Protesters oppose marriage amendment, vote set for Wednesday

How ironic that this site is called Minnesota “Independent”. The only thing independent is the actual name. Im guessing the Minnesota Liberal was already taken? After reading a lot of the comments, those that choose to have an independent perspective from the majority on this site, are haters and considered evil. News flash idiots: being against gay marriage is not hate. Last I checked, it is illegal to get married in this state. By throwing this ammendment change out to the public, you will actually have a real chance of legalizing gay marriage. If it is voted down, your door just flew open. HOWEVER: dont assume because someone is a democrat that they are PRO gay marriage. Democrats are no different than republicans. They will tell you what you want to hear to get your vote. Staying elected is the key. If the ammendment fails, and the democrats resume power in the state, dont assume they will actually pass a law on your behalf. They have had power for decades in this state and now all of a sudden they are pro gay marriage?

Steve wrote, “News flash idiots…”

The Holy Spigot flows strongly through Steve. How Jesusish of him.

Praise Jebus, Go hates the Independent News Network, Amen.

Steve, you are incorrect. If the amendment does not succeed at the ballot box, it will not open the door to gay marriage. It will still be illegal. All the amendment would do is add a narrow definition of marriage to the Constitution. It will do nothing for gay marriage if it loses on election day. There would still be the same chances to enact gay marriage as there was before.

I’ve never heard a valid argument against gay marriage that wasn’t based on theology. Not everyone believes the same stories you believe, so we probably shouldn’t use a big book of lovely myths and oral history to craft contemporary policy that’s supposed to apply to and equally protect everyone.

Being against gay marriage isn’t necessarily hateful, but it is pretty consistently ignorant.

And for the record, I’m getting all my news from The Holy Spigot from this moment forward. Priceless, Carl.

What Andy said. Steve, I think “irony” is calling folks idiots when it’s you who doesn’t have a grasp of the facts. Even if voters shoot down the amendment, same-sex marriage will stilll be illegal here.

“Last I checked, it is illegal to get married in this state.” Huh? Wow, Steve, when did that happen? To what state does everyone go to get married?

So a law discriminating against gays is not enough? An amendment to be voted on by the majority to restrict the rights of a minority is needed? What happened to the conservative principles of anti-regulation , anti-oversight and individual responsibility with no social responsibility?

Well, why don’t we just put religion into the state constitution. Let’s see, shall we put in Sharia law, Buddhist principles, Jewish philosophy, Taoist teachings, Hindu mythology, Atheism, or Christianity. Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Protestantism?

Or can we just keep the religious right from imposing on everyone else whatever version of religious law they think is not from Satan?

Why do some people think that two gays getting married will somehow destroy the institution of marriage or will institute hell on earth?

@ Steve…. right after we get to vote on your Constitutional rights and after we determine how you can honor your relationship.

Paid hack?

Steve,

The majority shall not vote on the Minorities civil rights. Period. Putting this on the ballot is un-constitutional, and Un American, and un-Ethical. I care less what your religious or political stance is. I am purely against the amendment because of this reasoning. I would be against an amendment that voted on any minorities civil rights, or civil rights period. We the people have chosen the form of Gov we have today with elected officials and appointed Judges that will should always farely and without any prejudice way out the laws and facts. Without any Religious connotation put into the effect. I personally hold zero religious affiliation and want non for myself or my family, I would feel the same way if this amendment was to shut down all Extreme Religious Right organizations from existing!

I am also pro marriage equality as well. But that is a separate issue all together. I will continue to vote for elected officials that believe the same way I do. For my power is in the vote.

Granted I am a woman and and actually have met people in my life time that did knew people on the original fighting end! Thats how close we are to the end of that particular civil right disaster of our past.

This is a Civil rights issue.

From what I heard on the TV news tonight, not one Republican (or Taliban member as I like to say) would face the protesters. They all entered the meeting room through a back entrance – not the front entrance they usually use. Those spineless, ball – less, f&^%ing cowards!! Why should I have expected more though? That’s how they work.

Steve,

Steve , This matter was already decided by the Minnesota Supreme Court. They have ruled that marriage is only between a man and a woman. To place it in the constitution is just wasting everyone’s time, unless the Republican majority want to create a wedge issue to divert attention from the real problem. Solving the budget deficit.
I find it very interesting that all of the Republicans want to follow the religious leaders on this issue, but then ignore those same leaders when it comes to addressing the budget deficit. The call to spare the poor a little bit and have some tax increases has fallen on deaf ears. A large majority of surveyed Minnesotans said they want a combination of tax increases and budget cuts. Sowhy are Republicans ignoring that and instead of focusing on inflammatory policy issues?

