Showing the political fortitude to stand up for principles that’s the hallmark of the modern Republican party, openly gay Minnesota state Sen. Paul Koering has said that he will not vote for the Marriage and Family Protection Act, which would make the state’s marriage laws gender-neutral, telling local radio stationKLKS that “even though he’s gay, he will vote against the legislation because lawmakers have bigger fish to fry dealing with a budget deficit estimated at five to seven billion dollars.” Because you know, gays being able to spend money on their marriages wouldn’t help bolster the economy at all.
The Minnesota Independent writes:
“Koering came out in 2005 after voting against a constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and same-sex marriage pushed by then-State Sen. Michele Bachmann. He is one of very few openly gay elected Republicans in the United States and was re-elected by his conservative Brainerd-area constituents in 2006, despite a hard push by religious right activists to defeat him for his votes on gay rights.
When he came out in 2005, he was cautious about pushing hard for same-sex marriage, a position he still appears to hold.
“I think some of the gay activists will be upset with me for this, but sometimes I think an agenda is pushed so far and so fast that people have no alternative but to push back,” Koering told Raw Story at the time. “And I think that sometimes you have to move slowly.”
Alan down in Florida
“I think some of the gay activists will be upset with me for this, but sometimes I think an agenda is pushed so far and so fast that people have no alternative but to push back,” Koering told Raw Story at the time. “And I think that sometimes you have to move slowly.”
So true.
ChristopherM
Anyone who fucks that jerk should be ashamed of himself. He should never get laid again.
REBELComx
@Alan down in Florida:
Christian demonization – 64CE after Nero blames them for the Great Fire of Rome. The Christians are seen as (and for the most part, act like) terrorists and are rounded up and executed.
Christianity in charge – 324CE after Emperor Constantine declares himself to be a Christian. It becomes the official state religion, despite the fact that Christianity is still only a minority religion throughout the empire, in 380.
Time between Worst Point and In Charge – 260 years
Black Slavery begins in US Colonies – 1654 CE when slavery for life is officially legal within the boundries of the colonies.
Black Man elected US President – 2008 CE when the country elects Barack Obama to its highest office.
Time between Worst Point and In Charge – 354 years
Gay is OKAY – As early as 12,000 BCE, there is record of ancient man creating artifacts and artwork suggesting an appreciation of homo eroticism. Before and outside of ancient Judea, homosexuality was not uncommon. Most of the ancient world was fine with, even sometimes saw as holy, homosexual activity. Homosexuality and gender-swapping stories exist in every ancient cultures’ myths and legends. Many biblical scholars and historians often state that the law against homosexuality in Leviticus (dating back to around 550 BCE) was created as a secular law (not a spiritual one) in order to further set the Hebrews apart from their Caananite neighbors and to enforce the idea of a tight knit family and reproduction for the small, often invaded community. So, besides the post-Exodus Jews, no religion or nation in the ancient world had express laws against homosexuality. The first officially documented same sex marriages occur around 27 BCE.
Gay Demonization starts in the West – 342 CE after the Christian Emperors of Rome (Constantine’s sons Constantius II and Constans) pass the first law against homosexual marriage. 48 years later, Emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I, and Arcadius declare homosexual sex to be illegal and those guilty to be burned alive in public. The empire continues to collect taxes on male prostitutes, however, for another 108 years. In 529, Emperor Justininian I says homosexuals are the cause of famines, earthquakes, and pestilences.
Time from No Problem to Mass Demonization by the Christianized Roman Empire – 12,342+ years.
It has been 1,667 years since the first laws against gay marriage were passed by an increasingly conservative religion controlled government. And now, in 2009, we aren’t even treated as equals, let alone In Charge (which isn’t even what we’re asking for). So, Gay Marriage…Too much too soon? I think Not.
Sebbe
The worst part is not that he feels it is a waste of time because of the economy, but there IS going to be a vote and he is CHOOSING how to vote. It is not like he is not still taking the time to vote.
Wolf
@Alan down in Florida:
Alan don;t you think like fighting for 40 years for your rights is slow enough.
