Civil & Human Rights

By Michael Bryan

I have heard anti-gay sentiments too often from GOP candidates for office in Arizona. Frank Antenori has been one of the most vocal and blunt here in southern Arizona, but he is certainly not alone. I find it all distasteful, offensive, and scripturally indefensable.

Frank's recent comments about the Left loving to tear families apart in connection with his support for traditional marriage against same-sex marriages, and his blunt statements against repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the armed forces, lead me to conclude that, at the very least, Frank has a problem with gays getting equal treatment under our laws.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's candidacy for Congress was certainly, and rightly, sunk by the scandals in which he has immured himself. But one wonders, would he have been able to weather those storms with GOP primary voters were his lover a young Latina woman? I believe that Babeu's downfall was not his indiscretion, poor judgment, and potential abuses of power – after all, these seem to be par for the course among GOP politicians in Arizona – but his sexual orientation.

Too many GOP politicians find they can get support and donations by appealing to Christians' discomfort with gays. What is the basis of that ingrained bigotry against gays by Christians?

Turns out it's just six passages in scripture – out of some 31,000 passages. How strong is the Biblical basis for anti-gay prejudice? Not very.

Take a listen to Matthew Vines, an impressively articulate and thoughtful Christian gay man, who would like to challenge your settled notions of what the scriptures actually say about homosexuality.

Matthew's scholarship is impressive. It boils down to this:

"The Bible never directly addresses, and it certainly does not condemn, loving, committed same-sex relationships. There is no biblical teaching about sexual orientation, nor is there any call to lifelong celibacy for gay people. But the Bible does explicitly reject forced loneliness as God’s will for human beings, not just in the Old Testament, when God says that “[i]t is not good for the man to be alone,” but in the New Testament as well."

There is no sound foundation for condemnation of the sexual orientation and loving relationships of homosexuals in the Bible. Homophobia's popularity among Christians is merely the last terrible bigotry that remains acceptable in our culture, because many claim the Bible condones it. It does not.

The bitter truth is that bigots will find a reason to indulge their hatred, not because God commands it, but because deep in their hearts, they enjoy it. Their hatred is a reflection of the fallen nature of man. They know hatred and bigotry are not reflections of the godly nature granted humans by their Creator, but rather than be ashamed and purge their hatred through compassion and understanding and the inspiring life of Jesus, they seek to justify their hatred by claiming God shares it.

God hates none of his creation; certainly not the many men and women he created in his image whose hearts and souls, and libidos, respond only to persons of the same sex.

The capacity to love one another, to cleave together, to create loving families, is the godly nature of mankind. To condemn this capacity in some, because God gave them a loving nature different than the majority is not Christian: it is monstrous.

Matthew points out that Jesus taught that we shall know a true teacher by his fruits. The shame, self-destruction, suffering of young gay men and women are the bitter fruits of a misguided teaching. Spit it out.

Watch Matthew present his argument after the flip. If you can still bring yourself to claim God's consent to your hatred of gays, you haven't a heart to appeal to…

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: A brief moment of sanity in Arizona? Could it possibly be true? The Arizona Senate today voted down the "Baby Blunt" bill to allow any employer to object to insurance coverage for contraception on religious or moral grounds. Arizona Senate votes down controversial contraception bill: The Arizona Senate on Wednesday voted down … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Senate President Steve Pierce allowed the "Baby Blunt" bill to go to the Rules Committee on Monday, and the bill is now scheduled for a vote of the Senate this morning. The Senate will cast the final vote on House Bill 2625, which allows employers and insurance companies to opt out of … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Last week, the Tea-Publican Arizona legislature took up the "Baby Blunt Amendment" that doubled-down on crazy, permitting employers to terminate contraception users on "religious or moral objections" to their private life Arizona Senate Committee Endorses 'Tell Your Boss Why You're On The Pill' Bill.  

Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona wrote this opinion in response. Richard H. Carmona, M.D.: Arizona Effort to Block Contraception Simply Bad Health Policy:

A recent push to block women from getting access to contraception shows the Arizona legislature is not operating from an evidence-based or reality-based point of view.

The legislature's recent actions actively create problems rather than trying to solve them. And, at best, they are wasting our time.

Whenever I've had to make a major decision as a doctor, cop or for a company I've worked for, I ask myself: What is the value proposition here? Will my decision bring added value to the population I have the privilege to serve?

These questions are clearly not being considered by the folks I like to call the "chronic politicians" at our state capitol and in Washington.

We have real problems here in Arizona, and there are reasonable and politically possible solutions to them. But it's pretty clear that solving problems isn't what these politicians hope to do. Instead, they seem intent on scoring political points rather than solving the problem.

Trying to block women from getting access to contraception or defunding Planned Parenthood is completely nonsensical from a policy standpoint. As the 17th Surgeon General of the United States, I can say without hesitation that these bills would be bad for public health and deleterious to the health of women.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There was the threat to shut down the federal government over a Tea-Publican plan to defund Planned Parenthood. There was the Susan G. Komen Fund attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. There is a similar bill to defund Planned Parenthood in the Tea-Publican Arizona legislature.

There was the "Blunt Amendment" that by which Tea-Publicans sought to give employers preferential status to determine the health care coverage of individual employees, in particular contraception coverage for women. There is a similar bill in the Arizona Tea-Publican legislature that has passed the Senate.

Just how radically extreme is this GOP war on women? A Bloomberg poll out today holds the answer. Republicans Losing on Birth Control as 77% in Poll Spurn Debate – Bloomberg:

Americans overwhelmingly regard the debate over President Barack Obama’s policy on employer-provided contraceptive coverage as a matter of women’s health, not religious freedom, rejecting Republicans’ rationale for opposing the rule. More than three-quarters say the topic shouldn’t even be a part of the U.S. political debate.

More than six in 10 respondents to a Bloomberg National Poll — including almost 70 percent of women — say the issue involves health care and access to birth control, according to the survey taken March 8-11.

* * *

The results suggest the Republican candidates’ focus on contraception is out of sync with the U.S. public. Seventy-seven percent of poll respondents say birth control shouldn’t be a topic of the political debate, while 20 percent say it should.

As for Rush Limbaugh’s misogynistic comments about Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, "men are split over whether the radio host should be let go from his job — 49 percent say so, while 47 percent disagree. Fifty-six percent of women support the move compared with 39 percent who don’t. Almost one in three Republicans, 30 percent, say Limbaugh should be fired for the remarks."

In a press release from the Arizona Democratic Party today, Interim Chair Harriet Young had this to say: