Jackson Free Press

The Clarion-Ledger is reporting: 'Saying gay marriage 'goes against everything society has ever stood for,' state Sen. Alan Nunnelee has filed a bill to ban the union under the state Constitution. Mississippi lawmakers must have all bills and constitutional amendments filed by Feb. 23. Nunnelee's bill calls for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Mississippi already bans marriage for same-sex couples and does not recognize homosexual marriages performed in other states, but Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, says the 1997 state law may not be enough in years to come.

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One step forward (creative class); two steps back (Nunnelee acting as the AFA's tool). Ironically the group (American Family Association) pushing Nunnelee's buttons and this amendment conducted a poll recently that showed 57% support for gay marriage. Talk about backfiring! It'll be interesting to see how this backfires on the state of Mississippi, the AFA, and the "creative class" movement that seems to be getting under way. Curiously, will the AFA use those poll results to prove why such an amendment is necessary? Makes me livid!

kaust

Jan 19 2004

Current results of the AFA's gay marriage poll ( http://www.afa.net/petitions/marriagepoll.asp ), which they say they will submit to congress.... I oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and "civil unions" 31.81% I favor legalization of homosexual marriage 60.35% I favor a "civil union" with the full benefits of marriage except for the name 7.84% Also of interesting note on Nunnelee is that he has introduced a bill for the last 10 years to give the AFA tax-exempt status in the state. Senator Alan Nunnelee is nothing but the AFA's [snip].

Jo-D

Jan 20 2004

Ha! Perfect description of Nunnelee though I think 'tool' is more user-friendly. ;-) What's more frightening is -- these types of bills are popping up all over the country. Was reading that Arizona wants to do the same thing... Not to mention a few (read: too many to count) right-wingers want to amend the US Constitution backed by "family" groups such as Focus on the Family, AFA, and FRC (Family Research Council?)... Aren't they(right-wingers and fundamentalists) usually the ones talking about the Constitution being "interpreted" and used as a liberal's tool against religion? Now, rather than interpreting and giving full faith and credit to those running the judicial system and the folks voting them into office, they simply want to change it to spell out exactly what they want you to believe and be! Still livid about this... Sadly, I get so frustrated thinking about "good" Christians doing things like this I can barely see straight! <<< No pun intended.

kaust

Jan 20 2004

I like the way someone edited my post and replaced a certain word that is a female dog with a generic [snip]. Not exactly FREE, the Jackson Free Press is. At any rate, it seems like we may have some help in the Senate Constitution Committee to kill this bill once again but it will be close. They are definitely in an uproar over the Massachusetts decision and the Sodomy ruling. I will never understand how any human being can automatically relate sodomy (oral and/or anal sex for those of you not in-tune) to homosexuality. I know way too many straight people who engage in just such acts, but ya know, it's ok for them to do it (insert sarcasm here). It also seems we may have some help in the House Judiciary B Committee to finally pass on to the full House, House Bill 119 - an amendment to Mississippi's current hate crimes law that would add sexual orientation and age to the current covered victim characteristics. Canada is looking better everyday...

Jo-D

Jan 20 2004

Jody, I edited your post. You're welcome to post your opinions on the site, but you'll remember that our User Agreement says that we will delete ad hominem attacks. Though amusing, your comment was a clear personal insult. I would also delete it if someone called you that.

DonnaLadd

Jan 20 2004

While I see it as stating fact and not an attack in the true definition of the word attack, I do see how it could be mis-interpreted as such and offer my apologies.

Jo-D

Jan 20 2004

No problem. Thanks for understanding. ;-) I know people define "attack" differently, and respect that. But it has really helped our site since we started enforcing the User Agreement; our traffic and number of unique visitors has grown exponentially. I hope you'll keep posting; it sounds like you have a lot to offer.

