Well dear friends, I am not shocked by much but it happened today.
A little history first:
March 19th 2004,
The day I decided enough was enough and wrote my first expression of that idea.
I had just left corporate Houston behind and moved to the mountains of East Tennessee when I read this article that inspired and began my humble career as an activist:
By BILL POOVEY, Associated Press Writer
DAYTON, Tenn. - Commissioners in rural, conservative Rhea County never intended to create the "wildfire" of reaction that resulted from banning gay people, the county attorney said after the board reversed its 2-day-old decision.
The original vote was meant to show support for the state's ban on same-sex marriages, county Attorney Gary Fritts said Thursday.
"They wanted to send a message to our (state) representative and senator that Rhea County supports the ban on same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is what it was all about," Fritts said. "There has just been so much misunderstanding about this. It was to stop people from coming here and getting married and living in Rhea County."
The board voted 8-0 Thursday to rescind its Tuesday action. The commissioners declined to comment as deputies escorted them to and from the meeting, where they overturned the earlier vote and quickly adjourned.
Fritts said he advised the commissioners that they could not ban homosexuals or make them subject to criminal charges. The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) last year struck down laws on homosexual sodomy as a violation of adults' privacy.
Commissioner J.C. Fugate, whose initiated the Tuesday motion, also made the motion to rescind it Thursday. In a discussion about gays and same-sex marriage at the earlier meeting, Fugate had asked the county attorney to find a way to "keep them out of here."
Twelve-year-old Caitlin Kinney and others in a noisy crowd at the courthouse Thursday night were disappointed at the reversal.
The seventh-grader said she doesn't want homosexuals in the community. "It's not a Christian thing," said Kinney, identifying herself as a Baptist.
"I've never seen nothing like this," Fritts said at the historic courthouse where a jury 79 years ago convicted John Scopes for teaching evolution.
During the Thursday meeting, social worker Esther Jackson, 24, held a sign saying, "Breed Love, Not Hate."
"I'm just making a statement that I don't think it's right," Jackson said of the Tuesday vote. "It's just ignorance, is all.
The county about 35 miles north of Chattanooga annually commemorates the 1925 trial at which Scopes, a high school teacher, was convicted of teaching evolution. The verdict was reversed on a technicality, and the trial became the subject of the play and movie "Inherit the Wind. In 2002, a federal judge struck down the teaching of a Bible class in Rhea County's public schools.
Fritts said he doesn't believe the issue will come up again with the commissioners.
"I think they got all the publicity they need about it," he said
And did they get all the publicity they needed? So they did my friends....and as unbelievable as it seems...it came back to bite them in the ass at the polls.
Fast Forward to Today:
Katie Allison Granju , Producer
People who live in the Dayton area say overcrowded schools and how the county is handling growth also drove the election on Thursday.
Voters turned out incumbents Harold Fisher, Tom Davis and R. Paul Tallent. Incumbents Dennis Tumlin Brad Varner didn't seek re-election. Four incumbents were returned by voters.
Fisher had been a commissioner for 20 years and was chairman of the body.
In March 2004, commission members voted unanimously voted to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee's criminal code so the county could charge homosexuals with crimes against nature.
Two days later, they rescinded the vote, saying they didn't understand they were voting to ban homosexuality in the county.
Newly-elected member Bill Hollin says some constituents thought the gay ban wasn't as bad as the commissioners not understanding what they had voted to do.
One caveat however, it seems the voters may have believed thier claims that they did not realize they were voting to criminalize gay people and thought they were just really stupid. I guess being a homosexual must not be as bad as being stupid in Rhea County. Thanks anyway to all who voted against hate and for smarter homosexuals. Go Rhea County!
Source: The Raw Story
oh yeah, my humble beginnings:
Today, March 19, 2004, is the day that I have decided enough is enough. Enough of what you may ask?
Blind Hate
Fear based Religious dogma
And last but not least hateful, sad and angry people directing, displacing and projecting all of their pain and self- loathing onto me, who I am and who I have every right to be. It is not me (the homosexual) that threatens your precious institution of marriage it is you, (the heterosexual) but you do not wish to take the responsibility for the mockery of marriage you have created. You hide behind God and hope that The All That Is really is as narrow-minded, as hateful and as afraid as you are. You actually find it easier to follow others hate-filled interpretations of right and wrong than to feel and think for yourself. For if you did you would find that you are what you really hate and then where would you be? I understand, this way is much easier for you, for now. The fact is I really do not care what you believe, in fact my only care is that it feeds your soul, that it makes you happy, so ask yourself, does hating me really make you happy? I don’t hate the 13 year old in the article above. Do you really think she even has the first clue about human rights? No, her Daddy hates gays therefore she hates gays. Why? Cause it’s not a Christian thing. Oh. Right. Of course. The duality of the so-called Christian:
Love your neighbor
Unless they are gay
Do unto others as you sould have them do unto you
Unless they are gay
I think you get where I am going with this.
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Something to feel good about, man I needed that.
Peace To All Souls
