Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Anti-gays charge Knowthyneighbor with 'intimidation'

My blog has moved!!! Please visit my new blog for all the newest news, events, opinions and more!!!
You will be automatically re-directed in three seconds. Click the link to go to the new blog now. Use the search function on the new blog to find any story you are looking for on here.

According to an article published by 365gay.com News, anti-gay supporters of a Massachusetts push to ban gay marriage are charging that Knowthyneighbor.org and the listing of all signers of the anti-gay petition is a form of "intimidation". Following up on an earlier post ('Do ye know thy neighbors?'), the website Knowthyneighbors.org was started by a gay couple and lists all 123,356 names of those persons who signed a petition to have gay marriage banned in Massachusetts; the site also lists signers' home addresses. According to the article:
Vote On Marriage, an umbrella organization made up of the Catholic Church and conservative Protestant groups, charges the Web site is a form of intimidation. It claims a number of people already have been threatened by gays after their names were made public. The site, KnowThyNeighbor.org, was set up by Thomas Lang and Alexander Westerhoff. The couple says that the site gives gay people the tools they need to defend themselves. Vote On Marriage submitted the signatures to Secretary of State William Galvin a week ago. The number was nearly double the 65,825 signatures required. The petitions were certified by Galvin and the names became public property.
====== Can someone please tell me how in the hell a minority group is supposed to threaten the anti-gay, right-wingers? Are they that scared of us? I guess it just goes to prove the old cliche on bullies... stand up to them and they can be just as scared as you can be. I hope and pray the Massachusetts Legislature does not let this ballot initiative go through. All of this "let the people decide" mantra is crap. Imagine if we had put slavery up to a vote, or maybe child labor... how about the female suffrage or civil rights in the 60s? Sometimes the majority is stupid and decisions need to be made by the courts and legislatures... sometimes the majority doesn't know what is right, even if they think they do. Thank God we live in America, where the majority may rule, but not at the expense of the minority!!! Time to resurrect an old writing from my old site on the UNCG server:
From "Majority Stupidity", April 21, 2005: During UNCG PRIDE!’s 2005 PRIDE! Week, Elizabeth Birch, formerly with the Human Rights Campaign, participated in a gay marriage debate with Robert Knight of Concerned Women for America. During the debate Ms. Birch said that while the majority does rule, it does not have the right to hurt the minority. She also said that sometimes the majority can be stupid and because of that marriage rights for gay couples shouldn’t be put up for a vote by the people. To prove her point, Ms. Birch recalled the days of slavery, the days of not letting women vote and the days of segregation. If any of these things would have been put up to a vote by the people, then America never would have become a more equal place for those people. Sometimes the majority is stupid and it is acting in this stupidity now in regards to gay rights.
Technorati Tags: , , , ,

5 Comments:

This is legal, as long as it is not used for voter intimidation. Then it crosses the line and becomes the thing you are fighting against. It appears to be toeing close to that line.
posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 12/27/2005 08:55:00 AM  
And proposing constitutional amendments are legal, as long as the basis for such a push is not rooted in religious philosophies or doctrines. Then it crosses the line and breaks separation of Church and State. They also appear to be not only "toeing close to that line" but actively crossing it (for proof look at the group pushing for the amendment... a coalition of the Roman Catholic Church and fundamental Protestants).
posted by Blogger MHC at 12/27/2005 02:00:00 PM  
So...do you want to be like them, and fight their way? If the cause is a right one, you don't have to fight dirty.

Intimidating voters expressing their opinion is not the way to go.
posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 12/27/2005 02:57:00 PM  
I never said the intimidation was a good thing... now you are putting words in my mouth.

The law is the law and it must be followed by all. I think it is funny that the anti-gays will accuse the gays of intimidation (which is illegal) but won't stop to see that they are trying to influence government policy and law with their religion (which is also illegal).

Any person who breaks the law is a criminal. The couple who put up the information on Knowthyneighbor.org have done nothing illegal, however, and should not be held accountable for what others do.
posted by Blogger MHC at 12/27/2005 04:15:00 PM  
Also... could someone tell me why people like to post as "anonymous"? That gets on my nerves so badly. If you don't have a Blogger name click on "Other" and type in your first name at least.
posted by Blogger MHC at 12/27/2005 04:17:00 PM