4/1/11

Happy April 1st and April Fool's Day!  This week marks the 25th anniversary of the passing of the gay and lesbian rights bill in New York City.  Even though the idea of including sexual orientation in non-discrimination laws was thought of in New York by a group called the Gay Activists Alliance in 1971, New York was actually one of the last states to pass this law.  I thought this article was interesting because the title is "25 Years of Gay Rights in New York," and that just shows how long this battle has been played out publicly and privately for even longer.  Also, we can't really say there's been 25 years of gay rights in New York, there's been 25 years of a law; the 'rights' part has been taking a little longer.  The fact that New York was one of the last states to pass these laws strikes me as well because now, New York is thought of to be one of the more "gay-friendly" states where most people support gay marriage.
(http://www.gayapolis.com/news/artdisplay.php?artid=7732)

It's being advertised that on April 15th, a gay civil rights group from Hungary will hold a protest in Budapest.  They are protesting a draft of Hungary's new constitution.  In the constitution, marriage is defined in a way that is segregating.  The group says the constitution goes against its fundamental purpose of "promoting social cohesion." I think it's interesting to talk about something like this happening in another country, Europe specifically, because, because the chairman of one of the groups protesting says himself that "this is unlike anywhere in Western Europe."  Everywhere else bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, and by my understanding many Western European countries have passed pro-gay marriage laws.
(http://www.politics.hu/20110331/gay-rights-groups-to-hold-protest-against-new-constitution-on-april-15)

A new study by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that support for gay rights is growing among Catholics.  The study shows that Roman Catholics are more supportive than the general public and other Christians.  FOr example, 63% of Catholics support gay and lesbian people serving openly in the military, and 60% favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt kids.
(http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1320132)

In Indiana, a 40-10 vote decided that a new amendment to the Indiana constitution would be passed banning gay marriage AND civil unions.  Amendment sponsor Senator Dennis Kruse said that the amendment would "provide maximum protection for the basic family unit of society."  This represents a perfect example of a retentive argument.  This senator wants nothing to change, and is scared of what the "family unit" might become, even though it has already changed and this senator makes himself seem scared and naive when he talks about the "basic family unit."  Gay and lesbian couples aside, the basic family unit is no longer so basic.  It's already changed.  In that way, the senator is also using a reversive argument, because he wants things to go back to the way they were.  He wants to persuade people that this direction we're going in is dangerous, and it will threaten the families of the future.
(http://news.collegemedianetwork.com/news/ind-senate-oks-amendment-banning-gay-marriage)