Woman in small town stands up for gay rights

[LDS Jock]

In Harrison, AR, a town of about 12,000 people in the Ozarks region. Here is the article in today's paper online.

Donna Werley, who said she is a member of the Green Party, carried a sign that read, "Family is wherever we find love and care. Laws can't touch that. All the rights' laws and all their pious men can't drag us back to the '50s again."
A purple brochure that Werley was handing out said, "The religious right has accused gay men and lesbians of causing everything from 9-11 to the increase in hurricanes and the decline of moral values in America. It's time to stop making homosexuals the scapegoats for our nation's problems."
Werley said that although many Christian churches attempt to dissuade congregants from getting a divorce, born-again Christians have the same likelihood of divorce as non-Christians.
"Among married born again Christians, 35 percent have experienced a divorce," said Werley. "That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again."
She said the highest divorce rates in the nation are found in the Bible Belt of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.
"Is America to be a nation where two women who build a life together, maybe raise kids or tend to elderly parents, pay taxes, contribute to the community, care for one another, and even fight over who takes out the garbage are free and equal, or a land where they can be told by their government that they are somehow lesser or incomplete or not whole because they do not have a man in their lives?" asked Werley.
Werley said she received permission to protest around the courthouse from county officials. "They told me I could protest unless enough called to complain," she said. "If enough complain, then they told me they were going to ask me to leave."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13959870&BRD=1815&PAG=461&dept_id=516928&rfi=6



Donna Werley was protesting at the Boone County Courthouse on Valentine's Day saying, "It's time to stop making gay men and lesbians the scapegoats for our nation's problems."

[tjwmason]

1. I find it interesting that she mentions divorce

Werley said that although many Christian churches attempt to dissuade congregants from getting a divorce, born-again Christians have the same likelihood of divorce as non-Christians.

I have heard so many on the American right ranting about the evil effects of homosexuality, yet nothing about divorce. In their Bible-thumping obsession they forget which of these two is actually mentioned by Christ.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. They told me I could protest unless enough called to complain,

So let me see if I have this right. It is O.K. for her to exercise her 1st Amendment right unless too many people become uncomfortable with it.

But it's O.K. to violate the Constitution with all kinds of Christian religious displays no matter how many people complain.

O.K. I think I've got it.

[HockeyMom]

3. Ironic

The state with the LOWEST divorce rate in the COUNTRY is Massachusetts. So much for Gay Marriage is a threat to Marriage. ROFL

[Freedom_from_Chains]

4. Yeah, odd how that works out

You never here much about it though on cable news. Hmmmmmm.

[TaleWgnDg]

5. Exactly. And there's more too . . .

The state with the lowest divorce rate in the entire country is, indeed, Massachusetts. In addition, Massachusetts is a "no-fault divorce" state which many believe makes divorce so easy that it "ups" the numbers of divorces. They're wrong, yet, again. On top of that, as you stated, Massachusetts is the sole state in the country which grants same-sex marriage too.

No fault divorce, the most liberal state in the country, same-sex marriage = Massachusetts, the lowest divorce rate in entire the country!!!

Talk about a thorn in the side of the religious-righties!

Guess who has the highest divorce rate in the country? You got it -- the Bible Belt, as well as the highest number of teen-aged pregnancies, highest number of out-of-wedlock births, highest number of gun violence, lowest grade-level education, lowest per capita income, and the list goes on and on . . .

What damn hypocrites! And, remember, it's this culture that GWBush and His Fanatics wants to push upon all of America!

---

edited to add:

[Ian David]

8. You know how fundies spin the divorce issue?

"Those hedonistic atheists just keep shacking-up and having promiscuous sex, so they don't get married in the first place. Instead, they just have 'free love.'"

[Q3JR4]

6. Donna Werley Rocks!

:yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock::yourock:

[Siyahamba]

7. Small towns are where we need to stand up for our rights

Activism in cities is good, but it's often "preaching to the choir." We need to be visible in small towns so they can see we're real people.

[Ian David]

9. That's what the Log Cabin Republicans said

They want to reach out to middle America in the Heartless Lands with barbecues instead of black tie dinners in Boston and New York.