Hate Ain't Mainstream!

[Syrinx]

(I doubt they'll object to printing this! ... print it further.)

State Rep. Gerald Allen’s anti-gay bill got an appropriately chilly reception at a hearing in the House Education Committee this week. Though he has rewritten the bill to tone it down, it remains a narrow-minded expression of homophobia.

The Cottondale Republican wants to prohibit schools from spending public funds on books or other materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. Allen says the legislation is not about hate but is a response to concerns of citizens about cultural preservation and government spending.

The motivation, however, is quite obvious -- and not just to the gays who complained about it at the committee meeting on Wednesday. It treats homosexuality as a contagious sin, spread by casual contact -- a concept that belongs in the Dark Ages.

Allen has tried to make his legislation more palatable by excluding college libraries, allowing for some of Shakespeare’s plays to be read in K-12 classes and letting college theater groups perform Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050422/NEWS/504220312/1012/editorial1

[Syrinx]

1. call, write, or email your reps about this!

Especially if your rep is on this committee. Here are the members from the official website. I'm not sure if this is accurate, because the site frequently seems out of date.

Richard Lindsey, Chair, John Rogers, Vice Chair, Mac Gipson, Ranking Minority Member, Robert Bentley, James Buskey, Joe Carothers, Tommy Carter, Ray Garner, Betty Carol Graham, Todd Greeson, Mike Hubbard, Yvonne Kennedy, Jeremy Oden, Terry Spicer, James Thomas, Frank Gitschier, Analyst, Peggy Powell, Clerk.

[BamaLefty]

2. Mr. Allen Needs To Prioritize His Life

Here we are, good 'ol Alabama, one of the poorest damn states in the nation. And instead of thinking about how take steps forward, both socially and economically, we are brainstorming up new ways to approve the second class citizenship of certain people.

Mr. Allen needs to go to the poorest street in Cottondale and build a house for Habitat for Humanity or fill a empty stomach of a neglected 4 year old instead of dreaming up ways to hate others. I honestly don't understand why Alabama as well as America is the way it is these days. I guess we've gotten so accustomed to being in the 48-50 range in every category that it has become acceptable huh? Sad...

[Syrinx]

3. you said a mouthful there BamaLefty

With all the problems facing our state, all Mr. Allen can do is bash an imaginary demon of the "gay menace." I thought we were past all this foolishness when Bill Armistead retired from politics, but Allen has ably stepped into Armistead's shoes, as the leader of the Alabama sex police. And I thought Republicans wanted smaller, less intrusive government?