July 30, 2000

1:46 PM

The new weblog/site: take back vermont covers the the recent gay marriage ruling in Vermont and the flap it has caused for some of the more kooky right wing citizens. Many citizens have go so far as to openly display their bigotry by posting signs in their yards. The best part about the site? Putting it at the domain of the people that oppose gay marriage, and asking people to deface the signs by adding a ".COM" to them so they can see a site that asks folks to support the law and all the reasons why it should stand. Simply ingenious.
posted by mathowie (6 comments total)

It's likely this has been posted before, but it's good enough to deserve a second go -- an opinion piece from a Vermont mother of a gay son. Anyone who thinks they're merely resisting the "homosexual agenda" or following "God's will" ought to take a moment to read it.
posted by nikzhowz at 2:20 PM on July 30, 2000

Here's the legal approach I'm waiting to see: The overwhelming majority of those objecting to gay/lesbian (or plural, if it comes to that) marriages do so on religious grounds. Using the government to enforce these religious beliefs without a secular, public-policy-based reason is a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment, game over, now get out of my courtroom...

No one's gone there yet, though.

posted by aurelian at 3:15 AM on July 31, 2000

Whoa, when I saw "take back vermont" I thought it was a site dedicated to evicting Californians. My mistake.
posted by mecran01 at 5:47 AM on July 31, 2000

well, the damndest thing about it is that many people with the stupid signs will say "hey, I don't have anything against gay people per se, I just want to be listened to by the legislature". Like, welcome to representative democracy people! The VT constitution clearly says that the laws of the state can't be discriminatory which was what the civil union flap was all about, reversing a discriminatory practice.
Anyone who wants to come to VT and participate in some culture jamming with me is more than welcome.
posted by jessamyn at 8:12 AM on July 31, 2000

Oh, but it's not that they want to deny anyone rights, it's just those "special rights" that people are trying to claim by virtue of their sexual orientation. Why, with "special rights" like civil unions, think of the havoc that could result! Everyone could claim they were gay and form a civil union! Even men and monkeys!
posted by dhartung at 9:03 AM on July 31, 2000

Roadtrip!
posted by jason at 11:22 AM on July 31, 2000