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Lizbeth Marcs ([info]liz_marcs) wrote in [info]otf_wank,
@ 2007-06-16 12:23:00


Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Current mood:*sporfle!*

Massachusetts Brings the Wank...
Or rather, people from Tennessee bring the wank to Massachusetts via the magic of teh Internets.

Oh, joy.

On Thursday, the Massachusetts state Legislature killed a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to define marriage as an institution between one man and one woman by a vote of 45 (for the ballot initiative) to 151 (against the ballot initiative). Since Massachusetts is the only state in the U.S. that performs and recognizes same-sex marriage, the vote means that the status quo is safe until at least 2012 (which is the earliest that opponents of same-sex marriage could possibly get the question to the ballot).

[I won't get into the process of explaining how the state constitution is amended here, since it is a little on the complicated side. Suffice to say that there was an election last year where not one supporter of SSM marriage was voted out of office, but more than one opponent of SSM marriage was. Enough opponents were voted out in general elections that the end result was Thursday's vote.]

Most of the folks (with one or two exceptions) on the b0st0n community are pleased with the result. The discussion is not terribly wanky, and what disagreement there is remains somewhat polite between opposing parties.

And that, most people thought, would be the end of that.

Enter blisspath, who has taken it upon himself/herself to inform the b0st0n community that those darn liberals of Massachusetts are...well, I'm not sure, really.

Hypocrite shows up in the tl;dr rant. So does "voter disenfranchisement" (ummmm, did he/she miss the part where pro-SSM legislators were kept in office or voted into office in 2006, while anti-SSM legislators were voted out?).

And also, don't ask me how, the Massachusetts Legislature is somehow guilty of squashing the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (hunh?).

Best part of all?

blisspath is from Tennessee.

Cue response from the b0st0n community: "WtF? Who asked you?"

People point out that in a representative democracy, the voters don't get to decide every little thing by popular vote. Other people pointed out that the state followed the legal constitutional procedure, so the day was won fair and square. Other people point out that the anti-SSM side lost despite some dirty pool to collect signatures from voters, so stop throwing around accusations against the pro-SSM side. And, of course, some angry religion wank.

Overall, not terribly wanky in and of itself, until this post, wherein blisspath announces that he/she is not sticking around to continue the argument (probably because the locals keep beating he/she with clue sticks).

Instead, he/she will zoom off to annoy people on the LJ New Jersey community by telling them how they should govern themselves from his/her home in Tennessee.

Be sure to check out this accusation that the OP deleted responses.

Tiny, but tasty political wank...although probably more amusing if you actually live in Massachusetts.

ETA: For a real sporfling good time, check out this wanky brawl over on honestyisabitch where both sides go at it hammer and tongs in more tl;dr posts than you've ever seen in your life. So much for anomie666 and anyone else trying to be reasonable about SSM. Be careful not to drown in the splooge. (thanks [info]zyna_kat!)

Also, it appears our Tennessee crusader is taking his/her crusade to other LJ comms.



(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]harrylovesron
2007-06-16 09:07 pm UTC (link)
Earth Logic has no place with morons. I've tried explaining this to anti-gay marriage people but they drown it out with WAAAHHHHH IT'S THREATENING GOOD HEALTHY HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGES AND WILL LEAD TO PEOPLE MARRYING THEIR DOGS FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]queencallipygos
2007-06-18 04:18 pm UTC (link)
I actually had a lot of success once, personally. I was in an e-debate with a conservative Christian who was yammering away against gay marriage, and then at some point he said "and I don't get why they say 'legally married.' What the heck does that mean?"

I pointed out, "That just means that they want the same legal rights as married couples."

"Like what?"

"Well, for instance, if you are married, you are entitled to certain legal protections. For instance, if you're not married, you can't legally automatically inherit your partner's property. Or you can't automatically be covered by their health insurance."

"...Wait. You can't?"

"Nope."

"...Wait. Wait, I don't have a problem with that...so a gay couple living together can't inherit each other's property in a will?"

"Not automatically. And they can't make medical decisions for each other if one is in a coma, or do taxes as a couple, or..."

"...Wait, hold up. They can't? But there's no reason why they can't, that's separate from the church things."

"Exactly."

"Well, now, wait, I don't have a problem with them getting the legal rights...is that all this is about?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Wow. I didn't know that."

And from then on, the guy was actually arguing IN FAVOR of gay marriage.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]harrylovesron
2007-06-18 07:16 pm UTC (link)
I wish more people were like that around here- but sadly, I live in one of the few areas of the country (probably indeed the entire world) where a majority of people still think Bush is a genius and a good President. So no matter how hard I try to convey to people that the idea of gay marriage isn't some conspiracy to undermine Christianity and male/female unions, and really IS wanting legal protection, they just don't listen. They get on their high horse about how "TEH BIBEL SEZ TEH GHEY IS RONG SO WE CAN'T LET THEM TAKE MARRIDJ AWAY FROM US".

There was actually an outspoken group at school called "NKU Students Against Coming Out Day" where they complained about National Coming Out Day and wrote whiny editorials in the school paper wondering why there wasn't a National Straight Pride Day, to give you an idea of how they think.

(Reply to this)(Parent)


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