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 lobbyJune 28th, 2011
The Rhode Island Senate is, at last, acting on the Civil Unions bill. (Boston Globe)
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote Wednesday on the civil union bill. If the committee endorses the legislation, it will head to the full Senate for a final vote. Until Monday the bill appeared to be languishing on the Senate agenda as time ran out on the legislative session.
This is a crappy bill. Even if you set aside that this should be a marriage bill instead of a civil unions bill, it contains provisions that are considered disproportionately generous to religious objectors.
But that stuff is, for the most part, window dressing. It’s a battle over exactly which people are entitled to legally discriminate and – as in reality these provisions will impact very few real folk – they are distractions more than they are issues.
Do you really care if Pastor Steve down at the First Church of I’m Better Than You recognizes your civil union when pricing discounts for his church’s Anti-Halloween Festival? And if so, do you care so much that you’ll give up inheritance rights or other marital benefits?
I think that Rhode Island will, in short time, join the family of marriage equality states. But until that time, let’s pass this inferior civil unions bill and then move on to lobbying for full equality.
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:
Bruno
June 28th, 2011
NY has shown that refusing to compromise for civil unions makes politicians realize they have nowhere to turn for cover. In a state like RI, which shows consistently high #’s in favor of marriage equality, the compromise step can only retard the process, in my opinion.
Mark F.
June 28th, 2011
So Bruno, you would vote against this?
Bruno
June 28th, 2011
@Mark F: I’d be against it coming up for a vote instead of marriage equality. I’m not a Rhode Island legislator, I don’t have a vote, so I don’t need to deal with that hypothetical.
David
June 28th, 2011
“First Church of I’m Better Than You”
hahaha
Julian Morrison
June 28th, 2011
These things are designed to diffuse and destroy momentum. Either you smile for a shit sandwich, or you go home hungry.
The solution is to realize that a shit sandwich is no kind of food, and flatly turn them down. Yes, it is better to go hungry, because it keeps you angry.
TampaZeke
June 28th, 2011
I don’t think this compromise is a good thing.
Rhode Island must be so proud to be surounded by 21st Century states.
TampaZeke
June 28th, 2011
*surrounded*
TonyJazz
June 28th, 2011
It is obvious that gay representatives should vote and speak against civil unions. The whole concept is an embarrassment to the state of Rhode Island.
Yay, New York!!!!!
Reed Boyer
June 29th, 2011
Take the bill as is – then press discrimination lawsuits as instances happen (and they will) while simultaneously working legislators to “refine” the bill to be more in keeping with the realities in areas where CHW hospitals are the only ones, etc.
Mark F.
June 29th, 2011
Well, if a “civil union” is a marriage in all but name, I don’t get the strong objections. If the votes aren’t there for marriage, I think you should take this for the time being.
Theo
June 29th, 2011
I don’t agree that the exemption is no big deal. The RI exemption, unlike those in every other state, is not limited to religious groups asked to become involved in weddings or wedding celebrations. The RI exemption covers religious groups as they may interact with gay married couples over the course of their lives. That means adoption, hospitals, shelters, etc.
Now if this were a full marriage bill and if it were Idaho and the exemption was the only way to get it done, I’d be OK with it. But for this to be in a bill in RI, where the Dems control both houses by overwhelming majorities, where there is no referendum process, where they are only considering civil unions, it is appalling to have that in the bill.
This was a complete sell out by the openly gay House Speaker and, if press stories are true, by HRC which staged a take over of the local RI group and agreed to this civil unions scheme.
Also, please don’t become one of these people who say “folk” all the time. It isn’t 1860.
Leave A Comment