I want to high-five Dennis Kucinich; it does take balls to put forward something like the impeachment of Cheney (especially when we have been calling for it for so long). While it may not actually happen (boo!), I hope that it does; and I won’t forget that Dennis is the guy that got the issue actually going, which is a welcome sign that there are some balls somewhere in the house of Dem.
ENDA passed; which is a great step forward in the protection against being fired simply for being gay or lesbian. I hope that this signals more good things in store for the equalization of rights for all of us. No one should be able to be fired because their boss is a bigot, and now, it seems like they are a little safer. Bravo.
I blogged about it before, but please, don’t forget that there is a gay youth in serious danger of being hanged for being gay in Iran. This cannot happen. I am glad to see that the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is at least paying some attention now. This is a chilling reminder that gays and lesbians are NOT free in this world, and if one of us is at risk of being murdered because of who we are, we are all at risk. It cannot be allowed to happen, and Iran must not be allowed to conduct serious acts of murder and violence against any human. I certainly feel for this boy and his family. By keeping this topic in the news, we are keeping Iran under the microscope, and hopefully, it will lead to a stay of execution indefinitely.
Finally, I was amused when I read that this is what Bush had to say about the veto override the Senate exercised in the funding of projects to rebuild the areas affected by hurricane Katrina:
“American taxpayers should not be asked to support a pork-barrel system of federal authorization and funding where a project’s merit is an afterthought,” he said.
Wait, WHAT? All of a sudden, Mr. Bush is concerned what WE taxpayers are concerned with when it comes to government spending? Uh, Mr. Bush, you can’t have a blank check for your war on the middle east, and then get all pissy when we want money to rebuild parts of our own nation; it just shows how out of touch with the real situation he really is. Someone, please get this man a large does of perspective; stat. I love how it was “an afterthought”… uh, someone really needs to get him up to speed as to what is going on in the world right now; the man clearly has no idea.
Other than that… I am sure that there is a lot more SHIT going on in the world that is scary and evil, but it almost seems too overwhelming to deal with it all, doesn’t it? I mean, just look at the CRAPPER that the economy is in… we are seriously inching towards being TOTALLY fucked instead of just being fucked. When will the great America turn things around for herself? I just hope that we can.
Why would you want to work for someone who believes homosexuality is a choice?
Regardless of whether or not I would want to work for them, it matters that I might HAVE to work for them. Not everyone gets to choose who they work for.
Of course you choose who you work for. You pick the companies in which you send your resume, don’t you?
If I own a company, I should be able to hire and fire at my discretion for any reason, ANY reason. Let capitalism work. Would you buy products from a company that is prejudiced against homosexuals? I doubt it. I doubt millions would. A company who hires/fires based off race, gender, weight, or orientation will not survived nowadays… well, maybe in the deep South but regardless, a company will not make it big if its hiring practices are based off of prejudice.
What you’re so happy for, is an abuse of government.
Dave, the government shared that same policy. It is wrong to fire someone because of their sexuality, race, etc. You could work for someone who is or isn’t a homophobe, and if they saw fit, they could use your sexuality as a reason to get rid of you; even if you were doing a great job.
And there isn’t as much fluidity to many jobs as you think; I work in public health, and there is very little wiggle room with regards to where and with whom I can work. Same with James, he is a teacher, and there are only so many school systems he can work within. Having protection from being fired from these places, given that our lines of work are so specific, is a huge win. This is less about letting a company “do what it wants”, and more about preventing people from using sexuality as a valid reason to get rid of an employee.
duane, while I respect the difficult place you are placed, I fall back onto the principle that government should not over step its responsibility. If, perhaps, there was a time limit on anti-discrimination laws, I would be way more approving. I recognize that homosexualyt is the next great front in equality. A lot of people are simply not comfortable with gay people in the work place just as they were not with women or blacks. Affirmative action and Title (IX? VII?) served a purpose in their time. It is time for them to be abolished… sure, go ahead and pass a law preventing discrimination of homosexuals in the workplace but limit it to 20 years or so … hopefully after 20 years of people working with homosexuals and realizing they are people too, we won’t need a law requiring employers to treat them as such.
“difficult place you are placed” WTF? Can you tell I’m on my third beer?
That is exactly the point of needing the legislation in the first place; we aren’t there yet. Things like this force us to be there, and I agree, should only need to be temporary, as one would hope that people can move beyond these petty anti-gay things.
If there were a time limit, I would approve. There is not a time limit so I don’t approve.
Until there is equality for ALL in America, we will suffer as a nation. Whatever it takes to get where we need to be on equality for all citizens should be the role of government. Without rules and regulations there is nothing but chaos. Dave I know that you do not have a problem with homosexuals, but a LOT of people do. Until they can be as educated as you are on the subject, our government should put measures in place for the protection of ALL citizens’ rights no matter what the reason for the discrimination.
I would not have a problem with them setting a time limit for the measure to be brought to review, but getting something on the “books” to begin insuring equality is extremely important in my opinion!
Mitch, first of all there will never ever ever be 100% equality. People will always have prejudices. It’s just human nature. I’m not saying that’s a good thing but variety is the spice of life, right?
Also, you enter a dangerous slippery slope when you use comments such as, “Whatever it takes…” If someone refuses to accept homosexuals as equal, what do we do? Whatever takes… well, it may take us killing this person to get closer to our 100% equality. That’s an extreme case for sure, but how far are you willing to go to control what people think? That’s what laws such as this do, they regulate thought.
Why can’t I think fags are a bunch of filthy heathens who God hates? I would be ignorant, naive, and just plain stupid for thinking so but I should be able to. The beauty of America is that we can all be individuals.
Final point. As much justice as these types of laws bring, think about how much inequality they cause. Let’s say I own a company and I have a gay guy working for me. Whether through is performance or the state of my business or whatever, I have to fire him. Do I now need to worry that he’ll sue me for discrimination? What if I have an open position at my company. I have two equally qualified candidates. One is gay, one is not. As you’ve stated, you know I have no issue with homosexuality, and I as the owner just get a gut feeling that the straight person is a better fit in the company. Do I need to fear that the gay guy will sue me for discrimination? When this happens enough, people start resenting homosexuals for the “edge” they have over straight people.
Oh yeah, good morning!
I want to high five Kucinich’s wife with my balls. Such the hottie!
Oh and we should get together for a beer.
Have a great weekend!
Russell, I can agree with one of those… Maybe next week!
Dave you are correct, there will never be 100% equality, but our government should not condone prejudism. There should be laws in place to protect the rights of all citizens of the U.S.
I’ll give you that I should not have said “whatever it takes” as I should have known someone (better known as DPB) would pick up on that and take it to the extreme! LOL
As far as being an employer and worrying about some gay guy suing you for firing him or not hiring him, employers already have to worry about almost any employee they fire suing them… That is why employers have to dot their “i’s” and cross their “t’s” when they do their write-ups or whatever their process is in firing someone. What is one more rule of equality going to hurt. I personally think it would do much more good than harm.
As long as the government is not treating people equally, how can you expect the average citizen to?
WOW! I forgot…Shrub is an idiot! I can’t post a reply without saying something negative about him!
LOL
Mitch, I want to respond to two of your points:
and
These are two completely different points. I believe our government should CONDONE prejudism in others but should not pass legislation that treats two people differently. From a government perspective, I should be allowed to be as prejudiced, racist, or sexist as I can be. I should be able to live my life this way without the government interfering with me. I should be able to operate my company on these principles as I see fit without the government getting involved. On the other hand, government agencies should not be afforded the same “freedom.”
I simply want the government out of my life. These laws do not do that.