Connect with us

Enough Rick Perry Lies About Gays, Children, And Marriage

Published

on

GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry on Friday, just hours before the deadline, filed his paperwork to formally become a candidate in the New Hampshire Republican primary. Perry paid the $1000 fee and shortly thereafter went on stage and lied. Rick Perry lies a lot (“I don’t know” if Obama’s birth certificate is real, homosexuality is like alcoholism, Texas teaches evolution and creationism, the science on climate change isn’t settled,) but this particular lie against gays, children, and marriage was not only wrong, it was pure bigotry — and pure evil.

That Governor Perry waited until the very last minute to file for such an important event made me chuckle. For a moment I imagined perhaps Perry was busy taking his two children, Griffin and Sydney, to school, or to a baseball game, or even, perhaps, hunting, at the family hunting camp, Niggerhead. Of course, the two Perry offspring are now in their mid-twenties so that imaginary scenario wasn’t likely, and no doubt the Governor had plenty of help raising his children, and plenty of government benefits to help financially, too. Unlike all gay couples raising children.

“As conservatives we believe in the sanctity of life,” Perry said, in front of 450 voters and supporters in the state’s largest city, Manchester. “We believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage. And I applaud those legislators in New Hampshire who are working to defend marriage as an institution between one man and one woman, realizing that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father.”

Children, Governor Perry, need to be raised in a loving home. Period. If that home is headed by a man and a woman, two women, or two men, I really don’t care, and neither do the children. And neither should you.

There is not one shred of evidence that shows children growing up in a household headed by heterosexual parents do any better than children growing up in a household headed by homosexual parents. In fact, the science says that in some cases, children actually do better in households headed by same-sex couples — probably, at least in part, because those gay or lesbian parents had to work really hard to actually be able to adopt children. And, like I said, we have the science that proves it.

The lie that children need to be raised in a loving home by a mother and a father is just that — a lie. Two long-​term studies published in the past two years found just the opposite. In fact, one of them, a twenty-​five year-​long and vigorously peer-​reviewed study published in the journal Pediatrics, found that adopted children raised by lesbian parents are better–adjusted and do better in school than their opposite-​parented peers. Add to this the fact that we now have, “a study of gay dads that finds they are more likely than straight ones to focus on parenting over career, at least when their children are young.”

Additionally, we do know that states that offer same-sex marriage equality also have the lowest rates of child homelessness.

(And while same-sex parent-headed households aren’t perfect, we certainly don’t have any reports like this for children being raised by same-sex couples.)

Even if Governor Perry and his ilk — like the National Organization For Marriage — actually are successful in their march into the 18th century, same-sex couples will continue to raise families and grow. Which means that re-establishing a second-class citizenship structure will only serve the egos of the bigots, not the needs of the children, who have what they need in terms of parents, but not what they need in terms of equality.

Republicans these days talk a lot about the difference between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans, talking about business and social issues, continue to claim that they believe in equality of opportunity, not the equality of outcome. I think that’s a fair principle. And I think they should apply it to those they claim to care about the most: families.

Why shouldn’t families headed by gay or lesbian parents have the same equality of opportunity as families headed by straight parents?

Twenty-two months ago, New Hampshire became the sixth state to allow same-sex couples marriage equality, after a challenging battle during which the Democratic Governor insisted on heightened religious protections before he would sign the bill into law in 2009.

But Texas Governor Rick Perry doesn’t know the first thing about New Hampshire, or gay marriage, or states’ rights, or what children really need. Because Governor Perry, up until a few months ago, thought that states should have the right to allow same-sex marriage because it was, in his words, a states’ rights issue. Until the Religious Right went crazy and Perry retreated into a Texas-sized corner.

Now, Perry thinks not only should same-sex marriage not be an option, but that New Hampshire should actually ram down the people’s throats a repeal of marriage equality, in a state that believes the law should stay — by a two-to-one margin.

“What we’ve found is those people who are in favor of gay marriage are much more intense in their positions and much more likely to take action politically then are opponents of gay marriage,” says University of New Hampshire pollster Andrew Smith, who finds that 62% of New Hampshire residents want the law to remain, and only 27% would support a repeal.

Sadly, for the theocratic Governor Perry, Smith also finds that “44 percent of those polled would oppose a candidate who favors a repeal,” according to a report by New Hampshire Public Radio earlier this month.

But the reality is that Perry isn’t running for Governor of the Granite State, and he’s not running for president (yet,) he’s running for the Republican nomination for president, and that means having lots of racism and bigotry on tap.

Rick Perry has spent a good part of his adult life at his family hunting camp named “Niggerhead,” so racism and bigotry are right up his alley. And that’s exactly where, as far as I’m concerned, Rick Perry can put his views on gays, families, children, and marriage.

Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

Poll Finds Majority Oppose Impeachment Inquiry as House GOP Kicks Off Hearings Two Days Before Likely Shutdown

Published

on

A just-released NBC News poll finds a solid majority of registered voters are opposed to House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, which kicks off Thursday morning, just two days before House Republicans are likely to shut down the federal government.

“56% of registered voters say Congress should not hold hearings to start the process of removing Biden from office, while 39% say it should,” NBC News reports. “The House Oversight Committee is gathering for its first hearing in the inquiry, which Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced two weeks ago to investigate Biden’s ties to his son Hunter’s business dealings, probing what McCarthy described as ‘allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption.'”