There is no such thing as a GOOD GAY REPUBLICAN. End of story. They are always more loyal to their party in the end than to their people.
Darth Paul
@Wolf: “Their people”…it didn’t occur to you that “their people” may well be self-aggrandizing, greedy, backward fools? I certainly don’t consider myself one of this queef’s “people”.
Michael
Poor thing! I bet he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time either.
Tallskin
WHAT A FUCKING SHIT!
Someone punch his teeth out!
Eminent Victorian
What is the LGBT version of an Uncle Tom? And Uncle Bruce? I just don’t know. This guy, yikes. Can we revoke the gay and get the toaster back?
Wolf
If anyone is interested:
*Home Address: (Its public record and on his website)
Paul Koering
4625 County Road 121
Fort Ripley, MN 56449
Phone: 218-829-0544
*St. Paul Address:
Paul Koering
131 State Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155-1206
Phone: 651-296-4875
Fax: 651-296-9441
*Email
[email protected]
Sebbe
@Eminent Victorian – “get the toaster back” – LMFAO
Sebbe
@wolf – can someone call and ask if his doctors have given us any expected time frame in regards to his life expectancy?
blake
A gay Republican screwing over fellow gays? Oh, that’s a big surprise.
Wolf
@Sebbe:
All the contact material was on his website.
But seriously. the guys is a scumbag and people should write him and tell him exactly what they think of him.
I also hope that he owns the FLESHLIGHT DELUXE Model because he’s never getting laid again.
ConservativeRepublican
Thanks for giving a bad name to gay republicans and screwing over your fellow gays, asshole. Guys like this really piss me off.
I understand the point about the economy being this country’s number one priority right now, but if I’m understanding this situation correctly, the issue was already going to come up for a vote, so it’s not like his voting for gay marriage would take any attention away from the economy.
And yes, take back the toaster oven.
Aaron
@Eminent Victorian: The LGBT version of Uncle Tom would be Senator Koering. So the next gay person who tries to screw the rest of us over, we can refer to them as being a “Senator Koering”.
andy_d
can you say QUISLING?
Bill Perdue
Koering says that he can’t for for fairness because there are bigger problems that require his attention. What could be more important than fairness and equality?
What bigger problems. Are the glaciers closing in again? Have those pesky Canadians launched another invasion?
His self loathing is par for the course. The only difference between Koering and some of his closeted Democrat and Republican friends is that he’s out. Sort of. Although it’s unlikely that any GLBT person trapped on the political closet of bigoted parties can ever really be called out.
But closeted or not he has plenty of company. Barney Frank gutted ENDA. And the patsy faithful simply go on pulling the lever for him as if it never happened just as LCR types do for their candidates.
Mark
Worthless, loathsome Republican scum.
Charles J. Mueller
@REBELComx:
Thank you for an obviously well-researched and thoughtfully articulated thesis.
It should lay to rest, the oft quoted “too much, too soon” commentaries we hear so often on these threads.
Not to disparage what you wrote, however, does that mean they will stop?
Like you, I think not. There are too many gay LCR’s who have already make up their minds and don’t want to be confused with the facts. 😉
Darth Paul
@Eminent Victorian: I think it’s Auntie Bruce.
Geoff
@ Wolf: Thanks for the info! I called and left a msg for him basicly saying as a voter how disappointed I was regarding his stance on this issue, and that he should be ashamed. Nothing major…..HE CALLED BACK! I just found a msg from him on my voicemail! He said he recvd my message over (pause) “–that gay marriage thing” and invited me to call him back. I will definitely call him back tomorrow. I just thought that was interesting.
Sebbe
@geoff – VERY interesting!! Please report back. Do you live in his district?
Bob R
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the only good Republican is a dead Republican.
ConservativeRepublican
@Bob R:
Aren’t you a charmer.
Russ
What a cowardly, self serving slime bucket. Who in the right mind would vote for such a weasel gay or straight?
Russ
What a cowardly, self serving slime bucket. Who in their right mind would vote for such a weasel gay or straight?
