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	<title>strongandequal.com &#187; Open Letters</title>
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	<link>http://www.strongandequal.com</link>
	<description>Not a HRC organization, a voice for district 9</description>
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		<title>Mike Huckabee: Gay Adoption Gay Marriage Gay Dont Ask Dont Tell</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/04/mike-huckabee-gay-adoption-gay-marriage-gay-dont-ask-dont-tell/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/04/mike-huckabee-gay-adoption-gay-marriage-gay-dont-ask-dont-tell/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:32:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Huckabee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=431</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


Mike Huckabee Speaks About-
On Don&#8217;t Ask, Don&#8217;t Tell:
&#8220;I wouldn’t support a repeal if I were commander-in-chief&#8230;You don’t  see foot soldiers out there demanding it. I’m not sure that’s the most  important thing we ought to be doing for the military. &#8230; [‘Don’t Ask  Don’t Tell’] touches an extraordinarily small group of people. [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/469px-mike_huckabee_speaking_at_healthierus_summit.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-432    aligncenter" title="469px-mike_huckabee_speaking_at_healthierus_summit" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/469px-mike_huckabee_speaking_at_healthierus_summit.jpg" alt="" width="469" height="599" /></a></p>
<p>Mike Huckabee Speaks About-</p>
<p>On Don&#8217;t Ask, Don&#8217;t Tell:</p>
<p>&#8220;I wouldn’t support a repeal if I were commander-in-chief&#8230;You don’t  see foot soldiers out there demanding it. I’m not sure that’s the most  important thing we ought to be doing for the military. &#8230; [‘Don’t Ask  Don’t Tell’] touches an extraordinarily small group of people. [Calls to  repeal it are] primarily a posturing point for political purposes [and  an attempt to] force something on the military that they themselves  haven’t pushed that hard. I think we certainly should be very sensitive  to the fact that the purpose of the military is not to see if we can  create social experiments.&#8221;</p>
<p>I agree on this point, no one in the military gave thought to, Don&#8217;t  Ask Don&#8217;t Tell when I was there. The only time I heard about it was in the&#8230;  reception meeting. No soldier cares, if your gay or not. you want  someone that has your back, that could be a monkey theoretically  speaking, They should be focused on having proper equipment for our soldiers. They should focus on proper veteran services. I don&#8217;t think the military should have to be at the tip of the gay vision for a better tomorrow. We are not accepted as a basic existence, girls and boys are being mistreated around the country for being gay.</p>
<p>As far as politics, yeas the liberals are making this an issue. They  are making it an issue so when they repeal it, it will seem a great  victory for gay rights. This is how Obama plans getting out of gay  marriage, by making don&#8217;t ask don&#8217;t tell an issue and then throwing us a  bone.</p>
<p>On marriage equality:</p>
<p>&#8220;Even civil unions are not necessary. I think there’s been a real  level of being disingenuous on the part of the gay and lesbian community  with their goal of civil unions&#8230;You don’t go ahead and accommodate  every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal. That would be like  saying, well, there are a lot of people who like to use drugs, so let’s  go ahead and accommodate those who want who use drugs. There are some  people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are  people who believe in polygamy, so we should accommodate them.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
<p>This is where I get to destroy you Mike Huckabee. The constitution declares  a government that will service the people, The purpose of marriage is to  maintain the family unit as an institution. It is not a moral medium of society, it is a law that was made to prevent not define. Therefore we would by right be avail to the use of the legal medium of marriage, we could naturally have families. So claim Lesbians who get sperm with their own right and inseminate. They created a family and therefore have the right to use the medium of marriage to protect it. You have no argument on letting Lesbians not have marriage.</p>
<p>&#8220;Against the ideal&#8221; is the key to your blindness. You say we don&#8217;t have  to accommodate every behavioral pattern that is against the ideal.</p>
<p>We do  not&#8230;. dear sir, you are correct.</p>
<p>Did you include in the 2010 census that  being gay is against the ideal? where did you get this little bit of  information, in what statistic or book does it say gay is not ideal?</p>
<p>Accommodate is the wrong word, millions of law abiding citizens live  outside what you will call ideal, I think this is a cuase to consider it  within the ideal. 116 million people voted in the 2004 for the  presidential election, I would assume they would be the ideal people  you are referring to? Out those ideal people, I promise you in fact&#8230;&#8230; I am  willing to wager, most will consider Gay ideal.</p>
<p>Within your opinion&#8230;. I fear some fatal part, just broke.</p>
<p>Even outside it, the arrogance to call people whose only difference to  the rest of society is their sexual differences&#8230;. &#8220;not ideal&#8221;, is preposterous!  Sexuality is a personal matter, government should not have to broach  or discuss sexuality, it should just include anyone&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.did I say it&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. anyone,  even polygamist incest or marrying a cheetah.</p>
<p>Government should not have a right to tell you what is ideal  sexually&#8230;.it is uncosnttunial as Obama&#8217;s health-care atrocity.</p>
<p>Government does not decide what is ideal sexually, you offer the service  and we as a republic will use it as we see fit. Do not dictate to us&#8230;&#8230;  not the republicans or the masquerading democrats, all hungry for power.</p>
<p>On gay adoption and foster care:</p>
<p>&#8220;I think this is not about trying to create statements for people who  want to change the basic fundamental definitions of family. And always  we should act in the best interest of the children, not in the seeming  interest of the adults&#8230;Children are not puppies. This is not a time to  see if we can experiment and find out, how does this work?&#8221;</p>
<p>Children come messed up out of any walk of life. Children come out  complete from any walk of life. A family is a unit not defined by blood  and that is fact. Fact as the sky is blue and the water of the Hudson a  putrid green.</p>
<p>What you miss in this picture is beyond what you could experience. You  feel&#8230;. because what you know as a family consists of a mother father and  child. How many times without the gay equation has this proved to be  wrong? How many times has blood do nothing but hurt. I know kids that  have been molested by their blood fathers or mothers. I know kids that  have been inflicted horrors that would make you piss your slacks.</p>
<p>I ask you to look at your child and think of the love you have for  him and, to think that it could be defined by simply blood.</p>
<p>You must want to believe we as a society can love, and raise others  with that love. It is not an experiment but a beautiful reality you  sadly deny. &#8211; <strong><em>LADY</em></strong></p>