DonnaLadd

Jan 20 2004

Looks like this is becoming a popular trend to "defend marriage." Lawmakers gave final approval yesterday to a measure banning gay marriage and prohibiting state employees from getting benefits for domestic partners. The bill is considered among the most far-reaching in the nation because of the benefits ban, which applies to unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples. ... Senator Eric Fingerhut, a Cleveland Democrat, said the bill will hurt Ohio by limiting the ability of businesses and universities to attract talent. "If we pass this bill, get up tomorrow, and look in the mirror," Fingerhut said, "smiling back at you is someone who has slowed Ohio's progress by putting up a sign to people that says, `We don't want you here.' " Link to whole story at Boston.com. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Ohio has fairly large LGBT communities in its major metros; it's no secret. These areas have blossomed specifically because of the gay and creative communities. I'd suspect these areas will begin losing residents slowly but surely and all that hard restoration work will go to waste. It appears the renaissance is over for cities such as Cleveland and Columbus...

kaust

Jan 22 2004

I wish the people who want to 'defend marriage' would spend their time getting rid of the plethora of truly awful reality shows that portray marriage as a contest. And all about beauty and wealth. It's about one of the most repulsive things, ever. I just don't see how crap like that is not drawing fire from these 'defenders of marriage.' It's just plain annoying and hypocritical.

kate

Jan 22 2004

Speaking of Nunnelee, it would appear his 'puppeteer' is withdrawing their poll and will not be submitting it to Congress as they stated on their website ("Results of this poll will be presented to Congress" - from marriagepoll.com). The reason? The results weren't what they wanted. AFA representative Buddy Smith complained to Wired News: "It just so happens that homosexual activist groups around the country got a hold of the poll -- it was forwarded to them -- and they decided to have a little fun, and turn their organizations around the country (on to) the poll to try to cause it to represent something other than what we wanted it to. And so far, they succeeded with that." .... Matt Foreman, the Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce was dumbfounded. "The abject hypocrisy of these people never ceases to amaze me," he exclaimed. "They constantly manipulate facts, and when things don't work out as they want, they run to mama and whine." ... On Jan. 6, the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network discussed the AFA poll with expert Bob Witeck, who said that since it was not a scientific survey, its results could not be considered meaningful data. According to Witeck, legitimate polls show support for gay marriage somewhere between 40 to 50 percent -- and growing. First, it's interesting to point out that "good" Chrisitians have lied not only to their members of the organization but netizens from all walks of life; as well, of note, they only care about the results *if* they are what they wanted. In other words, they only wanted to conduct the poll to smash the chances of gays and lesbians of having civil, law-binding relationships recognized by the US government... I think they've shown their truest colors and most Mississippians and Christians should be aware of the sneaky *agenda* of this organization. The only reason this bothers me so much is that the American Family Association is deeply connected to our local and national government bodies -- not to mention they are based in Tupelo. If they really cared so much about the American family, they'd invest all profits (yes, they're "for profit") into family shelters, family education programs, child development programs, etc... Not bills that undermine the American family as a whole! View the entire article at PlanetOut.com.

kaust

Jan 23 2004

This bill was also introduced by Senator Billy Hewes (R-Gulfport; not the same but is related to the G'port City Councilman Billy Hewes who did the same thing in the G'port City Council) the same day as Nunnelee's bill... Senate Concurrent Resolution 519 This bill calls for: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES TO PROVIDE A FEDERAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE AND TO SUBMIT SUCH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO THE SEVERAL STATES FOR PROPER RATIFICATION. http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2004/html/SC/SC0519IN.htm Basically this means that, if passed, the State of Mississippi is calling on the United States Congress to pass a U.S. Constitutional ban on gay and lesbian marriage and giving the United States Congress the state's support for such a ban. Of interesting note was this press release by Human Rights Campaign yesterday... WASHINGTON ñ A majority of Americans oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples, according to a new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll. This news comes on the heels of President Bushís State of the Union address, in which he came dangerously close to endorsing a constitutional amendment. The poll reports only 38 percent of Americans favor a constitutional ban on marriage rights for gays and lesbians, while 58 percent believe the matter should be left up to the states. Majorities of Americans are opposed to the amendment in all regions of the country as well. More than half of Americans ñ 56 percent ñ also feel that it should not be the role of the federal government to promote marriage between men and women according to the poll. In addition, 52 percent of Republicans also oppose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=15520&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

Jo-D

Jan 23 2004

On the topic of gay marriage, here's a few more: Utah Bill To Ban Gay Marriage Withdrawn "A bill that would toughen Utah's prohibition on same-sex marriage has been sent back to the drawing board after legal experts declared parts of it to be unconstitutional." Link to story. Arizona Anti-Gay Amendment Declared 'Dead' A bid to amend Arizona's constitution to deny any rights to same-sex couples is dead in the water the head of a powerful legislative committee has declared. Link to story. Can you feel the love and freedom boiling in America's blood? I'm finding it harder and harder to find the pulse, personally.

kaust

Jan 23 2004