Ohio’s Congressional elections are turning downright despicable.
The Buckeye State’s Republican party recently sent out this flier declaring that Democratic candidate Ray Pryor, a Democratic candidate for the Ohio House, supports gay adoption. Such a stance, of course, is baaaad.
From the mailer:
Ray Pryor doesn’t want to raise Ohio’s children in the best environment. Instead, he supports same sex couples adopting our children. But our children need a mother and a father to thrive.
Vote no on gay adoption. Vote no on Ray Pryor.
The other side of the flier includes an endorsement of incumbent Republican John Schlichter and declares,
He supports our conservative family values. Schlichter knows the best environment to raise a happy and healthy child involves a mother and father. And John Schlichter knows that strong families mean a strong Ohio.
While the GOP may have thought their effort quite clever, Public Children Services Association of Ohio blasted the mailer, and called the politicization of children “shameful.” A press release reads:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
As a statewide leader in child welfare and adoption, we deeply regret the extremely offensive ads running in various legislative races in regards to gay adoption. Politicizing children in this way is shameful.
Far too many children who were maltreated are waiting in temporary placements, celebrating birthdays without a permanent family. At the start of 2008, there were 2,872 Ohio children waiting for safe, loving adoptive homes. Ohio’s adoption and foster care screening and preparation processes were recently reviewed and updated by professionals in the field and the General Assembly with a key focus on child safety and well being. Studies published in 2005 by the American Academy of Pediatrics show that children raised by same sex parents suffered no ill effects; in fact on the whole, those children experienced greater well-being, more nurturing, and a greater tolerance for differences than their peers.
…
PCSAO opposes any policy that would limit the number of safe families willing to open their hearts and homes, based on sexual orientation. President George Bush recently signed the Fostering Connections to Success & Increasing Adoptions Act (HR 6893). Policy makers across the country have committed support to the Nation’s waiting children. Let us not unravel this commitment to Ohio’s children with negative and divisive policies.
Gay adoption came up during the 2006 election and, at the time, Ohio voters showed profound opposition to a ban: 76% said there should be no prohibitive regulations. Fifty-nine percent of Republicans agreed. Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Jon Husted came out against a ban that same year. Thus, it would seem Ohio’s GOP isn’t simply out of touch with reality, but with their own constituents. It must be hard for them…
Olive Yurdich
Is that one plastic groom figure on his knees ready to give the other one a blow job?
greybat
Apparently some republicans feel that keeping unadopted children on as wards of the State is a good idea, since the government does things so beautifully!
And when they turn 18, you can just dump them on the street, with very little education and no job training.
Chris
Yes Olive, and the one standing is warning him about the length!
Krystal
They don’t realize that by placing restrictions such as families needing a mother AND a father, they’re leaving out single parent households? What now all single people aren’t allowed to adpot?
Patrick Wang
Dear Friends,
I wanted to take a moment to give you a ground level view of what we’re encountering on the ground here in Ohio and one of the reasons why I’m here in Ohio. 4 years ago I said that
the Republicans will not do what they did in Ohio, not at the expense of ‘our family.’ Up until now in the election cycle, there hadn’t been too much using of gays as a wedge issue,
until now. Now when the Republicans are desperate, they are doing what they did in 2004 and throwing us under the bus, and it makes me mad as hell. I want to unleash the fury of the LGBT on these guys, make them know what it means that we’re here, we’re queer, and get used to it.
I don’t know if you knew exactly what the Republicans did in 2004 in Ohio, but that was when the gay marriage amendment was put on the ballot. The heart breaking part of this is in 2004, Bush beat Kerry by 120K votes in Ohio. In 2004, 150K LGBT identified in Ohio didn’t vote; one of the biggest reasons why is the LGBT community felt so dejected that we’d lose the
marriage amendment vote that they gave up before we crossed the finish line to elect Senator Kerry; we could have changed history then, let’s not make the same mistake twice. As the old adage goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Let’s make sure that
this doesn’t happen again, we need the LGBT vote to deliver our votes to this years election.
Ohio Democrats are just four seats away from regaining control of the State House of Representatives. That would give the Ohio Democrats the ability to control the legislative agenda. Along with our friend and ally Governor Strickland, we can take apart the hate-filled, anti-family laws that Ohio House Republicans policies have passed that hurt members of the LGBT community and their families. In recent years, GOP legislators have banned same-sex marriage; denied extending health benefits to domestic partners; failed to protect LGBT students subjected to bullying in schools; and much, much more.
I hope you can help me out by getting this message
around to your friends and to give time or money to the Ohio Democrats; we have a huge get out the vote weekend for the weekend of Oct 17-19, come joing us in Columbus. We’re more then happy to have you come out on Oct 30 through Nov 5 to help us across the finish line; we can help place volunteers in housing; if you and your friends are interested in phone banking from California for Ray Pryor, please contact Ohio Democratic Party LGBT Caucus Director James Winnett 614.207.2514 or [email protected].
Best,
PJ
US Cell: (415) 990-5048
Help us fight the Conservative Right’s smears against the LGBT community. Please donate to the Ohio Democratic Party http://www.ohiodems.org/lgbt
Vote No on Prop. 8 on California’s Nov. Ballot. For more details visit. http://www.eqca.org