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		<title>Rabbi Yehuda Levin Blames Gays for 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Haiti&#8217;s Earthquake&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/02/rabbi-yehuda-levin-blames-gays-for-911-hurricane-katrina-haitis-earthquake/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/02/rabbi-yehuda-levin-blames-gays-for-911-hurricane-katrina-haitis-earthquake/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:40:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=413</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

	
	
		
			
			
			
			
			
		
	www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKqbRjRARFQ
These are the most disgusting words I have ever heard in my 25 years of living on this earth. I will tear this apart from the top.

First of all, he claims gays in the army will cause people not to joim. I was in the army. I am gay, and it did not matter. When [...]]]></description>
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<p>These are the most disgusting words I have ever heard in my 25 years of living on this earth. I will tear this apart from the top.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-fear-kashes-f50549.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-417" title="-the-fear-kashes--f50549" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/the-fear-kashes-f50549.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="450" /></a></p>
<p>First of all, he claims gays in the army will cause people not to joim. I was in the army. I am gay, and it did not matter. When the possibility of dying looms before you the only thing you mind is someone who will watch your back and that has nothing to do with your sexuality.</p>
<p><strong><em>If gays will be open in the army people wont join</em></strong></p>
<p>If you enlist in the army its because you need the money or you believe in the cause. You don&#8217;t look at the demographics.</p>
<p><strong><em>Soldiers wont be ready to serve with all the homosexual activity</em></strong></p>
<p>When I was in the army, during down time you went to the local bar or brothel to pick up a chick. When in war, sex is not permitted and punishable by death. Yet people do hook up, what difference will it make if some of those people are gay? The same punishment will be done to gay sex as straight sex. Why will gay people be more busy with sex with straight men? You don&#8217;t think the str8 guys aren&#8217;t horny for available women?</p>
<p><strong><em>Hurricane Katrina happened because of &#8216;Southern Decadence&#8217; in New Orleans</em></strong></p>
<p>First of all how can you say that when southern decadence happened years before Katrina. Second of all, why did the actual area where southern decadence happened sustained no water damage? I served during hurricane Katrina and i swear the  gay district was barley harmed.</p>
<p><strong><em>Haiti&#8217;s earthquake happened because of the rampant homosexual activity there</em></strong></p>
<p>Everyone knows Caribbean culture is not fond of homosexuality. So why them? If anything maybe Texas, named the gayest state in the country!</p>
<p><strong><em>Sept 11 happened because of the gays in New York</em></strong></p>
<p>Ummmm lets think this through. When people said 911 happened because of America support of the Jewish state that was wrong, but this is fine? If that was the case, you thank the Muslims for bombing us because they fulfilled gods word. So, your God wanted us to die so, according to you god bless Bin Laden? I don&#8217;t want your god you sick man.</p>
<p>This is beyond anything I could imagine; watching someone talk about something they have no insight in. God said a man shall not lay with a man, he never commanded hate, he never commanded judgement. Even the Talmud says you cannot know go by events. you are a simpleton who read the Talmud and decided he would represent the entire Jewish community and fight a war no one asked you to wage. Even God who said he does not tolerate homosexuality did not tell you to judge it. No where does it say it is your duty to judge your fellow man and exact judgment. Nowhere in the Torah does it say you have to force other people to your beliefs.</p>
<p>You sir are a disgusting creature who has been studying for the past thirty years in a bet mid-rash, you have a wife and kids and you live off whatever you can bring into your life with classes tutoring and classes you give to your thirty students. You are a sad man with a synagogue of a few hundred men and have now decided you stand over the world and you can wear Gods gavel. You are tired with not seeing God in anything you do and you decided to find a place to focus your frustration with life on. You are a sad man and I do not pity  you because you do not deserve that. I will promise you this no matter if you are the most firm Jew in the world, you will end up in the wrong place when it is all over for you.</p>
<p>I challenge you to give me one person from the<em> tanach medrash talmud mishna rishonim cetouviam</em> that would have behaved like you. One.</p>

