Oh my, by lucky chance due to the time change while in Denver, I caught Keith Olbermann’s gay marriage special commentary while flipping channels. An extraordinary commentary that is not to be missed. In case youtube vid is not working, here’s the msnbc link.
Keith certainly gets it. We must spread his message.
I am not that familiar with Keith, other than promos seen on NBC. And the episode for this was on tonight. I thought I would have been expecting a homophobic rant. I am glad that it was just the opposite. 🙂
What a truly powerful message! Thank you so much for sharing this. I personally am not a viewer of such types of shows. (Too much reality for my taste, most of the time.) But how awesome to have someone in his position give such a passionate argument in our favor!
I realize it may have been put on to some extent, but I was really moved by the apparent emotion he was expressing. He seemed ready to cry, as have I, more than once, over the disgusting outcome of this election.
You are so right, Keith DOES get it. Thanks again.
Two things Keith neglected that need mentioning (and I am a HUGE fan of his).
1 – It DOES affect him; tax dollars go towards the Gay Divorce Welfare program… HIS money.
2 – We need to hear more about the damage and suffering caused when rights are denied; it’s more than “love”. Legal Hate & Cruelty is what we experience.
Simply put – the Mormons have proved with their complete obsession with PROP 8 to be a Tax-Exempt Hate Group.
Heterosexuals – You better wake up. Instead of pondering a cerebral concept like how gays want the “1,138 rights of marriage”, you need to educate yourselves about the CONSEQUENCES when one or more of those 1,138 rights are denied. GOOGLE “Freeheld” or “Tying the Knot”; watch the DVDs. Write it down now.
Your laws HATE us, and we’ve had it! Yes, I did said HATE – I stand by it. Because how else can you explain these 3 realities?:
A police woman loses her life in the line of duty; her wife of 13 years is denied all pension benefits.
A rancher loses his husband of 22 years; his inlaws evict him and try to take the home he built and lived in with his beloved.
A detective spends 25 years risking her own life while protecting society; she has to spend her remaining days on this earth worrying whether her earned pension will be transferred to her wife (while living with terminal cancer).
YES, H-A-T-E. And your silence on this matter is a serious affront to our families’s safety and security. FAMILY – isn’t that a cherished concept in the U.S.A.?
So now after decades of disinterest, some of us in the LGBTI community have AWAKENED. And we will refuse to pay one penny of income tax to the IRS until the government (i.e. – you) decide you WANT our tax dollars as EQUAL CITIZENS.
This ain’t a vote.
This ain’t a debate.
This ain’t a popularity contest.
You will PAY OUR TAXES until we have what your family ALREADY HAS; your apathy is costing you money as you read this.
GAY TAX PROTEST!
Can a person be against gay marriage and not be a bigot or part of a “Hate Group”? Is Barrack Obama (who is against marriage) a bigot? Is the Pope also part of this “Hate Group”? Are African-Americans who overwhelmingly supported Prop 8 also bigots? Or is it just the Mormons?
The point is, is there only one side to the argument of gay marriage and the supporters of Prop 8 are just bigots? Or could there be another legitimate side to the argument that should be debated?
Say what you will about the election, Prop 8, or Keith Olbermann, etc., last week, this is your right. I am going to a little as well. After seeing the disgusting display of hate in those 3 states last week, I have never felt so alone and helpless since walking out of the closet. Thank you so much for posting this. I want him in our corner!
“Can a person be against gay marriage and not be a bigot or part of a “Hate Group”? Is Barrack Obama (who is against marriage) a bigot? Is the Pope also part of this “Hate Group”? Are African-Americans who overwhelmingly supported Prop 8 also bigots? Or is it just the Mormons?
The point is, is there only one side to the argument of gay marriage and the supporters of Prop 8 are just bigots? Or could there be another legitimate side to the argument that should be debated?”
The answer is yes, you are a bigot and so are all the groups you mentioned. The debate you ask for asks only one question… Does anyone in this world deserve less than I have? If you oppose marriage, or rights, or equality in any form for anyone… You are a bigot. Debtae this with yourself… What if someone took away your right to marry? Would we even be having this conversation? All men and women are created equal. Write that down somewhere.
That is interesting that anyone who doesn’t agree with you on this issue is a bigot. Barack Obama doesn’t strike me as a bigot nor does the Pope. It seems to me that there are men and women of goodwill on both sides of the issue.
Your suggest the question, “Does anyone in this world deserve less than I have?” I believe the answer is, “no”. And, I believe that everyone, including me, has the ability to marry anyone they chose who is a member of the opposite sex.” Neither you nor I have the ability to marry someone of the same sex. So, neither have us has less than the other.
You may say, “Yeah, but I love someone of the same sex and I want to marry that person and I should have the right to marry anyone I chose. It shouldn’t be restricted to a member of the opposite sex (or a natural child-bearing unit).” That is a compelling arguments.
OK, let’s open up the restrictions. Should multiple people be able to marry? If the answer is, “no”, then there should be restrictions (which will deny someone their right to marry who they chose) on the right to marry and now we just need to decide what those restrictions should be and who we should deny.
