Antigay N.C. State Senator Walks Out on Interview

[William769]

North Carolina state senator James Forrester, sponsor of a recent bill that approved an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment to go before voters in May, walked out on a radio interview with Sirius XM's Michelangelo Signorile Tuesday when confronted by the host about the legislation's intent, as well as the senator's history of peddling falsehoods about gay people. The 22-minute appearance went south when Signorile posed specific questions on marriage — or divorce, to be exact:

SIGNORILE: Why don’t you ban divorce, why not?

FORRESTER: That wasn’t my intent of the legislation.

SIGNORILE: Is divorce a good thing? I’ll ask you some yes or no’s, how’s that? Divorce a good thing?

FORRESTER: I think I’m going to end this conversation right now because I see you’re completely negative, on the other side, trying to set me up.

“n an unholy alliance between antigay Republicans and some spineless Democrats, the legislature reached a ‘compromise’ to advance this cruel constitutional amendment to the ballot, not in November 2012, where turnout would be large, but in May, to coincide with the Republican presidential primary,”

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/09/28/NC_Anti_Marriage_Bill_Sponsor_Abruptly_Ends_Radio_Interview/

[yodermon]

1. They've got nothing. It's wholesale bigotry.

I'd love to see a stealth campaign to get NC libs & dems to vote in the primary just to beat this vote, and to fuck with the GOP primary in the process.

[Evasporque]

16. and it will pass....just like Wisconsin did into the hands of the mouth breathers...nt

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DirkGently]

3. Even greed can be understood. What motivates just sneaking around trying to harm people?

[Cirque du So-What]

6. It resonates with the yahoos

Politicians are pandering to sociopathic yahoos who enjoy meddling in the private lives of others. That's all I can figure, anyway.

[DirkGently]

7. Yes. And it goes further. A nationwide need to BEAT DOWN other people. To feel ... what?

[William769]

8. Superior.

Of course it's only in their own minds.

[Cirque du So-What]

9. To feel superior?

To feel gratification at sticking it to 'the other'? To feel 'validated'? To feel vindicated because they can fuck up the lives of people who may be having more fun and deriving more satisfaction out of life than they do in their own crappy existences? I'm also at a loss, as I cannot relate to those feelings whatsoever.

[DirkGently]

14. We trade elevating ourselves for denigrating others.

[jtrockville]

4. What's in the bill Forrester sponsored?

[William769]

5. "anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment "

[jtrockville]

17. How is it worded? No marriage between two people of same gender?

[yardwork]

19. The amendment states that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman.

It will be on the ballot in May, when Republicans will be choosing their nominee for president and governor in North Carolina. There are no major Democratic primaries this May, so the voters who go to the polls in May will likely be disproportionately Republican. The state legislature - controlled by Republicans for the first time in more than 100 years - moved the vote to May because of this. Polls were showing that North Carolina voters might not support this constitutional amendment if it's on the ballot next fall. A slight majority of the overall voting public in North Carolina appear to be against writing bigotry into the state constitution. After all, it's already illegal for me to get married to my partner in North Carolina. Gay people are denied the right to marry here, as well as the right to protection from losing our jobs or housing just because we're gay. That will not change even if this constitutional amendment is defeated.

If it passes - and it is likely that it will, because national anti-gay groups will pour money into TV and radio ads saying that all gay people are child molesters - then North Carolina will have one of the most bigoted anti-gay constitutions in the nation. Not only will equal marriage be illegal, but so will all kinds of civil or domestic partnerships. Local cities and counties that currently allow limited benefits to the domestic partners of their employees will be stripped of the right to extend these benefits. State universities that currently allow some domestic partners of their students or employees to have a few rights - such as shared housing - will be stripped of the right to do so. Private corporations may not be able to extend equal benefits to their employees - an issue of great concern to many of them. Straight unmarried couples will be stripped of those rights as well. Couples who have paid a lot of money to attorneys to write paperwork protecting one another and their children will have to redraw the paperwork, at additional expense, and some of it may be impossible to replicate.