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		<title>The State Of The Union Obama Should Have Made</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/01/the-state-of-the-union-obama-should-have-made/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/01/the-state-of-the-union-obama-should-have-made/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:52:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=410</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

This is what Obama actually promised to LGBT community when he ran for office.


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<p style="text-align: left;">This is what Obama actually promised to LGBT community when he ran for office.</p>
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		<title>MR FRESH WATER, TEACHER IN OHIO BURNS A CROSS INTO GAY STUDENTS HAND!</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/01/mr-fresh-water-teacher-in-ohio-burns-a-cross-into-gay-students-hand/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/01/mr-fresh-water-teacher-in-ohio-burns-a-cross-into-gay-students-hand/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:45:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=401</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


I don&#8217;t know if I am late or maybe just my head is in the sand, but what the fuck is wrong with the world? In Ohio, a teacher burnt a sign of a cross into the hands of a child.
A hand of a child, a child!
What is wrong with us? how can we let [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/6a00d8341c730253ef0120a7f73fb8970b-800wi.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-402" title="6a00d8341c730253ef0120a7f73fb8970b-800wi" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/6a00d8341c730253ef0120a7f73fb8970b-800wi.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="338" /></a></p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know if I am late or maybe just my head is in the sand, but what the fuck is wrong with the world? In Ohio, a teacher burnt a sign of a cross into the hands of a child.</p>
<p>A hand of a child, a child!</p>
<p>What is wrong with us? how can we let something like this happen? A court has been in session for 13 months debating whether a man should be suspended for burning a child? The New York Times obtained a statement from the teacher,</p>
<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;Mr. Freshwater, who declined to be interviewed, has said he did not mean to burn a cross on any student’s arm. Instead, he said he intended to leave a temporary X on the skin using a device called a Tesla coil during a science demonstration. He says he had done that, with no complaints, hundreds of times in his 21 years as a teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School.&#8221;</em></p></blockquote>
<p>How can we explain such behaviour in the 21 century? Who cares what exactly you intended to burn, you don&#8217;t burn children!</p>
<p>Now down to the truth the reason for the burning of the cross was done to a gay student, perhaps to burn the gay out of him? &#8211; JAKE</p>
<p>THE TEACHER&#8217;S NAME IS MR. FRESHWATER CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND TELL THEM HOW YOU FEEL. DONT BE A LAZY ASS .<em>THIS IS YOUR SKIN THEY ARE BURNING.</em></p>
<p><strong>Mail</strong></p>
<p>Governor&#8217;s Office<br />
Riffe Center, 30th Floor<br />
77 South High Street<br />
Columbus, OH 43215-6108</p>
<p><strong>Phone/Fax<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">General Info: (614) 466-3555<br />
Fax: (614) 466-9354</span></strong></p>
<p><strong>Online<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.governor.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?link=150&amp;tabid=153">Contact the Governor</a></span></strong></p>
<p><strong>Press Inquiries<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Press inquiries should be directed to our press secretary, Amanda Wurst. You can e-mail her at <a href="mailto:amanda.wurst@governor.ohio.gov">amanda.wurst@governor.ohio.gov</a>.<br />
</span></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/freshwater500.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-403" title="freshwater500" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/freshwater500.jpg" alt="" width="484" height="500" /></a></p>

