NOM, Family Council invoke MLK in pro-Emmer ad opposing gay marriage

[...] Full Story from the MN Independent [...]

> let unelected judges force same-sex marriage on Minnesotans

This appeal to emotion fallacy is misleading. Last I read, both Mark Dayton and Tom Horner said they would sign the marriage bill into law once bill passes the Legislature.

To repeat TCF’s comment from another blog on this statement:

“I swear: it’s like the picture they draw is “Men of Minnesota: bend over, and await your court-ordered groom!”

Effing pathetic.”

Sheesh.

JCF – not TCF. The bank has nothing to with that comment!

How ironic when MLK’s main advisor and mentor during his early activist years, Bayard Rustin, was openly homosexual. MLK clearly didn’t hate him. That is proof of his stance on gay marriage and civil rights.

“I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, to make room at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.”

-Coretta Scott King

Both Martin Luther king and his wife supported gay marriage.

Homosexuality is not a sin according to the Bible. Scholars who have studied the Bible in context of the times and in relation to other passages have shown those passages (Leviticus, Corinthians, Romans, etc) have nothing to do with homosexuality. These passages often cherry-picked while ignoring the rest of the Bible. The sins theses passages are referring to are idolatry, prostitution, and rape, not homosexuality.

(Change *** to www)
***.soulfoodministry.org/docs/English/NotASin.htm
***.jesus21.com/content/sex/bible_homosexuality_print.html
***.christchapel.com/reclaiming.html
***.stjohnsmcc.org/new/BibleAbuse/BiblicalReferences.php
***.gaychristian101.com/

Homosexuality is not a choice. Just like you don’t choose the color of your skin, you cannot choose whom you are sexually attracted to. If you can, sorry, but you are not heterosexual, you are bi-sexual. Virtually all major psychological and medical experts agree that sexual orientation is NOT a choice. Most gay people will tell you its not a choice. Common sense will tell you its not a choice. While science is relatively new to studying homosexuality, studies tend to indicate that its biological.

(Change *** to www)
***-news.uchicago.edu/releases/03/differential-brain-activation.pdf
***.newscientist.com/channel/sex/dn14146-gay-brains-structured-like-those-of-the-opposite-sex.html
Gay, Straight Men’s Brain Responses Differ
***.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155990,00.html
***.livescience.com/health/060224_gay_genes.html

The plain and simple truth is that this is a highly religious issue. In a land of religious freedom, the doctrines of a particular religion do not and cannot have authority beyond those who participate in that religion. Only when the government – all levels of government – remain neutral, can true religious freedom be ensured for all. How else can the government defend the rights of one from the religious persecution of another?

The absolute, arbitrary, and intransigent nature of religious devotion make it anathema to the negotiation and compromise necessary for the survival and success of a functioning democracy.

Lord save us from religious zealots, of any faith.

Check out stop8.org’s response to this TV ad:

Stand up to NOM’s Shameful Behavior in Minnesota
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6pnY37DKl4&feature=player_embedded

Transcript:
So, you remember Tom Emmer, the homophobe in Minnesota who got a hundred and fifty thousand dollars from Target to run for governor? Well the National Organization for Marriage is running TV ads about him, and guess what? They’re misleading. Check it out.

“The right to vote. Our most important civil right.” They have got some nerve, putting Martin Luther King Junior in this ad. We’re going to talk about him in just a second, so remember that he was there.

“Some politicians want to impose gay marriage in Minnesota without a vote.” They keep trying this “impose” trick. But what are they TALKING about? How do you IMPOSE a marriage? That’s like saying that the first amendment imposes religion. Giving someone a freedom isn’t the same as forcing them to exercise it. So let’s be clear! THEY are the ones imposing the ban on US.

“When Massachusetts did this, gay marriage was taught to first and second graders.” This is gibberish. Just like you don’t “impose” a freedom, marriage isn’t “taught.” What Massachusetts teaches is that kids come from all different kinds of families, and they deserve to be judged not on their gender but on the content of their character. And why is this so important? Because there is an epidemic young gay kids, who’ve been lied to and made to feel worthless by cruel adults like these, kids who kill themselves because they feel so alone. Massachusetts has nothing to be ashamed of.

