Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyNovember 30th, 2010
It appears that they did have the votes in the Illinois House of Representatives, after all, and with some one to spare. From Progress Illinois,
UPDATE 12 (6:28 p.m.): And there it is! The civil unions bill passes by a 61-52 margin! Two voted present and three did not vote. Now onto the Senate, where it’s expected to be approved quickly.
The bill passes with bipartisan support (my quick count includes six Republicans voting for civil unions). The bill needed 60 votes to pass.
Today is definitely a day worth celebrating.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Emily K
November 30th, 2010
oh, hooray!! I’m so happy for Illinoisans everywhere.
occono
November 30th, 2010
Yay!
Lindoro Almaviva
November 30th, 2010
Oh yay! we are officially 2nd class citizens in Illinois!
At least now we can sue and after a long battle the courts will tell the Illinois government that the 2nd coming of separate but equal is going to have to be treated like the 1st one was over 50 years ago.
Sorry, joy kill, I know, but I do not take well to eating someone else s leftovers, specially when they thrown them on the floor and expect me to pic them up from there and put it on my plate.
Bernie
November 30th, 2010
Maybe I’ll take my friends offer to move to Chicago.
I bet you that Porno Pete packs his bags and leaves Aurora! Ha, take that, Petey!
Matt
November 30th, 2010
I’ll gladly take this ad keep pushing for more.
Simpa
November 30th, 2010
Lindoro, you don’t know what you are talking about. CUs are 95% of the loaf. It isn’t enough, and we will not settle for less than full marriage. But CUs actually help tremendously in that effort. CUs are a trial run for marriage. In every state that has had them, support for marriage has materially increased.
NOM and FRC grumbled last year about the Vermont legislature’s adoption of full marriage; they complained that the legislature’s support for marriage had been “conditioned” by court-mandated CUs.
NOM and FRC were right. CUs served as a trial run and did condition the VT legislature to support full marriage, because in 10 years of CUs none of the supposed consequences that feature in NOM’s hysterical ads ever arose. Expect the same outcome in IL in 5 years.
In the meantime, we can enjoy the fact that the 5th largest state in the country now gives us marriage in all but name.
Phil
November 30th, 2010
Porno Pete lives in Naperville, not Aurora. Other than Porno Pete’s residence there, Naperville is a nice place.
enough already
December 1st, 2010
Living in a country half the year where my husband and I are legally married, with all the rights and responsibilities of heterosexuals who are married, it does seem a slap in the face to be subjected to “different but equal”.
At the same time, we are in a wa r and you fight your battles to win, not to lose.
History has shown that civil unions lead to successful marriage laws. It is not my prefered path, but I’m in this to win, not to lose.
So, no – half a loaf isn’t a whole loaf, but the no-compromise, my-way-or-the-highway position which causes so many liberals to sit home on their hands while our e nemies are out voting is not productive.
Or is there really no difference between Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner?
anteros
December 1st, 2010
progress :-)
AMPGlass
December 1st, 2010
Well, it’s a step towards progress. Of course, all of the Christians and conservatives are up in arms and yelling at people on the facebook page of a local news station. (The southern half Illinois sucks.)
Jason D
December 1st, 2010
As a resident of Illinois i’ll remind folks that this isn’t a done deal yet. It ain’t over till Governor Quinn signs it. It still has to get through the Senate, too.
It’s very likely it will make it through the Senate and Quinn has repeatedly promised to sign it, but I’m going to reserve my pom poms for when the ink is dry :)
Kate
December 1st, 2010
Thank you so much for posting this, thank you to the representatives in Illinois who got the bill this far, thank you everyone who wrote/called/worked to change minds and get those 61 votes. I have seen so much sad news, two-steps-back stories, here and elsewhere in the news that I was starting to wonder if I would EVER see something positive for human rights in this country. Thank you for restoring a bit of my faith in American government, and in the capacity of people to do the right thing.
ravenbiker
December 1st, 2010
Equal but separate? “Civil Unions:” and not “marriage?”
No such thing. It’s a contradiction. IT’S STUPID!
I don’t see the point in celebrating apartheid in any form. Next they’ll conjure up a separate tax bracket for us as well as separate water fountains to drink from.
I would vote for ALL marriages to be CIVIL UNONS —as it should be.
Leave A Comment