How do people feel about gays in their community?

[Brainpolice]

With the exception of the whole ridiculous gay marriage debacle and anti-sodomy laws, please explain to me what fundamental human rights are denied to gays in America that straights are allowed to have. And no, anti-gay public opinion does not constitute a rights violation in and of itself. For the most part I see everyone's rights being violated left and right in this country, and while I agree that certain groups like gays get a bit worse end of the stick then others, I have trouble viewing them as being treated anywhere near as bad as African Americans used to be treated under the law in Jim Crow and Slavery days. So, besides the few things I mentioned at the beginning, what laws are in place that are exclusively anti-gay?

[MarkMiller]

Originally Posted by StillNoScript

Why are you only interested in how the gay community feels about it? Seems to me like a set up question.

And why would any parade hurt the gay community's cause? What is their cause, anyway? Other than to have the same rights as all Americans?

And, nobody can "rankle" a homophobe. Homophobe's are already perpetually rankled people. They live rankled. Gay people have parades to, a)bring awareness to the fact that they are still declined basic American rights like marriage, and b) obviously, have a fabulous time.

The Gay Marriage subject is newer to the "Cause". It was originaly a memorial parade to remember those that died for their civil rights at the Stonewall Bar in New York City. It is about diversity, inclusion, and moving forward....not backwards.

[StillNoScript]

Originally Posted by Brainpolice

With the exception of the whole ridiculous gay marriage debacle and anti-sodomy laws, please explain to me what fundamental human rights are denied to gays in America that straights are allowed to have.

You listed them, and called them ridiculous. Doesn't change the fact that their rights are being violated.

[MarkMiller]

Originally Posted by Brainpolice

With the exception of the whole ridiculous gay marriage debacle and anti-sodomy laws, please explain to me what fundamental human rights are denied to gays in America that straights are allowed to have. And no, anti-gay public opinion does not constitute a rights violation in and of itself. For the most part I see everyone's rights being violated left and right in this country, and while I agree that certain groups like gays get a bit worse end of the stick then others, I have trouble viewing them as being treated anywhere near as bad as African Americans used to be treated under the law in Jim Crow and Slavery days. So, besides the few things I mentioned at the beginning, what laws are in place that are exclusively anti-gay?

Current Immigration Law Discriminates Against Gay and Lesbian Couples
Current U.S. immigration law allows married heterosexual couples composed of a citizen and a non-resident alien to apply for permanent residency for the non-resident. Immigration officials grant the residency as long as the couple appears to be in a committed relationship and financially interdependent. Essentially, as long as the relationship is not a "sham", the non-resident will obtain residency.
However, gay and lesbian couples cannot avail themselves of the same benefit. The Washington Post has reported on couples such as David Bress and his partner Gary, who have discovered this injustice firsthand. David, a Washington, D.C. public school teacher, met Gary in Gary's native Canada in 1992. The two quickly fell in love, and Gary, a self-employed home remodeler, began visiting David every few months. Because U.S. immigration law did not permit Gary to apply for residency, he had to request a tourist visa for every visit. The visa allowed him to remain in the country for just six months at a time so Gary was always careful to leave before his time expired.
During one visit in 2000, a U.S. Border Patrol agent stopped Gary and David, and believing that Gary was an illegal immigrant, the agent barred him from the United States for five years.

[MarkMiller]

(Date of article unknown)

Bush To Veto Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Tomorrow, the House is expected to vote on the Employment Non- Discrimination Act (ENDA). The bill, introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or fail to promote employees simply based on sexual orientation.


To obtain White House support for ENDA, lawmakers compromised by exempting “small businesses, religious organizations and the uniformed members of the armed forces” from the bill. Yesterday, an article on the right-wing site WorldNetDaily revealed that White House staffers had helped craft these exemptions:

“Americans For Truth has learned that a White House official has boasted to pro-family leaders attending a private administration briefing that White House staffers were involved in the negotiations to craft expanded religious exemption language for the new ENDA bill,” according to Peter LaBarbera’s Americans For Truth organization.

After the meeting, officials refused to say whether or not the President would veto the bill. But today the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy making clear that despite the exemption compromise, “senior advisors” will still recommend that President Bush veto the bill:

H.R. 3685 would extend existing employment-discrimination provisions of Federal law, including those in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to establish “a comprehensive Federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” The bill raises concerns on constitutional and policy grounds, and if H.R. 3685 were presented to the President, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

While the vast majority — nearly 90 percent — of Fortune 500 companies prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, there are surprisingly no federal prohibitions against such discriminatory behavior. ENDA would ensure that for the first time ever, gay and lesbian employees are afforded this critical federal protection.

