Thursday, April 14, 2016
Yay Portland, Oregon!
The battle for equal rights has always been a matter of going forward two steps and dropping back one. Last June the SCOTUS ruled on marriage equality, and those who believe in the Constitution and its equal protection clause celebrated. That counted for a huge leap forward for the LGBT community and its goal of full participation as citizens in America.
But...
Certain states and their bureaucrats immediately started formulating plans to obstruct and make it difficult for the LGBT community to access that equality by defying a U.S. federal court order that required the issuing of marriage licenses.
Now we have individual southern states passing laws that allow discrimination against the LGBT community under the guise of "religious freedom." But a majority of fair-minded Americans knows what's really behind this new attempt at circumventing federal law. The reaction to the recently passed discriminatory laws in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi was swift and powerful,
Portland, Oregon's mayor now joins other Americans in rejecting states' efforts to place minorities back into second-class citizen status. They are on the wrong side of history as were those who fought against the repeal of Jim Crow laws, anti-miscegenation laws, and any other law that kept minorities "in their place."
Please go to Infide753 and read his excellent essay, "Transformation and victory" to see how far we've advanced, even if we have had to deal with bigoted laws that are and were created to obstruct anti-discrimination federal laws.
Congratulations to Portland Mayor Hales and everyone who opposes discriminatory laws against American minorities:
Mayor Hales refuses to travel to Mississippi because of his opposition to that state’s anti-LGBT laws, which permit businesses, churches, and religious charities to discriminate and deny services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
Hales made himself very clear about his refusal. He will not allow a ship in his city’s name to be commissioned in a state that permits such blatant discrimination against the LGBT community. He stated: ‘These kinds of laws are wrong, they’re fundamentally wrong.
They’re probably unconstitutional, but until they’re overturned in the courts or repealed by the legislature that wakes up the next day and says that was really a bad idea, we are not going to go there, literally.’
The US Navy will now reschedule the commissioning in light of Hales’ refusal. Instead of holding it as they originally scheduled in Pascagoula, Mississippi next month, the Navy will commission the ship in Portland, Oregon sometime in late 2017.
Makes sense, considering the ship literally has the name of the city attached to it. Footage of the future USS Portland during its launch in Pascagoula can be viewed in the video below. The launch took place in February this year at the Huntington Ingalls Industry shipyard.
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7 comments:
This is a typical comment I get almost every day from right wing trolls:
The most important issues for the liberals... Fags..Flags..Freebies
on Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi SHAME!
Publish | Delete | Spam
Anonymous
And the most important issues for the rabid right...Guns..God...Vaginas
It must be awful to be as unhappy, angry, and feeling victimized as they are. Poor things.
I wouldn't want to be a right winger under normal circumstances but right now??? No way! But again, they worked for it and they deserve each and every misery they are going through right now. I have to stop reading their blogs, too. Every time I do, I need a shower to wash the filth off. What a vile and ignorant bunch.
Do you know anyone who's happy being a right winger these days? Go read their blogs and see how negative and p.o'd they are 24/7, nothing turned out the way they thought it would. Obama got a second term, Obamacare wasn't repealed, gays got to marry and it passed the Supreme court, and the worst: Donald J. Trump will represent them in the coming election. That right there would be enough for them all to commit group suicide. None of them have a clue about how this all happened, they probably blame Obama for the crap they've brought on themselves. Ho boy.
Feel The Bern!
Thanks for the link! And I'll add the US Navy to the list of somewhat surprising institutions which are on the right side on this question, along with the NFL and so many mainstream corporations.
Portland has long been progressive on the issue. Multnomah county, which is basically Portland, was among the first places in the country to allow gay marriage, back in 2004. I can still remember the excitement of the time -- and what a letdown it was when the decision was reversed by a statewide referendum (rural Oregon is more conservative than you'd think). Today, Oregon has an openly-bisexual Governor, and people would frankly have been shocked if Hales had gone to Mississippi.
Oh, and how can Republicans these days be happy? They never seem to feel like themselves unless they're scowling in disapproval at something. I picture them as being like that grouchy-looking guy in the picture you have at the top of your posting column.
Infidel753, ha! That scowling image is, I believe, Clint Eastwood -- from some movie of his. Clint Eastwood: the guy who talked to an empty chair during the 2012 GOP convention as a way of attacking and defeating President Obama. That worked, eh?
No matter how often the far right tries to stop it, progress continues on these social issues, and those who keep up resistance to equality and women's autonomy know they'll be left behind. That's why they're always scowling.
One of the best things about this stupid republican primary has been Donald J. Trump the New York Values three times married reality TV star trying to convince angry conservatives that he's actually one of them.
Donald Trump: 'Trust Me' To Overturn The 'Shocking' Gay Marriage Decision
Have the conservatives figured out how Trump will do that? Because Trump hasn't. Bwahahahahaha!
We Progressives/Liberals support the Conserative who support Trump!
Good for Louisiana and Governor Edwards:
April 13, 2016
BATON ROUGE - Today, Governor John Bel Edwards signed an executive order providing employment protections for state employees and employees of state contractors on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, political affiliation, disability, or age. This executive order also prohibits discrimination in services provided by state agencies, and recognizes an exemption for churches and religious organizations.
Similar executive orders were signed by former Governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco and are in place around the country. There is currently no state law protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) Louisianans from employment discrimination.
“We are fortunate enough to live in a state that is rich with diversity, and we are built on a foundation of unity and fairness for all of our citizens,” said Gov. Edwards. “We respect our fellow citizens for their beliefs, but we do not discriminate based on our disagreements. I believe in giving every Louisianan the opportunity to be successful and to thrive in our state. Our goal is to promote the opportunities we have right here in Louisiana. While this executive order respects the religious beliefs of our people, it also signals to the rest of the country that discrimination is not a Louisiana value, but rather, that Louisiana is a state that is respectful and inclusive of everyone around us.”
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