Michigan House stalls gay rights bill after pastor testifies there are no ‘LGBT water fountains’

[demmiblue]

Source: Raw Story

<snip>

Pastor Stacy Swimp testified that it was offensive to compare LGBT rights to the civil rights movement.

“This proposed legislation is yet another step in the assault on religious freedom,” Swimp opined. “I asked the Commerce Committee today, can you truly define sexual orientation? Do you truly know what you are potentially aligning yourselves with?”

“There’s a comparison between the homosexual allegation of gay rights and black civil rights,” he continued. “And as a minister of the Gospel, and as a black American whose parents participated in the Freedom Rides — my ancestors were slaves in plantations in the state of South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana and Mississippi — I stand here today rather offended.”

“I ask, has anyone from the LGBT community ever had to stand up or step off of the sidewalk whenever a straight person walked by? Lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender Americans have never been denied their voting rights, nor have they been denied the right to assemble. No one from the LGBT community has ever had fire hoses turned on them by the police department, they have never had to drink out of an LGBT water fountain. There is no record of LGBT — homosexuals, lesbians being forced to sit at the back of the bus in an LGBT section.”

Swimp argued that LGBT Americans already enjoyed a higher annual median income and employment rate than that of African-Americans.

“Therefore, the Commerce Committee should not consider voting out of committee and sending to the House floor a bill that would grant special privileges, guarantee special protections, or grant special status to a group — or in this case, the LGBTQ community — based solely on their choice of sexual behavior,” the pastor said.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/michigan-house-stalls-gay-rights-bill-after-pastor-testifies-there-are-no-lgbt-water-fountains/

Fuck him, and kudos to Republican state Rep. Frank Foster & Democratic State Rep. Sam Singh.

[RKP5637]

1. POS! Civil Rights for him but not for others. I am so fed up with this fucken bullshit

like his. Tell that to LGBT's beaten to death you POS!

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

2. Just shut the fuck up, step aside, let us do our work

[RoverSuswade]

3. Fuck you "pastor"

Homosexuality is NOT a CHOICE you stupid ignorant SOB. Just shut up and go away.

[jmowreader]

4. You mean no gay man has ever been fired just for being gay?

No lesbian has ever been evicted from her apartment just for being gay?

No business has ever refused service to someone just for being gay?

Fuck this asshole.

[sadoldgirl]

5. This is the result of an extreme religion.

[RKP5637]

6. This guy functions for Satan. It's about time Christians pulled off the veil from diabolical

creatures like this and revealed them for whom they are. The devil comes in many disguises.

[Initech]

7. Hello IRS?? Time to start revoking some tax exempt status!

If this asshole wants to preach politics, he pays. End of debate.

[nichomachus]

8. Back in the early '80s

I'm talking '82 and '83, I was doing AIDS outreach and education work. When it came to the black community, we were absolutely blocked from doing any work there -- by the pastors of the black churches. They are a powerful political force. We could do nothing. There were no black homosexuals, they claimed. And they claimed that we were only there to spread homosexual propaganda. Our hands were tied.

And you wonder why HIV/AIDS became rampant among the black community. These pastors have blood on their hands.

[icymist]

9. Here's your 'religious freedom' Pastor Swimp:

Policemen exercising their religious freedom to beat up gays just for being gay.


A mourner grieves at the fence where Matthew Sheppard was tortured

[demmiblue]

13. +1

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Bigoted piece of shit forgets to mention that in 29 States you can be fired or refused employment

openly and legally on the basis of being LGBT. Only minority group in the United States against whom is is currently legal to discriminate.
I'm so sick of religious hate mongers. This shit costs people their lives, it's time to wake the fuck up people.

[demmiblue]

14. I am sick of them, as well.

Even here, on DU, we have Louis Farrakhan apologists. Homophobic, anti-Semitic, misogynistic Louis Farrakhan.

[joeybee12]

11. Ignorant POS

[Jesus Malverde]

12. Missing from this thread is the reality that the mainstream leaders of the black community

are most often religious leaders.

These leaders are most often baptists or from the nation of islam. Both traditions are extremely conservative on social issues. It's been established that one of the reasons the hateful proposition 8 passed in California was support from the black community. We make a mistake thinking that african americans or hispanics (who come from a conservative catholic, pentecostal tradition, male dominated societies) are natural allies to us on all issues. This couldn't be further from reality.

That democrats consider support from these two demographics as a given, seems to overlook the nuances at play.

Black, Latino voter support helps Prop. 8 pass
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/voters-11376-supported-black.html

[QC]

15. I have often heard this same argument on DU.

Most of the people who made that argument are still around. Many of those who argued against it got banned.

And so it goes.

[99Forever]

16. Fuck you "man of god"...

... and the type of "religion" you rode in on.