“Shouldn’t something this important be decided by Minnesota voters, not politicians?” Let’s go back to Martin Luther King. It’s largely because of his work that we have the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And those were signed into law by — guess who? Politicians. Brave individuals who defied public prejudice to do what they knew was right. Besides which — isn’t this an ad for a politician? We’re in a gubernatorial election, there is no referendum on marriage. This whole ad is just a distraction.

“Mark Dayton and Tom Horner want gay marriage with no vote of the people.” Here’s what they’re not telling you: it’s not just Mark Dayton and Tom Horner. Every candidate for governor supports the freedom to marry except Tom Emmer. He’s all alone on this issue. And maybe there’s a reason for that.

“Tom Emmer believes marriage is between one man and one woman.” And believing something makes it true.

“And Emmer says, ‘let the people vote.’” Really. Now, Tom Emmer likes to talk about his huge family. Is he going to say “let the people vote” if the day comes that one of his children is gay? Is he willing to put his own kids’ freedom up to a vote? Emmer needs to learn that when he says “let the people vote,” he’s not talking about some vague principle. He’s talking about real human beings who are suffering, some of whom may someday be much closer to him than he thought possible.

“Gay marriage has consequences. Demand your right to vote.” Now let’s be clear. This is a lie. Gay marriage has consequences? Name them. If you want to play the consequences game, let’s talk about gay people dying alone in hospitals, getting deported, losing their homes, their families, their jobs, for no reason other than to satisfy someone’s bigoted impulses. This isn’t really about voting. This is about abusing the ballot, turning it into a weapon to hurt people. It’s wrong, it’s unAmerican, and it is deeply shameful behavior.

Mark C in MN commented recently on the stop8.org videoclip (link above) in another blog:

All that is good, but he’s also missing another thing that is very deceptive about the NOM ad. Minnesota does not have any referendum or initiative process. There is no mechanism by which extending marriage equality could be put to a vote of the people. We simply don’t make law that way here. The only reason the issue would come to the ballot, would be if a constitutional amendment were to be proposed. But for some reason they seem unwilling to directly demand a vote on adding a permanent constitutional ban on recognizing same-sex couples to the state constitution. It’s all in this very cagey and deceptive scheme. Of course, that’s what one expects from NOM and their ilk.

And this thing about making it sound like the very right to vote is in jeopardy is arrant nonsense. And dangerous nonsense at that, not only on this issue, but because it deliberately distorts, subverts, and spreads ignorance about Minnesota’s political and legal processes within the state.

There are MANY things about this commercial that really get me fired up, but nothing makes me more angry than when the “classroom” reference is brought into it. As a teacher in urban MN, I have had extensive diversity training and that includes making students that come from ALL backgrounds feel comfortable in my classroom. No matter how I feel about gay marriage (and I don’t oppose it), I would never alienate a child that comes from a family with two moms or two dads. So to an outsider, or Tom Emmer, when you see a classroom teaching diversity, please don’t be fooled into thinking there is a way to teach kids how to be gay. Those are just scare tactics. I would never tell the 6 year old that has two moms in my classroom that their family isn’t right. Let’s stop picking on the GLBT community, and by community I mean families and friends too.

[...] Shut the front door. Moreover, groups that have consistently demonized the LGBT community, including the National Organization for Marriage, have been actively supporting Tom Emmer’s candidacy. Does it honestly make any LGBT consumer [...]

[...] Minnesota — where NOM has flooded the airwaves with a shameful ad that equates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s calls for universal equality to NOM’s agenda [...]

[...] Minnesota — where NOM has flooded the airwaves with a shameful ad that equates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s calls for universal equality to NOM’s agenda [...]

[...] endorsed him anyway. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Family Council and National Organization for Marriage continue to spend big money on ads supporting his candidacy while touting the very positions that he won’t acknowledge on the [...]

Note that the “Family Council” hate ad failed.

I love seeing these idiots waste their money on hate ads.