Don’t you hate it when all the old white men take over politics? Oh, wait. But, we can understand why religious zealots in Houston are fearful the political scene there is about to be overtaken by the enemy: Homosexuals are everywhere!
From mayoral hopeful Annise Parker to two gays running for City Council, Houston’s City Hall is practically a bathhouse! Which is why group like the Houston Area Pastor Council are campaigning against these folks, because they don’t want a “gay takeover.”
“The bottom line is that we didn’t pick the battle, she did, when she made her agenda and sexual preference a central part of her campaign,” says HAPC’s exec director Dave Welch. “National gay and lesbian activists see this as a historic opportunity. The reality is that’s because they’re promoting an agenda which we believe to be contrary to the concerns of the community and destructive to the family.”
This is funny, because Parker has worked diligently to distance herself from being identified as “the gay candidate.” Hell, she said she has no plans in overturning a 2001 city charter amendment that bans gay city employees from receiving benefits. Sounds like she’s just the sort of candidate this pastoral group would want.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Brian NJ
I don’t think gay people will forget for a long time how badly they and their families were treated by fundementalist “christians.”
1EqualityUSA
The Irish were so oppressed when they had first come to this country. Signs for employment read, “No Irish need apply”. In searching my roots on that side of my family, I found that the Catholic Church was adopting out Irish babies to families under false pretenses, meaning “non-Irish”, thereby losing that baby’s entire familial lineage and history. That’s how hated the Irish were. It wasn’t until they stood together, becoming politically powerful, that the oppression lifted. Queers will find equality when we do as the Irish did and stand together and become politically powerful. We need to invite many straights in to assist us in these efforts. We are a very creative lot, often using both sides of our brains, (according to research), so harnessing our energy is key to success. Politics, unfortunately, is the door opener.
Brian
Christians don’t believe in equality.
1EqualityUSA
Brian, they do. Only the most vociferous Christians are getting air time, giving the impression that all Christians feels as they do.
Mike
Dave Welch and Stephen Hotze are fringe characters even among the Houston right-wingers.
1EqualityUSA
What if we all unionized and joined, under one umbrella, all of the different factions of the glbt community? Gay Union. Everyone could vote on a representative and each group from HRC to NCLR, from Lambda Legal to GMHC could find solidarity under one roof. NGLTF, PFLAG, GLAAD, ACLU, Log Cabin, all could unionize into one solid block of power. As it stands, the sled is being pulled by huskies going in different directions.