one woman based on the sexual orientation of the parties involved - the basis for the argument supporting same-sex marriage - then, the ONLY logical conclusion is that it will soon be discriminatory to limit marriage to two consenting adults.
I mean, if my sexuality allows for polygamy, bestiality, incest, child/adult relationships - who is the government to say only two people (gay or straight) can be married? It is denying my "right" to marry who I please and have my proclivities elevated to a level of equality with heterosexual marriage.
So don't expect marriage as it is to stand for long. I don't.
May I suggest that instead of saying "traditional marriage" we say "real marriage." It is, after all, not merely tradition which the "liberals" seek to destroy, but truth.
Pass the popcorn.
Homosexuals are desperate to establish their sexuality as normal by attaching traditions like marriage to their lives. They will fail. "Marriage" will become meaningless (with "common law" and divorce rates already pretty much achieving that anyway). Homosexuals will always remain an aberration of human sexuality.
Today's Gay Activists are in many ways just like the anarchists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their sense of self-entitlement is harnessed to promote a true social cause for liberty, but is instead a conglomeration of raw emotion directed against an orderly and just society. The Gay rallying cry might as well be "Tear it Down" or "Burn it Down" because that is their true purpose. The Gays should not be pandered to, just like the far left eco-freaks, or the other fringe groups alike - they should all be put back into their boxes where they belong. They do not deserve to have as strong a voice as they have been given. They are but a very small minority and do not warrant such consideration.
Give me one good reason why I, as a bisexual, should be looked down on and discriminated by the majority of society, and then maybe I'll pay attention to what you've written above. Until then, though, I stand firm on my pro-gay marriage stance, and my pro-equality stance.
old white guy:
sooner or later homosexuals will experience what sodom and gomorrrah did. it won't matter a damn how many people agree with them.
Replace homosexuals with WE & I would agree with you. I don't agree with Homosexuality for Religious, Civil & Medical reasons. Something I at least don't want to be justified anymore than drunkards, gluttons ect. The whole World will come under his Justice & Judgment because where all guilty of rebellion to God. Millions of Dead babies in the womb testify to that. As has the cheapening of life & anti-Semitism. Unlike ancient peoples who sacrificed their children we kill them in the Holy of Holys of life . Its mercy I seek from God threw the Lamb who was slain for our sins. As should we all. Gods free pardon extends to us all. Even Gays.
JMO
"Sooner or later homosexuals will experience what sodom and gomorrrah did."
I think they pretty much have through most of history Revnant, as you reference by this passage in a script written about three thousand years ago, and added to a collection of other scripts and writings called the Bible, by King James in about the 15 century.
This is how long homosexuals have be persecuted. So I must as you, Revnant, wasn't it God who created them? Aren't you persecuting a creation by your own God? Do you actually think homosexuals 'choose' they're sexual orientation after birth just to be 'different' and societal outcasts for ages?
I guess your answer is yes, regardless how irrational this may sound. But it is your irrationality in dealing with just another of God's aberrations of creation, like a multitude of other unnormal children at birth, that you need to deal with.
Start by asking your God why he chose to create a certain percentage of us humans not exactly like the rest of us? If he is as wise as I think you think he is, he is likely to reply "You wouldn't understand if I told you, and it's none of your business. I command you to love and respect and all my creations".
"Start by asking your God why he chose to create a certain percentage of us humans not exactly like the rest of us? If he is as wise as I think you think he is, he is likely to reply "You wouldn't understand if I told you, and it's none of your business. I command you to love and respect and all my creations"."
Or God may choose to give you the reason he creates humans not exactly like the rest of us Revnant. I which case, it would likely be something like this "I choose to do it son, to test which of my creations are truly human, and worthy of my reward of everlasting life. With your score so far, let me just say you should be enjoying every minute I am giving you on earth"
Hannah:
Give ME one good reason why people who defend real marriage and sexual morality should be denied THEIR right - by a minority - to express those views publicly, and then we'll have a debate.
Until then, no dice.
What next, legalizing marriage between an adult and a 12 year old? Even twenty years ago this wouldn't have been an issue, but thanks to the LIEberal agendas trying to make homosexuality appear to be normal, this will be another blow to a decaying America. Ask yourself has anything from the left in the last 50-60 years benefittted America, or hastened its demise.
@Kathy Shaidle
Thank you for your column. Ex-mayor Marion Barry is correct about the growing rift between Black Democrats and White Democrats of the gay lifestyle.
Also, I'm glad you brought how racism is tolerated and even condoned among White gay activists. Black gay activist "Geoffrey"'s encounter with "No to 8" racism is just the tip of the iceberg.
White Gay Racism is also displayed by the underground "Shirely Q. Liquor" plays that are wildly popular among White people of the gay lifestyle. (Learn more by googling "Ban Shirley Q. Liquor) Another sick example was "tolerant" White gay activists hurling disgusting racial stereotypes at then-Senator Barack Obama, who wasn't "pro-gay" enough for them.
Given the evidence, is it a surprise that so many Black Americans don't support White gay activists and their goals?
Amy P.: Since when are gay activists attempting to take the freedom of expression (or the freedom of speech) away from those who oppose gay marriage? I want unbiased proof of that, please.
Amy P.: Oh, and also, since when are your morals the only correct morals, and since when is your definition of marriage the only correct definition of marriage? Seems like you're being awfully arrogant by claiming that you're more right than I am on this issue. And isn't arrogance a sin?