If they answer is, “yes”, then should there be any restrictions? Should a man be able to marry his sister or an underage girl in an arranged marriage? In any case, you have not redefined marriage but undefined it.
I don’t expect everyone to agree on this issue. But, I do expect that we can agree there are people of good faith and goodwill on both sides of the argument. It is possible that the majority of the country isn’t all full of bigots. It is also possible that if you keep making a good argument that a majority of the country will eventually agree with you.
KJ your arguments don’t hold water, which doesn’t come as a surprise to me.
I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it said that Barack Obama doesn’t believe in gay marriage. I believe I have heard him say that he is not a proponent of gay marriage. And guess what, HE’S A POLITICIAN!
He’s a politician who was running a hard fought race against an ultra-conservative ticket. If he had stepped up on the national stage and said, “My first act as president is going to be to legalize Gay Marriage.” he would never have won the election and we needed desperately for him to win the election. Meanwhile, he has stated that he is in favor of equal rights, eliminating DADT and DOMA while simultaneously passing legislation to toughen up hate crime penalties and protect our rights in the work place.
I suspect that no matter his religious beliefs, Barack Obama likely does support gay rights, including marriage.
As for the pope, well, I’m sure this will be a popular statement, but, YES! HE IS A BIGGOT. And so is every other religious leader who preaches against treating homosexuals as equal, full citizens, entitled to all the same rights and privileges as heterosexuals. There I said it, now the Catholics can all come after me.
The “What next?” argument against gay marriage is simply not a passable argument. I would argue that if it’s not hurting anyone and they’re sincere in their desire, then yes, it probably SHOULD be legal to have multiple spouses. They certainly did it in that ever so cherished, protected and relied upon Bible. But that aside, we’re not talking about redefining marriage. A marriage is between two people. Not between one man and one woman. TWO PEOPLE. Not a person and a dog. TWO PEOPLE. Not a parent and a child. TWO PEOPLE. Any other suggestion is just grasping at straws and speaking out of fear.
RC is right. The only question on the table is whether I’m entitled to the same rights as the next person. The answer is yes. And in this context, that right is to be married and have a happy healthy life with the love of my life, whomever he or she may be. Period!
Kevin, think about what you just posted: (1) Barack Obama lied about his position on gay marraige to get elected. (2) The Pope is a bigot. (3) Polygamy should probably be legal.
That is fine if you believe that. I can understand why you would believe that. But, you must also recognize that the majority of the country may not agree with you on those points and it isn’t necessarily because they are bad people or bigots.
In fact, believing the Barack Obama is sincere about his position on gay marriage, the Pope has given much consideration to the issue and concluded that a marriage that includes a father and mother is the best scenerio for marriage and society (and not based on bigotry), and that polygamy should continue to be illegal are probably least extreme position of those issues. You don’t have to agree with them but it may be useful to acknowledge that everyone who doesn’t agree with you is not a bigot or a liar.
KJ-
To suggest that I didn’t “think about” what I posted before I wrote it, let alone hit submit comment, is a bit insulting. You’re assuming because you don’t like my opinion or view point that I’m stupid?
Now, how about if YOU think about what I posted, “Barack Obama Lied to get elected”? No! That’s not what I said. He played the political game that every other politician plays. Made big announcements about the things that the majority of American’s want to hear while not drawing too much attention to his more controversial views. In a perfect world, no politician would need to do this but we don’t live in a perfect world. Bummer.
“The Pope is a bigot”? Anyone who teaches discrimination, and denying gays the right to marry is discrimination, IS a bigot. If the Pope teaches against gay rights to marriage, then yes. The Pope is a bigot.
“Polygamy should probably be legal”? What I said was, IF it’s not hurting anyone and they’re sincere in their desire it probably should be legal. (I’m not OK with it, but I don’t know that we should be withholding those rights either.) I also said that polygamy would truly be redefining marriage (as opposed to debating two PEOPLE, vs. ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN.) I state that multiple spouses possibly SHOULD BE legal, but it’s probably for the best that it’s not.
The topic of discussion isn’t what people believe is morally right or wrong, it’s whether legal rights should be universal. And to that question there should be only one answer.
As for the rest, you should practice what you preach. I agree not everyone has the same opinion as I do, and certainly to each his own. But we’re talking about a matter that should not be a religious one but a legal one. Bottom line, for the Pope to say, “I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman” is fine. let him teach his religious beliefs. But to say that it should not be legal to allow those who don’t conform to have the same rights is bigotry.
By the way, just for the sake of stirring the pot, you said that the pope has given much consideration to the matter (who cares! It’s not his right to inflict his consideration on the world) and that he’s concluded that a marriage that includes, “a father and a mother” is the best scenario… Assuming you’re accurately conveying the matter, does this mean that married, heterosexual couples who choose not to, or worse yet, are unable to have children shouldn’t be legally married? Shouldn’t have the same rights and privileges? Does this also mean that he’s condoning premarital sex because they can only get married AFTER they’ve conceived a child? Now that sounds like someone the whole world should listen to. 8-|
I re-read my comment. I said exactly what I meant to say, in as clear a manner as I felt I could. Can you say the same?