February 2nd, 2012
Sometimes I am tempted to think that the prominent Republicans in this country just wish that marriage equality was already the law so that they didn’t have to talk about it or make promises to “the base”. Last year, New York Senate Majority Leader Skelos (who could have single handedly stopped the bill) put the question to the Senate after enough Republican votes were secured so that he could vote no while the bill passed. Today New Hampshire Republicans tell us that they are far too busy on fiscal matters for their supermajorities in each house to even consider repeal this year.
And now New Jersey Governor Christie has this to say about his new decision to direct Republican lawmakers to support a bill that would create a November referendum: (Bloomberg)
“The polls that I’ve seen show that if this goes to the ballot, I lose. How much more magnanimous could I be?”
There’s a whole pile of ways that can be interpreted and we can only guess as to what it means. While I think he bets on the polls being wrong, my best guess is that what he really wants to say is, “Stop asking me about that. I don’t care. Really, I couldn’t care in the slightest.”
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.
Jim Burroway
February 2nd, 2012
He is being less magnaminous as long as he insists on treating this law differently from every other law the New Jersey legislature deals with each and ever year.
If he wants to be just as “magnaminous” with this law as with every other law, all he has to do is treat it like every other law: sign it, veto it, or let it become law without his signature (which, I may be mistaken, but I think he has that option as well).
Timothy Kincaid
February 2nd, 2012
yes, I think it’s 45 days.
Steve
February 2nd, 2012
Just don’t sign the bill and it will become law regardless. That way he can be free to ignore it
Hunter
February 2nd, 2012
He’s ducking. If it was so assured of passage, he could just make bowing-to-the-inevitable noises, sign it and be done with it. At this point, he obviously doesn’t want to touch it.
Keep in mind that there’s a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that the state must grant equal status to same-sex couples, which could in all likelihood be used to challenge his veto and/or a referendum.
Lindoro Almaviva
February 2nd, 2012
magnanimous my purtorican ass.
\Yes, you have my permission to delete this comment. Someone had to say it.
Ryan
February 3rd, 2012
If he truly “didn’t care”, he could just ignore it. He clearly cares. He characterizes a win for marriage equality as a loss for him personally. Although gay marriage is up nationally and in New Jersey, it’s still far from certain if it goes to the polls, and Christie knows this. We here in California we up, way up in the polls in the Summer of 2008 and then NOM and the rest of them came in with their lies and we got hammered. Same thing happened in Maine. The fact is, we could be looking at losing in Maine again in 2012, plus Washington and Maryland, *and* the Oval Office and the Senate. If that happens, much of the gay rights progress of the last three years will backslide.
Or, lots and lots of good things can happen. Time will tell. The only think I know for certain is Christie doesn’t know what “magnanimous” means.
Leave A Comment