Saturday at the California Republican Party Spring Convention in San Jose, California, GOP pollster Frank Luntz spoke to a group of bloggers about framing issues in the State.
With anti-Arnold Activist Steve Frank to my left, I asked Luntz if he felt that putting Gay Marriage initiatives on the ballot was a winning strategy for Republicans.
Frank was coy in his response, stating that he’d rather the party be talking about immigration issues, but the message was clear–and it was the same as Steve Kinney, another pollster told the LA County GOP Executive Committee–bashing gays will win the party no votes.
During a panel discussion on Marriage in the States in which a representative of the Heritage Foundation called for a Constitutional Convention to “protect” marriage, Log Cabin took the mic from the only place they were allowed–the Convention floor.
During the Q&A, Scott Tucker, an employee of the Liberty Education Foundation, got up and asked the panelists two simple questions–how could the claim to know, “what homosexuals want,” and whatabout being a Gay was “anti-family.”
Tucker’s remarks energized the room–drawing applause and cheers from about a third of the room at the Convention which recruited six times more members to the Ex-Gays than to the ACLU.
It’s that month when most romantic souls turn to thoughts of love and companionship as Valentine’s Day rolls around once again. For some members of the LGBT community, especially those who are in relationship, it can be a time of happiness and joy; while for others, it can be a time of bittersweet memories; and still others take it all with a grain of salt along with thoughts of rampant commercialism. Love in all of its aspects has not always come easily for many members of the LGBT community; but hopefully, that is all changing as people are beginning to realize that true love comes in many forms regardless of age, gender or circumstance. That realization has been a long time coming.
In December of 2005, the phenomenon of a landmark film burst onto the movie screens that at least began to enable people to understand the complexities of gay love relationships. “Brokeback Mountain” has touched people not only within the LGBT community, but even outside of it as well. It’s not only a story about the power of realized and unrequited love, it is also; and more poignantly, about the myriad circumstances that come into play when society demands that any individual should go against his or her own nature and try to become something that he or she is not. With that in mind, let’s look at what some people have felt that we members of the LGBT community should not be: married, American citizens with equal rights, or adoptive parents. (more…)