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s “own conference was divided over the impeachment inquiry, and so are voters — who are also, unsurprisingly, divided along party lines when it comes to proceedings aimed at removing Biden from office,” NBC News adds. “An overwhelming majority of Democrats (88%) oppose the hearings, while 73% of Republicans support them. Six in 10 independents oppose the hearings, and 29% say Congress should move forward with them.”

READ MORE: House GOP Shutdown Demands Include Gutting Billions From Dept. of Education, Costing Over 200,000 Teachers Their Jobs

The Congressional Integrity Project, a group of Democratic strategists, have published what it calls a “regularly updated rundown of Republican commentators, Members of Congress, and media personalities” who have indicated there is not sufficient evidence to initiate an impeachment inquiry against President Biden. It includes recent statements from Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Rep. French Hill (R-AR), Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).

At midnight on Saturday the federal government will shut down, unless the House passes legislation to fund the government, the Senate passes the House’s legislation, and President Joe Biden signed it into law.

READ MORE: ‘I Feel a Little Bit Dumber for What You Say’: The Nine Worst Moments of the GOP Presidential Debate

The shutdown, which has yet to begin, may already have cost the American taxpayers possibly a billion dollars, well-known economist Justin Wolfers casually suggested:

“This week you and I are paying over a million federal employees over a billion dollars to put aside their regular work to plan for a pointless shutdown, and that shutdown will grind the government to a halt which will also cause untold disruption through the private sector.”

Earlier this week, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said, “A MAGA shutdown drains billions of dollars from our economy. It says to our men and women in uniform — you’re not getting paid. To women and children depending on food assistance — you’re not eating. All 3 recent shutdowns were under REPUBLICAN House Speakers. Irresponsible.”

Continue Reading

News

‘I Feel a Little Bit Dumber for What You Say’: The Nine Worst Moments of the GOP Presidential Debate

Published

on

The second Republican presidential debate was mired in in-fighting and personal attacks by the candidates,  a vow to wage physical war against Mexico, hate against LGBTQ people, an insistence the U.S. Constitution doesn’t actually mean what the words on the page say, and a fight over curtains.

Here are nine of the worst moments from Wednesday night’s debate.

The debate itself got off to a rough start right from the beginning.

Multiple times candidate cross-talk made it impossible for anyone to make a point, like this moment when nearly half the candidates talked over each other during a nearly two minute segment as the moderators struggled to take control.

READ MORE: ‘I Don’t Think So’: As GOP Debate Kicks Off Trump Teases Out the Chances of Any Candidate Becoming His Running Mate

Vivek Ramasway got into a heated argument with Nikki Haley, leading the former Trump UN Ambassador to tell him, “Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say.”


Ramaswamy launched an attack on transgender children.

Moments after Ramaswamy attacked transgender children, so did Mike Pence, calling supporting transgender children’s rights “crazy.”

He promised “a federal ban on transgender chemical or surgical surgery anywhere in the country,” and said: “We’ve got to protect our kids from this radical gender ideology agenda.”

Former New Jersey Governor Cris Christie described the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, who has dedicated her life to teaching, as the person President Biden is “sleeping with.”

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, as CNN’s Manu Raju noted were “one-time allies,” after “Haley appointed Scott to his Senate seat,” until they started “going at it at [the] debate.”

“Talk about someone who has never seen a federal dollar she doesn’t like,” Scott charged. “Bring it, Tim,” Haley replied before they got into a fight about curtains.

Senator Scott declared, “Black families survived slavery, we survived poll taxes and literacy tests, we survived discrimination being woven into the laws of our country. What was hard to survive was [President] Johnson’s Great Society, where they decided to take the Black father out of the household to get a check in the mail.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, currently leading over everyone on stage, said practically nothing for the first 15 minutes. He may have said the least of all the candidates on stage Wednesday night. But he denounced Donald Trump for being “missing in action.”

Watch all the videos above or at this link.

 

 

 

Continue Reading

News

‘I Don’t Think So’: As GOP Debate Kicks Off Trump Teases Out the Chances of Any Candidate Becoming His Running Mate

Published

on

Donald Trump, again refusing to participate in a GOP debate, teased out the fate of every candidate on stage Wednesday night: he will choose none of them as his vice presidential running mate.

The ex-president who is facing 91 felony charges in four criminal cases across three jurisdictions and is now also facing the dissolution of his business empire, brought up the running mate question around the same time the debate on Fox News was kicking off.

“It’s all over television, this speech,” Trump falsely claimed, referring to his live remarks at a non-union shop one day after President Joe Biden stood on the picket line with UAW workers.

READ MORE: ‘Apparently You’ll Never Believe Us’: House Republican Melts Down After Reporter Questions His ‘Evidence’ Against Biden

“You know, we’re competing with the job candidates,” Trump said, mocking his fellow Republican presidential candidates after he scheduled an event opposite the debate he refused to attend.

“They’re all running for a job,” he continued, as the audience began to boo.

“They want to be in the, they’ll do anything,” he continued. “Secretary of something.”

“They even say VP, I don’t know,” Trump said. “Does anybody see any VP in the group? I don’t think so.”

Watch below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.