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		<title>Proposition 8 Trial Turns Attention to children raised by Gays</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/01/proposition-8-trial-turns-attention-to-children-raised-by-gay/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2010/01/proposition-8-trial-turns-attention-to-children-raised-by-gay/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:53:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=391</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


I try and remember when I was younger and a child, view it as a objective period of my life. Personally I believed I was straight at the time and didn&#8217;t doubt my attraction to women one bit. I loved that period but i do remember the terror I caused others. I know many straight [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/610x.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-393 aligncenter" title="610x" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/610x.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="322" /></a></p>
<p>I try and remember when I was younger and a child, view it as a objective period of my life. Personally I believed I was straight at the time and didn&#8217;t doubt my attraction to women one bit. I loved that period but i do remember the terror I caused others. I know many straight friends in school that I mistreated and tortured with the &#8220;cool&#8221; kids. I do apologize with all my heart if you happen to be reading this, no I don&#8217;t have any excuse.</p>
<p>Three of my friends died growing up and two of them were tragic endings of being bullied and invisible to everyone at school. It is really hard to think that life in that period would be better if your parents are gay or straight. It certainly would not help and give ammunition to any bully in town. Certain kids get bullied and certain kids fight back the formula is not one of exact science. Some kids who are bullied are athletic, some are cute, some are smart, and some come from rich families. The defense at the Proposition 8 trial brought to the table various statistics as to why children raised by gay parents are at the same advantage as those raised by straight parents.</p>
<p><strong>The defense called to the stand Michael Lamb, head of Cambridge University&#8217;s Department of Social and Developmental Psychology.</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The evidence makes clear that having a gay and lesbian parent does not make children more likely to be maladjusted,&#8221; Lamb testified.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>&#8221; children reared by gays weren&#8217;t more likely to become gay than other children, but were more likely to be teased about their families by other children. Children of same-sex couples also have fewer sexual stereotypes, such as viewing a nurse as female and a doctor as male&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Attorney David H. Thompson for the Proposition 8 campaign cross-examined Lamb for hours, questioning the methodologies of some studies and portraying him as a &#8220;committed liberal.&#8221;</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The study is focused on lesbian parents, not gay men, and cited a study that found children of gays fared worse than those of heterosexuals.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;2000 census data showed that 33% of lesbian households and 22% of  gay male households were raising children.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Both of the sides seem like they are out of touch with children, a study could show a certain reality in a situation but to every situation many variables exist. Children get bullied and mistreated in every form. Children get raped, abused, and mentally damaged. We know from countless of stories and personal experiences the fact of life, us as children are vulnerable and certain people crush the life out of vulnerability. Leave the courts for a minute , does it make a difference if you a have another reason to get bullied when every reason is available to get bullied! Does it make a difference if the parent abusing you is gay or straight? Does it make a difference who it is that is crushing? Some people are just shit and some situations are shit it has nothing to do with gay or straight. You think otherwise? &#8211; J<em><strong>AKE</strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Source: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prop8-trial16-2010jan16,0,4135684.story?track=rss">la times</a><br />
</strong></em></p>

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		<title>Merry christmas to all</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/merry-christmas-to-all/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/merry-christmas-to-all/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:02:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>

