AFA dances on Gerry Studds' grave
Wed Oct 18, 2006 at 08:02:24 AM PDT
I got an email today that seems to me another nail in the coffin of the right's claim to be the Family Values party. Here is the opening:
Dear Mark,
Former Congressman Gerry Studds of Massachusetts died last week. Here is the account of his death as reported by Associated Press.
"Studds died at Boston Medical Center several days after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said."
On November 7, voters in Wisconsin will go to the polls to vote on a constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage. If the constitutional amendment is defeated, your children will grow up being taught to use "his husband" or "her wife."
I'm sure that these dangerous pronouns will usher in the end of civilization.
The background here is that last year, after sending a sarcastic letter to the American Family Association, I was added to their mailing list - that's Donald Wildmon's outfit out of Tupelo, Mississippi. I get their emails, which are always thinly veiled fundraising appeals, but this one struck me as beyond the pale (even for them!) And as I read it, I realized that, from a moral perspective, the AFA has struck out entirely.
A man dies, and the AFA decides to use the obituary to raise money.
Stop. Think about this.
Cashing in on someone's death doesn't fit with any system of moral values I'm familiar with.
But, wait, there's more! The fundraising letter is disguised as a voter appeal:
As I said in an earlier letter, homosexual leaders have vowed to make Wisconsin the first state to reject the ban and open the door for homosexual marriage. I urge you to go to the polls on November 7 and vote for the constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage. Those favoring homosexual marriage plan to turn out in full force.
Yet if you think about it, the AFA's argument is actually an attack on the institution of the family. As tiponeill has pointed out,
Studds's spouse was the first congressperson's survivor to be denied death benefits because the couple was gay. Studds was part of a real family, but the "American Family Association" is intent on denying that reality. Instead, they champion the party of Mark Foley and Larry Craig, men whose private lives (allegedly!) consist of equal parts denial and predatory or anonymous sex, respectively. Yet the "American Family Association" is intent on denying them the possibility of being part of a family.
I hope Wisconsin does not become the first state in the nation to defeat the ban.
And if it does it will be because Wisconsin has always taken civil rights pretty seriously. This is a matter of rights, first and foremost. I would be so proud of living in Wisconsin if we were the first to say no. Although polling isn't reassuring, it would be poetic justice if the GOP's own exploding cigar of hypocrisy about gay rights might depress GOP turnout enough to help us make history!
Vote for the constitutional ban on homosexual marriage. Let's keep marriage between one man and one woman--a husband and wife, not "her wife" or "his husband." If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us [link removed] with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chair, AFA [link removed]
P.S. Please forward this to others in Wisconsin.
I'll do you one better - I'll forward it to everyone I know. Consider it my "small gift" to you.
And I'll even add a postscript:
Gerry Studds died, leaving a bereaved spouse whose claims are denied by the government. And the American Family Association seizes on this to ask you perpetuate this anti-family situation and pander for a "small gift."
Look, we all know this is only on the ballot because Karl Rove wants to increase the Republican base's turnout to support the Republican majority in the legislature. David Kuo's book details the cynicism with which the Republican Party has used the religious right for their political advantage. The Republicans don't really believe these values. This appeal demonstrates that part of the religious right doesn't believe in these values. I'm trying to raise my children to appreciate the advantages of being part of a family because long term friendships and relationships are one of the few clear goods that exist in life, so I don't believe in these values.
So why can't we end this charade? When the "American Family Association" is so brazenly hypocritical, isn't it time to stem the tide?
P.P.S. Here's a useful link to Fair Wisconsin
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