Mark
Be sure to bring this up again the next time the guy is up for re-election and see if we can’t get a fundraising campaign set up for his opponent.
jay
@Russ: There’s nothing a bunch of conservatives want more than an openly gay representative that votes against gay rights, thus giving cover to their bigotry. (E.g., “Even Senator Koering says people are pushing that stuff in our faces! Even Senator Koering voted against gay marriage, and he’s a gay!!”) Ugh.
Charles J. Mueller
@ChristopherM:
Would your last name, by any chance, be Minarich?
Phoenix (Plotting Anarchy From My Basement Lair)
Roy Cohn Uncle Tom House Gay. Blah! I hope he never gets within 10 feet of a cock again. Jerk.
Brian
I don’t know if anyone is still following this, but…
I sent a courteous and logical e-mail to the Senator and got this hateful and blanketed response. I thought at the very least was interesting to read so here it is:
My name is Ken Swecker, Senator Koering’s Legislative Assistant. Senator Koering and I both would like to respond to the e-mails we’ve been receiving regarding his intention to not vote in favor of Senate File 120. I am currently responding to the e-mails to give you the Senator’s home phone number so that you might call him over the weekend and speak with him personally on the matter. This much he asked me to do.
To add to that, as a personal statement, is to say that SF 120 is something that the majority of the People of Senate District 12, the People that he was elected to represent, do not favor this piece of legislation. In case you have forgotten, we are a government of the People, by the People, and for the People. He was not elected serve his personal interests. I personally believe that instead of sending e-mails full of threats and hateful words you should take his example to heart and congratulate him on being a legislator who cares more about what the People of his district want than what he may want personally. You and I both know that this is a rare quality to find, and just because this is contrary to how you wish for him to vote, you must remember and respect he is here to represent the interests of his rural Minnesota constituents who voted him into office. As a constituent of his myself, I am happy to see him take non-personal votes on several issues. After all, I would not want another politician taking another vote that would serve his or her personal interests more so than the People’s, would you?
I can testify all day long about how much Senator Koering cares for the People of Senate District 12. He ran three consecutive times, being defeated the first two, and why did he put himself through so much hard work? Do you think it was because he needed another job? Absolutely not! He did it because he believed he was the best person to serve the People that he calls neighbors, friends, and family. And especially now, in a time like this, we are being bogged down with this completely pointless issue. There are People in Morrison and Crow Wing Counties, and across the State who are losing their jobs, their homes, their insurance, and were you to ask them if this is an issue that should take one second of precedent over these conditions they’re facing every day, do you believe, do you honestly believe that they would say to you, ‘Yes, please, waste the time of the State Legislature with a piece of legislation that will not help, but in fact, overshadow the current situation we’re living in? Please, waste their time with this piece of legislation while I tell my son and daughter that mom and dad aren’t hungry tonight?’
I know very well that you will respond to this e-mail of mine with some probably quirky, snide, and very thoughtless comment that will make me out to be a bad person and threaten the Senator even more just as most of the absolutely tactless and disrespectful e-mails we’ve received have been written, but really, don’t waste your time. We’ll just put your e-mail where it belongs, in the trash.
The Senator’s home number is
218-829-0544
He’s free on the weekends.
Very Sincerely, every word of it,
Ken Swecker
P.S.
I hope you do not believe that this e-mail was written specific to the one that you sent, this is a blanket e-mail, being sent to everyone who has e-mailed us on this issue and I’ve already wasted too much time in responding to you. Good day.
Charles J. Mueller
@Brian:
Its pretty obvious that Senator Paul Koering is a homophobic homo and this disgraceful email proves it.
Who is this Ken Swecker anyway? Another self-loathing homo lackey of his?
And how is voting no on the marriage bill going to alleviate all of the pain and suffering he alludes to? Would voting yes on it make things worse?
This letter should be posted on the front page of St. Paul’s leading news so that everyone can see what a two-faced, self-serving Benedict Arnold to the LBGT community he really is.
Senator Koering, you disgust me.
Mario
Wow Im so shocked (being sarcastic), a gay republican screws over other gay people to live up the republican standard!! Ive yet to meet a Gay republican who isnt willing to betray other LGBT people to do what the republican party dictates.