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		<title>Liberty Counsel May Lead Pullout of CPAC if Homosexual Group GOProud Remains as Co-Sponsor</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/liberty-counsel-may-lead-pullout-of-cpac-if-homosexual-group-goproud-remains-as-co-sponsor/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/liberty-counsel-may-lead-pullout-of-cpac-if-homosexual-group-goproud-remains-as-co-sponsor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:34:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=312</guid>
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Americans For Truth
By Peter LaBarbera
Folks, for years religious conservatives have been complaining about getting the shaft from CPAC, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. There is usually only a token panel or two dealing with “Culture War” social issues like abortion and homosexuality (and rarely one explicitly on fighting the “gay” agenda) – as organizers [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-313" title="header_photo" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/header_photo.jpg" alt="header_photo" width="450" height="188" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://americansfortruth.com/">Americans For Truth</a></p>
<p>By Peter LaBarbera</p>
<p>Folks, for years religious conservatives have been complaining about getting the shaft from CPAC, the annual <a href="http://www.cpac.org/">Conservative Political Action Conference</a> in Washington, D.C. There is usually only a token panel or two dealing with “Culture War” social issues like abortion and homosexuality (and rarely one explicitly on fighting the “gay” agenda) – as organizers seek to appease the CPAC libertarians, some of whom support goals like homosexual “marriage” that are anathema to socially conservatives.</p>
<p>Now CPAC’s tenuous ”Big Tent” could collapse altogether as social conservatives led by <a href="http://lc.org/">Liberty Counsel’s</a> <strong>Matt Barber</strong> threaten to launch a boycott of the conference (scheduled for Feb. 18-20, 2010) unless CPAC drops a homosexual activist group, <a href="http://www.goproud.org/">GOProud</a>, as a <a href="http://www.cpac.org/sponsors.html">co-sponsor</a>. Barber, my good friend, an AFTAH Board Member, and the Director of Cultural Affairs at <strong><a href="http://lc.org/">Liberty Counsel</a></strong>, is leading the charge to keep the CPAC sponsorship list … conservative.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.goproud.org/">GOProud</a> describes itself as “the only national organization for gay conservatives and their allies,” but we at AFTAH dispute their definition of “conservative,” which would have the movement’s Founding Fathers, like <a href="http://users.etown.edu/m/mcdonaldw/kirk.html">Russell Kirk</a> (see quotation at bottom), rolling over in their graves. <a href="http://americansfortruth.com/news/liberty-counsel-may-lead-pullout-of-cpac-if-homosexual-group-goproud-remains-as-co-sponsor.html">Read More&#8230;&#8230;.</a></p>

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		<title>D.C. Council Votes Yes on Marriage Equality</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/d-c-council-votes-yes-on-marriage-equality/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/d-c-council-votes-yes-on-marriage-equality/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:52:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Heroes]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=309</guid>
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Advocate Reports:
The D.C. council held its final vote Tuesday on a marriage equality bill, passing it by a wide margin. Mayor Adrian Fenty has pledged to sign the bill, which will go into effect this spring.
The bill passed the council by a vote of 11-2, identical to the vote in November. After Fenty signs the [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-310" title="DC_1" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/DC_1.jpg" alt="DC_1" width="390" height="285" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://advocate.com/home.aspx">Advocate Reports:</a></p>
<p>The D.C. council held its final vote Tuesday on a marriage equality bill, passing it by a wide margin. Mayor Adrian Fenty has pledged to sign the bill, which will go into effect this spring.</p>
<p>The bill passed the council by a vote of 11-2, identical to the vote in November. After Fenty signs the bill, it will have to withstand a 30-day congressional review period.</p>
<p>“I have been making laws on behalf of the citizens of this city for 12 years, and until now, have never been a fully enfranchised citizen,” council member David Catania, the lead sponsor of this bill, said during today’s vote. He thanked several colleagues and gay rights activists who helped him get this bill passed.</p>
<p>Council member Kwame R. Brown also made a passionate speech in support of the bill, pointing out that he has a mother who disagrees with him on the issue — and said as much in <em>The</em><em>Washington Post</em>. He said this vote is for the &#8220;unborn— future generations who will benefit.   <a href="http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/12/15/DC_Council_Votes_Yes_on_Marriage_Equality/">Read more&#8230;&#8230;</a></p>