Links:

http://www.care2.com/causes/nc-anti-gay-amendment-heads-to-the-ballot.html

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2011/09/21/glazier-ncs-anti-gay-amendment-most-personally-intrusive-bill-in-the-u-s-audio/

[jtrockville]

23. THANK you yardwork. Federal employees have some domestic benefits...

If this horrendous bill passes, what happens to the benefits afforded to partners of federal employees if they live in NC?
http://www.365gay.com/news/fed-workers-same-sex-partners-given-more-benefits/

[yardwork]

25. I don't know. Nobody does. The amendment is written so broadly it would appear to strip all rights.

Corporations have expressed great concern about the impact on their businesses. A lot of them were lined up to talk about this during the public hearings, but the Republicans cancelled them. The amendment was rushed through in two days with no debate allowed or public discussion allowed.

[jtrockville]

26. Thanks again yardwork. (nt)

[yardwork]

34. I apologize. I had the wording of the amendment slightly wrong. It's actually

"An act to amend the Constitution to provide marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."

Link here: http://ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/Senate/PDF/S106v1.pdf

[Scuba]

10. Another DU'er found this, but I "appropriated" it for occasions just like this...

<img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

[xchrom]

11. a sad and angry recommend. nt

[msongs]

12. another christian bashing thread lol nt

[racaulk]

13. How is this a Christian bashing thread?

In fact, as far as I can see, the first person to mention Christianity in this thread was YOU.

:shrug:

[DirkGently]

15. ???

Where's the "Christian bashing?"

[William769]

18. Myself as a Gay Christian, I don't see it.

:shrug:

[yardwork]

20. When I complain because somebody wants to take away all my rights, I'm the bigot.

I understand that that is the thinking of some people.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[closeupready]

24. self-delete

nt

[racaulk]

27. It has now been over 24 hours since you made the claim that this is a thread bashing Christians.

And I am still left completely bewildered by your comment. You have been asked by myself and others to provide evidence of this claim, and you have been provided with ample opportunity to reply, but you have yet to do so.

You know, there are two appropriate responses on your part.

1 - You could describe the bigotry that you have seen here, so that we can have a constructive dialogue that could lead to better understanding and possible reductions of inappropriate comments going forward.

2 - Without evidence of said bigotry, you could admit that you were wrong and apologize for trying to label the participants in this thread as "Christian bashers."

If you choose to do neither, then the only rational conclusion I could draw would be that you are simply trying to disrupt this thread and break down the discourse here. And if that was your true intention, I hope you will ask yourself what value and insight, if any, you have provided.

[closeupready]

29. I think the smily was supposed to suffice in lieu of actual reasoning. You have a problem with that?

:wtf: :sarcasm:

[Pab Sungenis]

32. Ah. So a "lol" makes everything okay?

"Another christian bashing thread. lol"
"You are so disgusting. lol"
"I hope you enjoy burning in hell. lol"

A "lol" after a sentence does not make everything okay. If no offense was intended and the statement was in just, it should be clarified.

[queerart]

30. Don't Let The Labels Stop You From Having An Opinion.....

As others will try to silence you by tossing around names like "Christian Bashers"........


The other side is pissed that the World at large is seeing them for what they really are.....


... and people are speaking up......


Usually if the haters are challenged on "any front".... they start "word spitting" to back others down, and into a corner....


"Word Spitting".... (I grew up around a kid who implemented "word spitting" while cussing... linking the swear words together in nonsensical ways which still makes me laugh after all these years)......


So "Christian Word Spitting" would sound like: Jesus, Jesuschristian bashers, Holymothermary& Joseph, American Flagchildren, BunniesJesus, Flag Lapel Pinbunnies, How Will I explain That To My 2 Month Old ChildJesus, ChristianBashersAmerican Flag, Angora SweaterChristianBashers....


Don't let them shake you......

[racaulk]

31. Thank you for the reply.

I agree totally with what you're saying. I like your term "word spitting," and I think that you're right on the money. :thumbsup:

In this case, I was sincerely hoping that msongs would offer some sort of clarification, but it appears that he/she has no interest in doing so. Apparently my suspicion that he/she just wanted to disrupt, and attempt to attach undeserved labels of bigotry to the participants in this thread, was correct.

Sad.

[Jamastiene]

28. Do what now?

No one has mentioned Christians in this thread, except you.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to show any respect to Christ at all, you capitalize the first letter of his name. It is disrespectful to do otherwise. Just so you know.

[yardwork]

33. Read about Forrester's Dominionist agenda here:

http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2011/09/12/19428/