'Why Nigeria's anti-gay bill sickens me'

[dude]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/01/world/africa/nigeria-anti-gay-bill/index.html?iref=allsearch

[Chris James]

I would urge anyone who reads this to contact whitehouse.gov and send a message that as a country the U.S. should cease all foreign aid to Nigeria...period.

[JamesSavik]

Bashing gays is the only thing that Christians and Muslims can agree on without killing each other.

[colinian]

Bashing gays is the only thing that Christians and Muslims can agree on without killing each other.

And since both Christians and Muslims agree on this, like a double negative that proves that bashing gays must be wrong.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Colin

[DKStories]

http://news.advocate.com/post/13844217337/watch-the-speech-youve-been-waiting-for

Hillary Clinton's speech (watch it from the above link - it is worth every second of your time) is one of the reasons why I supported her in 2008 for President. She didn't win, but once she took over as Secretary of State, she immediately began making changes to the State Department's operations that were important to the LGBT community. This speech, and the new Obama policy directive linking gay rights to foreign aid monies is even more important.

This is what happens when you elect Democrats.

[Cole Parker]

That is hugely impressive. She seemed to be talking to the audience directly, no notes, no looking down at the podium, and no sign of a teleprompter.

And what a message she promotes!

I think Dan is right, too. I can't imagine a Republican making this speech.

C

[DKStories]

As Secretary Cliniton said in her speech, America has a long way to go yet in protecting the rights of its citizens, including its gay citizens.

Her speech, in addition to being so strong in its support of LGBT people is also a textbook example of what it means to be liberal.

1. Government is NOT the source of rights.

2. Human rights are inalienable and we are born with them. They cannot be granted to us. We have them from the moment of our birth to the moment of our death. People and government can only impinge on those rights and prevent the free expression thereof.

3. It IS the role of government to protect the free expression of our human rights.

4. Gay rights are not special rights, they are human rights.

5. No country is perfect, no country is without fault, but we can strive towards making our homes, our cities, our nations better places, safer places.

6. When our neighbors, our governments, or those governments that we do business with transgress against the rights of humans, we must make a stand and tell them "no".

Nigeria's anti-gay bill has been met with a lot of opposition from countries beyond the United States. In fact it was the United Kingdom that took the early lead in threatening the removal of foreign aid funds if the bill is enacted. (I have to hand it to you brits - you found a conservative PM that actually supports gay rights. Can you send a few like him to infest the Republican party?). We have just upped the ante and made the concept a worldwide proposal.

Now on to the point regarding religion. I personally believe that organized religion is the most dangerous threat to freedom and liberty in the mdoern world. It is where the racist and the bigot find justification for their hatred and legitimacy for their desires to seperate and eviscerate. Yet, here our Constitution protects them. It is sad in that the protections were put in place to protect the people from a state-imposed religion and it is now being used to allow religion to impose on the state, but it is what it is. Until people themselves turn away from the discriminatory and hate-filled churches, they will continue along the path they have trod for the past two hundred years.

Oh yeah, don't think the hatred and discrimination of the modern church is anything new. They can be found attempting to change the laws of this nation to suit their religious beliefs since before the nation was founded. Do you remember that Jefferson's famous use of the 'seperation of church and state' phrase was in response to an attempt by Baptists to have a prayer and the bible put into law (something that is common now). It was only in 1956 that religious leaders got "In God We Trust" as the national motto (by using the threat of communism to justify it). Let us also not forget that Christian hatred of alcohol even got our constitution changed to outlaw alcohol (especially important for anyone who says there is no chance for amendments banning gay marriage, abortion, or even flag burning).

We must remember that we are a democratic republic where the will of our people is reflected by the people we have elected. If we wish to see things continue to improve, if we wish people like Hillary Clinton to represent us to the world, we must go to the ballot box and choose those leaders. It's there that we can make sure that things continue to get better, and where we can make sure that the words of Hillary Clinton hold true.