Alabama politicians open mouths, bigotry falls out.

Categorized | Old News/Opinion

Alabama politicians open mouths, bigotry falls out.

Posted on 16 November 2009 by Zach, The Writer

This story is one of those convoluted twisty-turny stories your friends tell you but sometimes forget details. I’m going to try to start at the begining and hopefully provide documentation for everything like a good little journalist. Let’s get started:
It all begins with the University of Alabama at Birmingham or UAB. A short documentary film interviewed LGBT people and their allies about why UAB didn’t offer domestic partner benefits to its employees. “One Closed Door After Another” explores how UAB misses out of some really great opportunities to attract top notch employees because they didn’t offer their same-sex partners the same benefits as heterosexual employees.
Take 10 minutes out of your day to watch this video:

The film and the people it highlights were the extra push needed to secure DP benefits at UAB which were put in place in October.

One would assume that the victory would be celebrated, loose ends tied up and people get on with their lives. But this is Alabama.

bridges_d Not one to miss an opportunity to demean gay people, Rep Duwayne Bridges (R-Valley, are you surprised?) has stepped up to the plate to make sure no state universities dare to offer the same benefits to LGBT couples.

From the Associated Press

Rep. DuWayne Bridges, R-Valley, said he has prepared a bill for the legislative session beginning in January. The bill would prohibit public universities from receiving state funds if they offer benefits to same-sex partners.

“I don’t think universities should waste money by making a liberal or politically correct statement,” Bridges said.

His bill is aimed at two campuses of the University of Alabama System, which Bridges said are ignoring the intent of a 2006 amendment to Alabama’s constitution that banned same-sex marriages.

Bridges ignores the fact that he serves alongside openly gay Rep. Patricia Todd in the State House.
You know what sucks even worse?
This:

Republican Gov. Bob Riley “supports Rep. Bridges 100 percent,” Riley press secretary Todd Stacy told The Tuscaloosa News.

large_Tim James Then another Republican dove head first into the fray. Gubernatorial (and I do mean Goober) candidate Tim “My daddy was, why can’t I?” James, seen here steaming mad about teh gays, released a statement in support of Bridges’ legislation.

“The State of Alabama cannot afford and shouldn’t assume any new costly entitlements, especially one as controversial and expensive as extending health care benefits to same-sex couples,” James said. “If elected Governor of Alabama, I will vigorously oppose this measure and will enforce the spirit of Alabama law defining marriage as a sacred union between a woman and a man.”

That’s right gay and lesbian employees of state universities, you’ve gone too far with your evil plans to erode marriage by getting health insurance through your partner’s job.
Why, if we let gays and lesbians have health insurance, we might have to start treating them like actual people instead of an easy political tool!
It’s 2009, but this state is still being run by Boss Hogg and his cronies from the Dukes of Hazzard.

boss_hogg

Zurich

So, if Alabama is being run by "Goober's" , "Boss Hogg", and "his cronies", against the will of the Alabama voters, how come they keep getting elected?

If the American people want all these new "entitlements", how come they consistently vote them down (recently see Maine and California)

Maybe its only a small subset of the population who choses to live a certain lifestyle and now wants the rest of the country (and world) to bow down to them. It appears to me that most American's are saying "Fine live how you want, have relationships with who you want, but don't ask to be treated special based on your decisions"
rlwcomposer

It's not special treatment to want the same rights as everyone else and to have the same equal treatment. All gay people want is the same rights under the law as everyone else. Not doing so is only showing ethnocentrism.(looking at another culture through the eyes of your own and viewing all others as inferior.) All they are is keeping them down so that they can feel superior. No one is superior to anyone. WHEN WILL PEOPLE LEARN. Our constitution clearly states: All men are created equal. Not just the straight ones.
Zach

They keep getting elected because, unfortunately, a big chunk of this state buys the lies of the religious right hook line and sinker.
Zurich, LGBT people aren't asking for anything "new" or "special", we're asking for the government to recognize, legally, our right to marry the person of our choosing. No one chooses to be gay, the fact that you still use that tired argument is a testament to your ignorance. Also, who are you to tell me what my "lifestyle" is?
LGBT people are indeed a minority, which is precisely why the federal government should be protecting us from the tyranny of the uninformed "majority". The campaigns in California and Maine were fueled by lies about our families and who we are and were paid for by those who would use "God" against equality and fairness.