[...] MN: Protesters Oppose Marriage Amendment, Vote Set for Wednesday. Read more [...]

Anyone who thinks this amendment is NOT about discrimination ought to read through the Minnesota Family Council blog. It includes pro-amendment testimony from a NOMmie who implies that the motivation behind their work is to prevent gays & lesbians from parenting children–Jennifer Roback Morse calls LGBT parenting “brutality.” Because parents created by chancy hookup is better than making the emotional & financial commitment of adoption and/or fertility treatments, obviously!

Again, you do not have to agree with me. I simply stated two arguments. First, the name of this website is in sharp contrast to the actual content provided. It is actually downright hypocritical. If I was to personally assult any of you, I would be labeled a hater and my comments would be removed. I didnt come here to pick any kind of a fight. Being an actual real independent, I found this via Google. The only ignorance that is occuring is by those of you who refuse to accept two sides to an issue. The over the top anger on this issue is similar to the union reaction in Wisconsin. As an independent, I disagreed with Scott Walker initially. After seeing the union morons act like silly children, I actually rooted against the unions. I dont have a horse in this race but I personally dont believe anyone’s rights are being violated or that this is about hate. If you cant see the complexity of this issue, then like I said previously, you are an idiot. No one is saying you cant be gay. If the liberal left continues to scream and cry, the current poll that is against the amendment will change. You dont have to agree with me. I dont care.

Besides being an independent, I am also a contrarian. This is my second argument. Why are the republicans the only bad guys here? With MN being dominated for decades by democrats why hasnt anything been done previously to fix this suddenly really important issue? If the democrats truly were “pro-gay” like they pretend, they would have been working on this long ago. I would blame them.

In response to Peter – I am not a republican so, I dont know. However, my contrarian self believes that the democrats are just as “evil” for over spending and putting the state in this issue in the first place. The democrats are like my spend happy brother. He over drafts his checking account and then looks to me to help him out. He does it again and again. When I finally refuse to continue to bail out his reckless spending, he whines and cries and says I am the bad guy for not helping him out. Saying no to more taxes or increased spending doesnt make the republicans bad. Or, if we need to label the republicans “anti-poor” or “anti-minority” then the democrats need to wear the label “irresponsible” or “totally clueless”

Not being gay, I am curious why there isnt more work being done to prove that gay isnt a choice. Is there? It just seems to me to be a better fight. If someone is still anti-gay after proving that it is not choice, well, then you can start throwing the “hate” card around.

Steve,

You must not be from around here. Minnesota has been the closest thing to an independent sanctuary as you will find in America. We may not always vote “independent” but if you had actualy done some research you would see that we almost never give any one party total control. If we have a DFL legislature we will have a GOP governor and vice versa.

The reason that the GOP has been labeled the way they have is because of their own actions. If you haven’t noticed, the GOP has been hijacked by extremist zealots that are intent on forcing the will of a minority on the majority.

Over the top anger? Where have you gotten your info?? Yes people here are mad that a party wants to limit the civil rights of a minority in our state. If you are not mad about civil rights being trampled then you need to look in the mirror and ask your self some tough questions on what “Liberty and Justice for all” means to you.

Union morons act like silly children??? I think that you just outed yourself as a far far far right wing troll. That statement is utterly baseless and pointless. Scott Walker lied to the people of Wisconsin and they stood together against a man trying to act like a dictator or a monarch. The only area that was divided down party lines was in the legislature. The people protesting were from all walks of life, and, all politcal idealogues were represented.

John I wrote, ” The people protesting (Ryan’s union busting legislation) were from all walks of life, and, all political idealogues were represented.”

Including those notorious thugs, primary school teachers and nurses. MAN! if I had a dollar for every time I was oppressed by proper spelling and healthy food guidelines. Well…, I’d still be employed and healthy but then I could afford for my children to attend the private schools Governor Ryan left unmolested. Oh well.

Praise Jebus, God hates secular education, Amen.

So Steve, you “disagreed with Walker initially” but did a 180 when you turned on the teevee (Fox?) and saw all those horrible union folks walking around with signs, peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights?. Obviously, you are a man of deep convictions. Not.

@Dog

Conservatives are deeply, deeply concerned with decorum. So deeply that even imaginary breaches of decorum can send their sympathies scuttling back to their corporate masters.