@Hannah
Actually, it's GOD who says marriage is a "one man, one woman" union. He's quite clear on this issue:
And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.
-Matthew 19:4-6
Thus, Amy P. isn't arrogant by saying marriage is a strictly heterosexual union since it's God not her who sets the values people must follow. God is frankly pleased by Amy standing by biblical values being politically correct.
True arrogance is redefining marriage and pretending that there won't negative consequences for those of the homosexual lifestyle as well as the nation. God doesn't tolerate fallible, ignorant, impotent, and sinful humans who think they can be Him.
"Amy P.: Since when are gay activists attempting to take the freedom of expression (or the freedom of speech) away from those who oppose gay marriage? I want unbiased proof of that, please."
Ummmmmm, two words: Carrie Prejean.
I'm a gay conservative and let me tell you folks, there is no other group of people who are more contemptious of this country and the people in it, than the gay left. You will find no other group that so hates everyone else and will gladly tell you about that hate.The sense of entitlement is out of proportion that it's almost comical to see what a stir they're allowed to generate.
All they want is for society to radically change everything so that they could feel "equal".. but it's an illusion... homosexual relations by thier own biology are unequal to heteeo ones.
The gay left feels like this is a moral judgement as opposed to just basic obvservation.
Hannah:
Carrie Prejean, for starters. Character assassination for voicing an opinion on gay marriage.
A Christian photog in New Mexico. She was fined nearly $7000 for declining to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony.
Catholic Charities in MA. Shut down adoptions because they didn't want to place with same sex couples and the state wouldn't recognize their free expression of religion.
A Methodist Church in NJ. They declined a commitment ceremony on their property and lsot tax-exempt status.
The Boy Scouts. They have been under constant attack for their views on sexuality.
The Catholic Knights. Most recently were attacked for their support of Prop 8. Sued in one state for not allowing a lesbian "wedding" ceremony in their halls.
All of these groups have been targeted by the gay activist movement for nothing more than "crimes" of "ungoodthink."
Arrogance, yes, is a sin. But it is *not* arrogance to say I disagree with the issue of gay marriage or that I believe in the natural, moral law - part of my faith and religious convictions.
And, if that's the argument, lots of my fellow Americans - the ones who vote, time and again to protect traditional marriage - are, by your definition "arrogant" because we have qualms about redefining a fundamental institution in our society.
But you never answered my question:
WHAT ABOUT *OUR* RIGHTS? What part of the First Amendment doesn't apply to us when we disagree with same sex marriage? I have yet to see a logical, cognizant argument that explains why the First Amendment does not apply to me, or to anyone mentioned above, when we express a politically incorrect opinion.
Please explain why that is.
And it's not at all arrogant to insist that 1% of the population has the right to impose its beliefs on the other 99%, who have no right to determine their own values and standards.
All cultures are held together by three things:
Shared Language
Shared Religion
Marriage and kinship traditions
All three are under attack in our culture, and the attackers consistently insist that we have no right to defend our culture from them. All cultures marginalize disapproved behavior with sanctions ranging from ostracism to death. They have always done so. That's how they ensure their continuity, and get people to act in approved ways.
Both sides of the gay debate use the same false dichotomy of "born that way" or "choice" in their discussions. Most human behavior is neither. It is learned, cultural and psychological in origin. Several cultures have had institutionalized pederasty, should we then assume that all of their boys were born gay? Or did they learn this behavior as children, and then practice it themselves as adults?
Most of the clamor for gay rights is a straw man in the first place. They already have the same rights as the rest of the population, what they are looking for is a legal lever to bludgeon their opposition into silence, and they often achieve this merely by chanting "homophobia" every time they meet resistence. It's been a pretty successful political ploy, but in reality, I doubt that many people are afraid of gays. You note that the gay movement doesn't promote the use of more accurate terms like "homorepulsed,"
"homodisgusted" or "homocontemptuous." It must give them a sense of power to think their foes are afraid of them.
If the previous California Supreme Court ruling had stood and Californians didn't take away people's right to same-sex marriage, none of you would have noticed on bit of difference in your lives. One day you'll have account for the fact that you're using arguments like those used to promote anti-miscegenation laws and that you don't really believe if life, liberty, and others' pursuit of happiness at all.
My wife is Chinese. A hundred some years ago I could have been jailed for marrying a no
Claiming your First Amendment Rights are being violated by same sex marriage clearly demonstrates that you don't understand what your rights under the First Amendment are. Your ability to voice your opinion is not chilled one bit, it is your forced religious practices upon the public that is not protected.
Your only argument is from your religious position and you have no right to impose, force or otherwise control the secular state.
Go ahead and whine about what you want but expect for o
Yay!!
Let's start a civil war and pit two minorities against each other. It's the perfect way to get the queers and n****rs to kill each other. Check out my blog if you want true insight on why this gay issue hits home for us white conservative republicans. alphawomen.com N***rs and Queers.
Seems to me like the gays are the intolerant Violante ones!
Robert Moon is spamming The Activity Pit again: twi.cc/lAlq
Wow, Kathy's mental degeneracy and moral hypocrisy is blooming again. So people supporting gay marriage are the fascists who wnat to suppress your right to worship your stupid papist idols? Such dreck. You are a low class bigot, just like most of the trash in my area
What do you think?
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!