Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Now Isn't that Special...?

Hat tip to Lutheranchik, whose blog is so much better than mine.

She found this letter to the editor in her local newspaper. The writer is concerned about the "Gay Bill of Special Rights," which I assume is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the "Thought Control Bill," which I assume is HR 1592, the legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of categories protected under hate crimes statutes.

For the letter-writer, these are "special rights." The right not to be fired for being a gay man is a "special" right. The right not to be excluded from a job because you are a lesbian is a "special" right. The right not to be beaten on the street because you are transgender is a "special" right.

I know, this debate is old and at least dry, if not totally stale. Still, this writer offered a new reason (or vocalized an old reason, perhaps) for people to lobby against these protections for LGBT people. These protections, she writes "would invite hordes of other groups of all sorts to demand their own rights."

My, we wouldn't want to have that, would we? People running around the United States of America demanding their rights! Heavens to Betsy.

(And who is Betsy, anyway?)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I actually thought Beaulah was pretty funny Donna. At least she's upbeat about this crap: "Let's perk up and speak up."

Did you draw the connection that Midland is only two-ish hours north of where you were in Ann Arbor? This is where I grew up!

My sister reports in nearby Bay City that the KKK and local militias are targeting churches and daycare centers (yes, you read correctly) that allow the mixing of races and allowing illegal immigrants in. This would be idle gossip if it didn't come from a police officer in their congregation who's cooperating with the FBI following these people around every day.

--Your friend Paul in Chicago