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		<title>Online Gay Marriage License?</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/online-gay-marriage-license/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/online-gay-marriage-license/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:57:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt</dc:creator>
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89.3 KPPC Reports:
 Download
Two researchers are urging states that have approved same-sex marriage to offer marriage licenses online. The marriages are currently legal in only four states, and the move could ease a bottleneck for out-of-state applicants. But critics say those states deserve the revenue from actual &#8211; not virtual &#8211; wedding trips.
Same-sex marriage is [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/aerial-campus-fall.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-304" title="aerial campus, fall" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/aerial-campus-fall.jpeg" alt="aerial campus, fall" width="450" height="337" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scpr.org/">89.3 KPPC Reports:</a></p>
<p><span id="audio-options" style="line-height: 15px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="180" height="14" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="180" height="14"></embed></object> <a style="color: #128aac; text-decoration: none; line-height: 15px;" href="http://media.scpr.org/audio/upload/2009/12/14/online_gay_marriage.mp3">Download</a></span></p>
<p id="subhead" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-style: italic;">Two researchers are urging states that have approved same-sex marriage to offer marriage licenses online. The marriages are currently legal in only four states, and the move could ease a bottleneck for out-of-state applicants. But critics say those states deserve the revenue from actual &#8211; not virtual &#8211; wedding trips.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">Same-sex marriage is legal in just four U.S. states — New Hampshire will become the fifth on Jan. 1 — a situation that forces gay couples everywhere else to travel to places like Vermont and Iowa to be wed.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">Two Michigan State University professors think there&#8217;s a better way. They say states that offer same-sex marriage should allow couples anywhere in the country to obtain a marriage license online. But skeptics of this plan abound.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">On a Saturday afternoon in 2004, Chris Swope and his partner, Brad Rakowski, exchanged vows in a Lansing, Mich., church before their family and friends.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">Two days later, the couple had a second, quieter ceremony in Windsor, Ontario. That&#8217;s where they signed the papers that bestowed on them the Canadian province&#8217;s legal blessing.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">And that poses a dilemma, Swope says.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">&#8220;You know, it kind of throws us up in the air about which is our real anniversary,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The one that was more meaningful and heartfelt but has zero legal recognition, or the one that&#8217;s legally recognized.&#8221;</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">Swope&#8217;s home state of Michigan is one of 29 that impose constitutional restrictions on marriage.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;">Legal researcher Adam Candeub believes the situation creates a national roadblock.  <a href="http://www.scpr.org/news/2009/12/13/online-gay-marriage-license-seen-as-game-changer/">Read more&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;</a></p>

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		<title>An Open Letter to the NY State Senate on Marriage Equality</title>
		<link>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/a-letter-to-the-new-york-state-senate-regarding-marriage-equality/</link>
		<comments>http://www.strongandequal.com/2009/12/a-letter-to-the-new-york-state-senate-regarding-marriage-equality/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:51:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jake</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Open Letters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Same-Sex Mar]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.strongandequal.com/?p=250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


Senators,
September 11 2009 my beloved city was terrorized in ways that will effect our world forever.  This atrocity was symbolic by location, New York a city where people of all backgrounds can come together and excell in respective dreams. New York is a city where it is not about you, it is about your passion, [...]]]></description>
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<p><a href="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ny-state-senate.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-255" title="ny-state-senate" src="http://www.strongandequal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ny-state-senate.jpg" alt="ny-state-senate" width="450" height="337" /></a></p>
<p>Senators,</p>
<p>September 11 2009 my beloved city was terrorized in ways that will effect our world forever.  This atrocity was symbolic by location, New York a city where people of all backgrounds can come together and excell in respective dreams. New York is a city where it is not about you, it is about your passion, dream, yearning for something more than the hand that was dealt to you. They hit our freedom of color, religion, integration, sex, love, prosperity, hate and hope. We rallied together as our true nature intended, we bonded as one people and awoke from shock proceeding to prosperity and even further diversity. How can this city, the beacon of freedom for all people, deny! How can we look ourselves in the mirror and believe we advocate freedom? Is it so much to ask, to let people who love each other to be together, to love and to hold forever? Is it so much for you Mr senator to shamelessly deny freedom to people? When I was eighteen I was on the subway and coming home with my boyfriend at the time, we were both drunk and leaning on each other, not once in my entire train ride did some person think to say, stop being a fag! this city, our city! How can we not be ashamed? How can we call ourselves enlightened? How can we call ourselves open minded? Are we the same people that do not accept Muslims because some of them are radicals? Are we the same people that judge a colored person based on there color?  This is not our city this is not the dream that is called New York or America. I am ashamed every day i pass on the BQUE and see the blank spot in  the financial district, I am sorry to those that died we did not keep freedom in your name.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;">I sign with a broken heart,<br />
<em>jake</em></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Stop an eviction when the landlord says unmarried adults cannot live together</strong></li>
<li><strong>Get social security benefits the couple earned through involuntary deductions to their paychecks</strong></li>
<li><strong>Get family medical leave to care for an ill partner</strong></li>
<li><strong>Make medical decisions for a partner in a coma</strong></li>
<li><strong>Visit a dying partner in the hospital</strong></li>
<li><strong>Carry out the wishes of a deceased partner for a memorial service and epitaph</strong></li>
<li><strong>Keep the home and personal possessions after a partner dies without a will and unknown relatives appear with a moving truck</strong></li>
</ul>

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