The Republican War on Women

The mostly white, male, Republicans of Texas,  whose party mantra is less government,  are following in the Taliban’s footsteps in denying women their rights.  With their actions they are saying to all women, “you are too stupid to choose the right path so we are going to make the decision for you” and use the Bible as their source of conduct. The  Pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution and our Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion but not so in Texas where the state is  controlled by religious Republican men.  This group is harassing women with their latest witch hunt by denying funding to Planned Parenthood.   Where are the women of our country to go to escape the religious persecution they are experiencing every day in Texas and the United Sates as a whole?  

According to the federal government, for every dollar that is invested in planning a family, instead of just getting “knocked up” saves taxpayers four dollars in other health care costs. This means that the $60 million that the Republican controlled Texas House has stripped from the budget for family planning and shifted the money to anti-abortion programs, will end up costing tax payers $240 million.  Planned Parenthood has been around for 90 years and does so much more than perform abortions; it does everything in its power to prevent an abortion in the first place.  By denying funding to family planning the need for an abortion will increase.  I may not believe in abortions but I definitely believe that the government has no right to tell a woman what to do and that goes for the Taliban as well.  

Whatever your personal beliefs are about when life begins, supporting the bills that are being introduced across the country to cut funding to Planned Parenthood are saying that women are incapable of making the right choice.  The women of Texas are so stupid that they need Rick Perry and Dan Patrick to make decisions for them instead of their families, doctors, clergy or friends.

The irony of the situation is that Republicans believe that life begins at conception but as soon as that baby is born it is just about kicked to the curb.  As I have written about before, Texas children are 93 percent more likely not to have health care,  are more prone to drop out of school and are 83 percent more likely to have a mother who has no health insurance with little to zero prenatal care.   Texas has the highest rates of child fatalities from abuse or neglect. Pre-kindergarten programs have been slashed as well which would prepare these children for higher education goals.  

Is the next step for the Republican Party to start stoning women to death if they’re not virgins on their wedding day?  It’s in the Bible.  In my opinion the religious zealots of the Texas Taliban and their War on Women has to stop.  

Equal rights may come one day soon

A recent blog posting by Kelsey Scott,  a young conservative in support of gay marriage,  gives hope to people like me that one day, soon, I will be able to marry the man I love.  It is like a breath of fresh air to hear self-identifying Republicans coming out in favor of equality contrary to their party guidelines.    

Kelsey makes the comment that the Republican party is Christian and uses religion as their basis for denying equal rights to a minority population.  In their Texas party platform they have stated that "homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God."  This is the same type of religious zealotry that occurs in the Middle East that so many Republicans are against.  When anyone uses the Bible as a source for their bigotry against gays it is hypocritical.  The book of Leviticus,  that is so often cited by Christians,  contains passages against eating shrimp, getting tattoos, mixing threads in a garment and setting a price for selling your daughter into slavery.  If you are going to reference the Bible in your hate against gays, you must also also accept slavery.  Why are there no religious campaigns to outlaw tattoos or picket lines in front of seafood restaurants?  Why do the Christians who oppose gay marriage get to pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to follow?  Some of the Biblical arguments used against gays are the same ones that were used to condone slavery, oppose interracial marriage and denying women the right to vote.  As Kelsey says,  the Republican Party is “pushing Christianity."  Listen up Republicans, separation of church and state is a good idea.

Ms. Scott also debunks the Republican platform where they state that homosexuality “leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases.”  She says, rightly so, that homosexuals will still exist but just won’t have equal rights.

Times are changing.  Kelsey identifies herself as “in the Enterpriser typology group which is classified as being 81% Republican, 18% Independent,and 1% Democratic.”  She is definitely more that 1% Democratic, as shown by her blog, and she follows in the footsteps of some other staunch Republicans who have come out in favor of equal rights including family members of big name conservatives such as Bush, Cheney and McCain.

Kelsey, thank you for your understanding and mature ideals.  Hopefully more people like you will see the light and understand that allowing a person,  like me,  to marry the person they love affects the couple and not the state or nation at all.  Kelsey,  please plan to vote and vote often; I want your voice to be heard.

Texas vs. the Supremacy Clause

I am gay.  As Lady Gaga would say, I was "born that way."  I did not have a choice and if I did have a choice I probably would not have chosen a “lifestyle” that would have me declared a second-rate citizen.  My long-term, loving relationship is not accepted as a union in the eyes of Texans who voted overwhelmingly to write into the Texas Constitution that a marriage is between one man and one woman.  All men are not created equal in Texas and for people like me even the U.S. Constitution should begin with, “We the Straight People”.  There are literally thousands of state and federal benefits that my partner and I are not entitled to because our love and support for one another is not accepted legally or by the general population.  The three branches of our United States government were created with systems of checks and balances,  the judiciary branch is there to help protect the rights of minorities,  like me.  In the landmark case, Lawrence vs. Texas, the U.S Supreme Court voted for my rights and ruled that the persecution of same-sex relations is unconstitutional.  You would think that would be in the end of it.  The Supremacy Clause states that Federal Law trumps state law but Texas continues to defy that Supreme Court ruling and still has “homosexual conduct” on the books as a crime in Texas; it is a class C misdemeanor.    

There are a few bills in motion to strike this law but they are not getting any serious attention.  The Texas House has 101 Republicans in its 150 seats; it is a supermajority.  This conservative group can be summed up by a comment made by Republican Wayne Christian, the president of the Texas Conservative Coalition, when he said that the law “better reflects the views of a lot of citizens” the way it is right now.  Yes, Wayne, it probably does but six out of nine Supreme Court Justices do not agree with you.  

The Texas Republican platform has it in writing that it wants to continue persecuting people based on their sexual orientation and their straight allies.  It seems that they want to ignore the Supreme Court and the Constitution when it best serves their agenda.  Keeping “homosexual conduct” as a crime fully demonstrates the hypocrisy of the conservatives when they call for less government but want to intrude into my bedroom.  

I have not given up hope; I still have a dream.  In my dream I live in a country where my love for another human being does not brand me a criminal.  I live in a country that is free from discrimination and bigotry.  This dream will come true, it is just a matter of time.  Equal rights will always prevail.