Salon: "Homosexuals Are Hellbound!"

[kskiska]

Churches in Ohio are rallying their massive flocks behind the most strident anti-gay marriage amendment in the nation -- and the Republican National Committee is in heaven.

By Michelle Goldberg

Julie Reeves and Leigh Mamlin live in a split-level, stucco-and-brick house in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, with their two children, 18-month-old Frannie and 3-year-old Charlie. Reeves, a silver-haired 45-year-old, works full-time as an administrator at Ohio State University, her alma matter, while 40-year-old Mamlin, the children's biological mother, stays home. A grey minivan is parked in the driveway and baby books are piled on the coffee table. As they sit in their cozy living room on Sunday evening, Frannie nestles in Mamlin's lap while Charlie perches on Reeves' knee.

If Reeves and Mamlin weren't lesbians, their nuclear family would seem almost anachronistically average. Because they are, they find themselves in the middle of a raging election-season culture war that could leave Mamlin and the children without health insurance and Reeves without child custody. "It's such a personal assault," says Mamlin. "We feel violated, misunderstood, misrepresented and hated by people who are ignorant of who we truly are." And it's all coming from their fellow citizens.

On Nov. 2, Ohio will vote on Issue 1, a state constitutional amendment that purports to simply ban same-sex marriage but actually goes much further. Ten other states -- Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah -- are also voting on anti-gay marriage amendments. They're all expected to pass, most by wide margins. Eight of the state amendments prohibit domestic partnerships or any other public benefits or recognition for gay couples. But as a headline on the front page of Columbus Dispatch recently said, "Issue 1 wording makes it the strictest." Polls show support for it hovering above 60 percent.

(snip)

But even as the state's economy decays, its big evangelical churches are thriving, and, with the tacit support of the national Republican Party, they have mobilized behind Issue 1. Preachers are exhorting flocks of thousands to vote their values in an election said to pit light against darkness. Ohio's gay citizens, a minority courted by no one, have been blindsided by the campaign against them. Many feel like they're under siege. Talk of moving to a friendlier state or country is widespread.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/18/gayohio/index.html

[whirlygigspin]

1. I hope it makes them feel better

"isn't that special?"

all the gay people in Ohio will suddenly dissapear and everyone will have a job.

good for them.

perharps next they will construct "re-education" camps with very large showers & no water.

[kskiska]

2. Everyone won't have a job

Further down in the article it tells how corporations could be leaving the state causing a brain drain as a result of this restriction on their employees.

[whirlygigspin]

3. all good Christians, surely

don't bother using logic with the pie eyed "religious" hell bent on purifying the "volk".

Feel the love!

[Lindacooks]

4. They're blaspheming.

It's considered blasphemy for any human being to presume to know what God thinks. Saying 'you're going to hell' is a sin against God because you're placing yourself at his level, sitting in judgment.

[Raster]

5. This is the issue the pukes have cut a deal with the xian fanatics.

Let's really look at this. Instead of making love, brotherhood, feeding the poor, ministring to the sick, helping the needy, etc., the issue, the religious right is hitting hard again on gays, the usual punching bag. This isn't a Christian issue, it's about lining your pocketbooks. It isn't about about spreading the gospel, it's about filing those churches to rake in more money.

Christians, search your hearts and your bibles. Christ NEVER said anything about gays or homosexuality. However he had much to say about religious leaders usurping the name of God for power and profit. Search your heart. Who do you think God is really going to have an issue with, a man who loves another man? Or a minster who used the name of God to further his own fortunes and agendas at the expense of others. Who is really the evil one(s)?

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Heh, here's a juicy tidbit about the guy behind all this. . .

Link:
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/18/gayohio/index.html

(snip)
"...the driving force behind Issue 1 is an Ohioan named Phil Burress, founder of a group called Citizens for Community Values. A thrice-married Cincinnati man who describes himself as a former pornography addict redeemed by Jesus, Burress has spent much of the last decade fighting gay rights. He was involved in getting Cincinnati to pass a 1994 amendment to its city charter, making it the only metropolis in the country to ban laws protecting gays and lesbians. He's also been active in trying to get Ohio hotels to stop offering pay-per-view porn..."
(snip)

Three times married!! Former pornography addict "redeemed by Jesus"! Lawd, what a piss-and-a-half!

:evilfrown:

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

7. Oddly enough some GOPers in Ohio oppose this

The two senators...Voinovich and DeWine, the Governor, Bob Taft, and the attonrey general, Jim Petro, all oppose this (and im suprised at Voinovich on this as he's pretty culturally conservative).

So, it doesnt have unanimous support from the Ohio GOP (but its close).

I wonder of those other states wish they had put stricter versions on the ballot conisdering how much support the Ohio measure is gettting.

[The Zanti Regent]

8. I guess we can Kiss Ohio goodbye

my idiot bible thumping relatives from Pennsylvania crossed the border and canvassed for this crap. Being the true followers of Jesus that they are, I'm sure they were wearing their pointy hats and bedsheets as they canvassed door to door

[meow2u3]

9. My retort

Cold, self-righteous hypocrites like you (fundie Christianists) are far closer to hell than any gay man or lesbian!