Idiot Cong. Tom Tancredo (Colo.) and other congressmen are asking Pres. Bush to pressure Big Brothers and Big Sisters to be less accepting of gay mentors. Rocky Mountain News story here. .

They believe that national anti-discrimination rule forces local Big Brothers and Big Sisters affiliates to accept gay and lesbian mentors, without giving parents a say.

The other Members of Congress signing the letter are:

Bob Schaffer (CO)
Chris Smith (NJ)
Joseph Pitts (PA)
Ernest Istook (OK)
John Sullivan (OK)
John Hostettler (IN)
Brian Kerns (IN)
Jim Ryun (KS)

[I will not bother to add the obvious party affiliation for these idiots]

dc: I heard about this. What a surprise!!!!! NOT!

Are these the same folks who want to make DOMA a constitutional amendment?

Yes, lets keep caring and qualified people who make it through the screening process away from the children who need their time and attention. After all, we know that being totally neglected is far better than having someone who is gay/lesbian influence them in any way.

It is this ultra narrow-minded thinking that will continue to get the country in trouble. The attitude that "our way is the only way" is not the way to build a peaceful, productive world. Unfortunately, that attitude is prevelant throughout our government organizations right now.

You know, I really am upset about this, 'cause I was gonna join the Big Brothers so I could recruit some new gay people and get that toaster oven!

Seriously though, I can't tell if these anti-gay folks actually think that gays are a danger to kids, or if they are simply cynically using us as a scapegoat to further their political futures. And I don't know which is worse.

Not to mention, no one has ever been able to demonstrate the "recruiting" idea. Here are millions of gays and lesbians outing themselves daily, even advertising our "deviant" unions in the paper, and no one has been able to document how we were all recruited into our "lifestyle." I won't even go into the blood libel that we're all out to molest kids (please - I can barely take my nephews for 15 minutes at a time).

Guys, you ain't seen nothin' yet! These next 2 years are going to be some heavy times for us.

I could never understand this "recruiting" idea. Like we want children to be part of a historically suppressed, victimized, marginalized section of society.

Are any of our LCR brothers ready to confront the White House or the National Republican Party ?

Sick, sick politics.

[quote]Originally posted by m1011:
Are any of our LCR brothers ready to confront the White House or the National Republican Party ?

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I second this question.

How 'bout it, gentlemen?

[quote]Originally posted by bluebird48234:


I second this question.

How 'bout it, gentlemen?

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At the risk of sounding repetitious, LCR California is "monitoring" this issue and I expect we will urge our national office to relay our concerns to the WH and those Congressmen behind it. At least that's what I've been urging since this story broke a few days ago, my point being that it's important for us to get out ahead of stunts like this early on in the new Congress, before they become accepted, commonplace and even more absurd.

[quote]Originally posted by gmginsfo:


LCR California is "monitoring" this issue and I expect we will urge our national office to relay our concerns to the WH and those Congressmen behind it.

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the election is over. you can start speaking english again. in the meantime, i'll translate: monitoring+expect+urge=nothing being done.

Thersis, Unless you've been active in any of Log Cabin's discussions on this topic, which I doubt, you simply don't know what you're talking about. Leave resolution of this problem to those of us who do. We have a lot more credibility with the likes of Tancredo than uninformed outsiders do. That's the value of working from within to change things. Not all the marches, group hugs and angry posts in the world will accomplish anything with these people. Like it or not, those will only goad them and their supporters further. Log Cabin is aware of the problem and we're working on it, OUR way. If you've got a better plan, let's hear it, but don't expect us to stand by waiting for you to trot out what hasn't worked before.

Working within the system works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. If LCR is working on this, more power to you. At the same time, gay men and women need to be speaking out on the tiresome homophobia that these people are advancing.

Christopher Smith is a local right-winger who really ought to be drummed out of office. There are enough moderate to moderately conservative New Jersey Republicans to replace this guy, whose main aim in Congress, it appears, is to overturn Roe v. Wade. I think he should do that on his own dime, rather than wasting my tax dollars to push his right-wing, anti-gay, anti-union agenda.

Finally, most GAY people are endlessly recruited by HETEROSEXUALS to be straight. We are bombarded with the idealized ideology of heterosexuality, from cradle to grave (except perhaps in a few places in the country). We see endless performances of heterosexuality, from dating and marriages and intimacy to increasingly explicit, televised depictions of heterosexual sex acts. The laws are written to benefit heterosexuals who couple monogamously and have children. Nothing any gay person could do could ever truly challenge this. It's a miracle so many of us do come out--and not completely damaged either. Still hundreds of thousands do each year--it must be something in the air, or water, or genes (jeans?).

Did Hitler have any big brothers? Why didn't they stop him?!?!

Now there you go again, William! Hitler had only one brother, but SHE was too weak to control him. Kind of the weak sister in that act, if you will (to power).

[quote]Originally posted by thersis:
the election is over. you can start speaking english again. in the meantime, i'll translate: monitoring+expect+urge=nothing being done.

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Well then, what could YOU suggest?

[quote]Originally posted by gmginsfo:
Log Cabin is aware of the problem and we're working on it, OUR way. If you've got a better plan, let's hear it, but don't expect us to stand by waiting for you to trot out what hasn't worked before.

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Is this LCR plan so "secret" that you can't share it with us?

Or does Daddy know best on this one?

Heaven forbid we get another shovel of "OUR WAY" - especially if we don't get to smell it in the making.....

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: bluebird48234 ]

Still baiting hooks, are you BB? We'll share the results, not the process, thank you. Join us, pay your dues and become part of that process; we have a chapter in MI. That's what the idea of membership is all about, after all. Otherwise we'll have every nut case in the world compromising our positions and sabotaging our efforts. You wouldn't want that now, would you??? Good, I didn't think so!

[quote]Originally posted by bluebird48234:



Well then, what could YOU suggest?

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bluebird, point well made, but i do not presume to have the solution. and i can assure you that, politically, i have rather a tin ear, and would undoubtedly do something that would result in one step forward and two back!

but my point was that when asked if anyone was willing to step up to the plate, gmg's reply came back with a lot of if's, maybe's, kinda's but no definite actions or plans. i was merely trying to point out that 'might' and 'plan' are not the same as 'will' and 'do'. all smoke and no fire, if you will.

"At the risk of sounding repetitious, LCR California is "monitoring" this issue and I expect we will urge our national office to relay our concerns to the WH and those Congressmen behind it. At least that's what I've been urging since this story broke a few days ago, my point being that it's important for us to get out ahead of stunts like this early on in the new Congress, before they become accepted, commonplace and even more absurd."

Thersis, My post's above. I don't see any ifs, maybes or kindas in it. If you chose to read it that way, that's an entirely different matter, but the clear message I sent, admittedly accompanied by a dig against my party colleagues for the sake of the Demos on this board, was that I have been talking up the importance of speaking out on this to our California Board for several days now, and because I do hold some sway in our organization, fully expect that they will take up my request with LCR National, as they do on most occasions when I suggest doing so.

It takes a while for even the smallest of blazes to burn and it's hardly productive to curse the cold while others are gathering fuel for the fire. If it's a definite plan you want, I would have thought you'd have picked up on the hardly hidden implication that LCR National will contact these Congressmen, tell them just how counterproductive their remarks are towards building an inclusive GOP and, if that falls on deaf ears, then go public in denouncing them. That's generally the way we operate, as a matter of public record in my case, and I don't see any reason to stray from that plan now. A little good faith in reading these posts goes a long way, and if you assume the negative, that's generally all you're going to gain from the process.