From the NYC Obama Pride event at City Hall yesterday, it was just a skip and a hop over to the "Faith Leaders Rally for Marriage and Life" demo a few blocks away which, of course, was less about marriage than a gay bash-a-thon cloaked in 'love the sinner hate the sin' language. Press was almost non-existent and if it wasn't for El Diario La Prensa and a few low-wattage evangelical radio stations that were carrying the event live there would have been no Spanish-language press at all. Heck, if it wasn't for this blog, there would probably be no English language coverage either which makes me wonder if I should even post anything about it. Still, I got some cool pics so...
A press release notes that the mastermind of the rally was the very non-Latino and dare-I-say (gulp!) handsome Joseph Mattera of the Christ Covenant Coalition (above) who has been at work in 'diversifying' religious opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion-rights for more than a few years perhaps in order to make discrimination a tad bit more palatable to the general masses (see: "Ognibene, clergy protest gay marriage ruling"- New York Sun, Feb. 15, 2005).
Of course, while they are busy denying that they discriminate against gays, their parishioners certainly get it. I mean, which 'behavior' is this young woman addressing? Wearing the wrong shade of lipstick? Nooooo! Showing mother-of-pearl bling-bling and leopard patterns on a hot hot day? Nooooo! Those ARE civil rights! But kissing my boyfriend? Bingo! Not so much.
Which of course brings us to those oh-so-very Latina members of Concerned Women for America of New York who, despite of the '...of America of New York' redundancy, I certainly hope are very, very worried about the effect of the economic downturn on Latino communities or about dwindling educational opportunities for Latino children or about immigration reform that is fair. Alas, a closer look reveals...
Hm. A fear of men kissing horses and women kissing dolphins? Golly! Not even I had seen anything like that until my eyes were singed blind by the images on this poster! Where do they find these pictures anyway?
I do have to say that it wasn't all fun and games hanging with the end-of-days crew. I saw tears of devotion and conviction from these women as the homophobic diatribes flowed from the stage and felt my heart break because I know the damage it does. I have no doubt how sincere these tears were and that they are indeed praying for my soul. I truly believe that they wish the best for me and truly blame their leaders for tainting their hearts.
Key culprit? Homophobic NY State Senator and Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. (a declared Sarah Palin fan despite being registered as a Democrat and being such a true believer in the marriage institution that he has married twice). He was a sour-puss when I took this pic but seemed in his element as he smiled, clapped and mugged away throughout the day.
Mattera and Diaz certainly know how to stage an event and 26 Federal Plaza certainly served as a monumental backdrop (just as the Bronx Courthouse served as a much more successful stage in 2004 at least in numbers if not media-wise).
Alas, despite the press release saying that participating religious denominations represented thousands of people I only counted 250 to 300 people (which translates into 25 to 30 worshipers per listed religious institution).
Not enough to keep Republican New York Senator Marty Golden from showing up for the all important fringe homophobic Latino vote even if he didn't even understand what was being said. As a matter of fact, he didn't need to understand: He was one of the most homophobic speakers of the day!
Which brings us to this ugly, ugly sign. Reap what you sow indeed. More photos here.Reactions:
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4 comments:
Thanks for blogging it; I hadn't heard about it until here. So much for the QJL elist, huh?
I would have loved to have seen it, but this is close enough for me. Thank you!
I think the "Behavior is not a Civil Right" sign simply underscores the supreme idiocy behind the anti-gay movement.
Free speech? It's a behavior.
Assembling in public? It's another behavior.
Journalism? That boils down to a behavior as well.
Holding or expressing a religious belief? Those are behaviors too?
It seems to me that a lot of rights boil down to behavior.
Religion is behavior. Entirely. I guess it's not a civil rights.
And while we're getting to brass tacks, Civil Rights are ENTIRELY about behavior. Does nobody remember when certain people weren't allowed to drink (a behavior) out of the same fountain as others?
And what proof do we have that horses and dolphins have any interest in marriage? Sure, you can say there are men and women interested in inter-species marriage, but do the horses and dolphins have any clue? Marriage is voluntary, and I don't see any animals volunteering. Newsflash to fundies -- Find me a group of dolphins organized for marriage, find me a horse that writes letters to his congressman, then we can worry about this.
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