Oops, Make that Gov. Walker. Sorry, I switched Wisconsin conservatives.

Praise Jebus, God hates corrections, Amen.

I tried (obviously not good enough) to be specific. In response I got a bunch of left wing propaganda that says nothing. “Conservatives are deeply, deeply concerned with decorum.So deeply that even imaginary breaches of decorum can send their sympathies scuttling back to their corporate masters.” WTF does that mean? And, what the hell does it have to do with what I said?

@John I

The response from you, Katie and the others proves my point. I am sure you are all fabulous people but “independent” is not a word any of you actually use. There are no independent thinkers or voters commenting here. If you are going to reference “GOP zealots”, by your definition, Katie, Dog, Carl or yourself would be a Left Wing Zealots. I am not forcing my will or beliefs on anyone. The difference between you and me and your fellow “zealots” is that I don’t think you are a troll for not believing exactly like I do. You and your like own two crayons – Black and White. God forbid if someone disagrees with you, they are a GOP Zealot troll. The real world doesn’t actually work that way. You are not alone. You can log on to biggovernment.com or Blaze.com and find the same one-sided, two color, crap. I think it is an insecurity. You are not confident enough in your own beliefs that you not only need others to agree exactly like you but you also need to knock those that differ down by calling them trolls.

I originally came to this sight because I didn’t want or need black or white thinking. I had never heard of this site. When I realized this was a special interest site I hoped it didn’t matter. Obviously, this site is simply pretending to be “independent”. Here is the thing. You actually need me and my like. I think unions are a complete joke. I have worked with and in unions for most of my life. This doesn’t make me a GOP troll. My wife is a teacher. The teachers union is laughable. You want to fix education, get rid of the union. You have no idea how many terrible teachers the union protects. I voted for Obama and hate unions. Will you ever forgive me? If you want to actually participate in an educated discussion regarding unions I would welcome the opportunity. Unfortunately, because you cant see past someone actually disliking a union and still NOT being a GOP troll, you wouldn’t fit the “educated” requirement. If you truly were independent then you could actually sit back and watch Fox news and make up your own mind. If you add all the special interest news programs together they do not equal the audience size of Fox. Since there are not nearly that many conservatives out there, who the hell do you think is watching it? Independents. Like I said, you need me. Your little liberal zealot group doesn’t have nearly the amount of voters needed to make a change. As an independent I am against abortion, pro-gay, anti-war, pro sending all birthers to a very far away island, anti any and all defense spending, anti more taxes, pro increased education spending, and pro new Vikings stadium. And don’t care if you don’t agree with me.

If you truly want to make change in this world, educate them on your side of the story. Don’t dismiss their thoughts as evil gop rhetoric simply because they don’t think like you do.

Have a fabulous day

Steve,

I had written a response to your diatribe but realized that you came to this site looking for a fight. From what I can see as your first post on this thread, you have brought nothing that could even be considered a quality argument.

You made the statement “over the top anger” at our reactions to the marriage amendment and I responded with the following…

“Over the top anger? Where have you gotten your info?? Yes people here are mad that a party wants to limit the civil rights of a minority in our state. If you are not mad about civil rights being trampled then you need to look in the mirror and ask your self some tough questions on what “Liberty and Justice for all” means to you”.

So Steve, as we get back to the article at hand, what does “liberty and justice for all” mean to you?

I would argue that you havent actually read what I wrote. You assume I am looking to attack you. I am not. The “over the top anger” includes those that refuse to even listen to someone with a differing opinion or those that immediately paint someone against gay marriage as a hater. Take a catholic for example. Hate the religion not the actual catholic. My wife is catholic. My cousin and her uncle are gay. She loves them both. She is very torn. The issue has brought her to tears. I love my wife. I do not believe she is wrong to be torn. Calling her a hater gets you no where because you couldnt be more wrong. My wife goes to mass every Saturday. Im not catholic so I dont get the honor. cough.

Looking for a fight? No. A conversation? Definitely. I will challenge anyone on a topic. I love being the devils advocate. I honestly had no idea this was a gay website. I was hoping it was actually independent site. My cousin and I are like brothers. He too is an independent.

I believe in the 14th amendment. I believe in God. I believe that being gay is not a choice. I believe that God would want someone who is gay to be just as happy as someone who is not gay. And, I believe it takes time to change what people (ie churches) have been teaching for thousands of years. I wish you luck and I hope you will be patient with those that are having a hard time getting there.