Post by MisterC on May 2, 2014 22:18:44 GMT -6
The sign on the bench above reads, Heterosexuals Only.
So, even in the midst of what appears to be a slow-but-ever-growing Age of Enlightenment in the U.S. where LGBT equality is concerned, ignorance and fear are still apparently alive and well in the hearts (and minds) of (some) men (and women).
In this particular instance, the case of "dis-enlightenment" appears in the guise of a proposed anti-LGBT ballot initiative in the otherwise-pretty-progressive state of Oregon known innocuously enough as Initiative Petition 52 (a.k.a. the Protect Religious Freedom Initiative).
The LGBT-themed news website, the Advocate, reports (link = www.advocate.com/oregon/2014/05/02/watch-oregons-first-ad-defeat-turn-away-gay-initiative ) that anti-gay activists in the Beaver State have re-hashed a bill similar to one vetoed last February in Arizona by that state's Republican governor following a very public push by business giants such as Apple, American Airlines, Marriott Hotels, AT&T, Verizon, eBay and even the National Football League to quash the business-killing bill.
The LGBT-themed news website, the Advocate, reports (link = www.advocate.com/oregon/2014/05/02/watch-oregons-first-ad-defeat-turn-away-gay-initiative ) that anti-gay activists in the Beaver State have re-hashed a bill similar to one vetoed last February in Arizona by that state's Republican governor following a very public push by business giants such as Apple, American Airlines, Marriott Hotels, AT&T, Verizon, eBay and even the National Football League to quash the business-killing bill.
The initiative, which the Advocate reports is likely the only anti-LGBT equality measure in the U.S. that could conceivably find its way to a November 2014 ballot if the requisite 87,000+ valid voter signatures are delivered to the Oregon Secretary of State's office by the early-July deadline, seeks to "create a broad, categorical exemption to the state's existing nondiscrimination law, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, and a number of other characteristics" if, by complying with the law, a business owner believes that his/her religious or moral beliefs are somehow violated. Thus, giving legal sanction to a "No Gays Allowed" mindset. Substantially similar bills have already been signed into law in Mississippi and Tennessee this year.
The silver lining in this story is that there are, of course, still good, decent people living in Oregon who refuse to play dead in the midst of such an outright attack on fairness and decency. A group calling itself Oregon United Against Discrimination (link = www.oregonunitedagainstdiscrimination.org ) has been formed to fight the moral darkness, and has already created it's first anti-Initiative Petition 52 commercial.
The commercial features Portland resident and civil and LGBT rights activist, Kathleen Saadat, comparing her personal experience living with legal racial discrimination and the undoubted discriminatory effect of this proposed initiative.
I think that Kathleen's words are a great place to end this post!