[MarkMiller]

Originally Posted by Brainpolice

With the exception of the whole ridiculous gay marriage debacle and anti-sodomy laws, please explain to me what fundamental human rights are denied to gays in America that straights are allowed to have.

I think that asking to make an exception in a debate is very telling of an attempt to control the discussion....so I will ignore it as Sodomy laws are still used to harass gays;

S.C. Laws Used to Discriminate Against Gays
MyrtleBeachOnline.com, March 22, 2003
By Ed Madden
Later this month, when the U.S. Supreme Court considers a Texas law criminalizing consensual sex, South Carolina’s sex laws must also come under review. South Carolina’s law criminalizes certain sexual practices for straight and gay people alike. If the court strikes down the Texas law, justices will confirm what many have long known: Sodomy laws are unnecessary invasions of privacy, and they are used as a license for wide-ranging discrimination.
In Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, the Supreme Court has been asked to consider a Texas law criminalizing gay and lesbian sex. John Lawrence and Tyron Garner were arrested in Houston after officers responding to a false burglary call found the two engaged in consensual sex in the privacy of Lawrence’s home. The two were arrested, forced to spend the night in jail and fined $200. They were frightened and humiliated, treated as criminals.
Lambda Legal, the organization challenging the law, argues that the Texas law violates two fundamental rights of American citizens: the right to privacy and the right to equal protection.
Most states do not criminalize consensual adult sexual relations. However, 13 states still have sodomy laws, and in nine, including South Carolina, the law applies to both same-sex and opposite-sex partners.
These laws criminalize sexual behavior between consenting adults, allowing governments to intrude into the very privacy of our bedrooms—sometimes literally, as the Texas case shows.
Even when states equally criminalize gay and straight sexual relationships, the laws are usually applied unequally. More importantly, the laws are used to justify discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment, housing and family law. They are also used to intimidate gay people from exercising their First Amendment rights. Repeatedly around the nation, gay and lesbian parents have lost custody or visitation rights because of sodomy laws.
Given this history, Ruth Harlow of Lambda Legal says such laws are a “stark affront to what the Constitution promises all of us.”
South Carolina’s law, drawing on English common law of 1533, criminalizes “the abominable crime of buggery.” An archaic term, “buggery” was used as a catch-all for a range of sexual acts, including bestiality, but very rarely applied to lesbian relationships. Although English law was limited to anal sex in the early 19th century, some argue that South Carolina’s law, like most sodomy laws, includes anal or oral sex between same-sex or opposite-sex couples.
South Carolina also criminalizes adultery and fornication (or sex between unmarried people), both punishable by fines and imprisonment. Buggery is a felony crime, punishable by five years in prison and a $500 fine.
Between 1997 and 2002, S.C. court records indicate 30 cases in which the buggery law was used, though the charge was dropped in 25 of those cases, perhaps through plea bargaining.
Though South Carolina’s buggery law is rarely enforced in the courts, it is repeatedly invoked in the court of public opinion to justify discrimination against gays and lesbians.
For example, in fall 2001, former Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler used the law to argue that public universities cannot include sexual orientation in their nondiscrimination policies. Such policies, Peeler argued, would violate state laws against fornication and sodomy. Such use of the law clearly demonstrates how it is used in our state to enforce a climate of intimidation and discrimination.
Similarly, when a gay student group was trying to form [on a University of South Carolina campus] over 25 years ago, the law was invoked to deny official recognition. It took a court decision to legitimize the student group.
Society has changed a lot since then. Lambda hopes that increased knowledge and understanding about gay and lesbian people will lead to a more informed view, and that the court will strike down laws that are intrusions into the private lives of all citizens.

[MarkMiller]

Gays are legaly discriminated against by the US Armed Forces.

[AuCanada]

Originally Posted by Dr. Zaius

Gays are legaly discriminated against by the US Armed Forces.

Can you expand on this one?
I was under the impression that recruiters aren't allowed to ask about sexual orientation.

[zimmy61]

Originally Posted by AuCanada

Can you expand on this one?
I was under the impression that recruiters aren't allowed to ask about sexual orientation.

Yeah but they're probably not allowed to ask you about your religious beliefs either. The difference being, if you volunteer that you're a Catholic there are zero repercussions. Tell/reveal to them that you're gay and you can be discharged. That's discrimination. At least that's how understand the rule to work. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[MarkMiller]

Originally Posted by AuCanada

Can you expand on this one?
I was under the impression that recruiters aren't allowed to ask about sexual orientation.

It is estimated that 2 people a day for the last several years have discharged from the Military for being Gay.

Who ever is in charge of Military Personel Policy is a fucking asswipe.