Connect with us

Lawmaker: ‘Have The People Of Hawaii Not Done Enough? We Gave You Your Civil Unions’ (Video)

Published

on

Even though the majority of testimony sent to Hawaii lawmakers debating same-sex marriage was in support of the legislation, the majority of the thousands of people who came to the Hawaii State House to testify was not. Religious groups, possibly with the aid of NOM, the National Organization For Marriage, bussed people into Honolulu. Many of those who spoke read testimony they clearly had not written. And it was very, very ugly.

That’s what you probably would expect from some average citizens, many of whom might not be very well-educated, many of whom might not ever have gotten to know someone who is LGBT.

But raw, ugly, hate speech and anti-gay rhetoric is not the type of language one would expect — hopefully — from an elected representative of the people.

Meet Democratic (yes, Democratic) Representative Rep. Karen Awana, who says she has “friends who are of the GLBT persuasion,” and who spent 12 minutes spewing anti-gay language and mistruths to defend her vote against Hawaii’s same-sex marriage bill.

Rep. Awana stood on the floor of the Hawaii State House late Friday night, just as members were making their final remarks — just before the same-sex marriage bill passed — and spewed utter filth.

Claiming that “civil unions and reciprocal benefits was [sic] the ‘great compromise’ just a few years ago in 2011,” Awana told her colleagues, “we were told that if we provide these options to the GLBT community, they would be satisfied. Have the people of Hawai’i not done enough? We gave you your civil unions. We gave you your reciprocal benefits.”

(Actually, Rep. Awana voted against that bill.)

“We don’t have signs that say, ‘straight people only.’ We don’t have signs that say, ‘GLBT people to the back of the bus.’ And we don’t have separate water fountains for GLBT individuals. Have we not already shared our Aloha spirit with you?”

Apparently, to Rep. Awana, not being specifically treated like an African-American in the 1950’s is “enough” equality.

Perhaps Rep. Awana would like her fellow Hawaiian citizens to vote on her right to marry? Perhaps they can also vote on her right to vote? (Perhaps they can look into all the fines she’s had to pay for election practice violations and false reporting?)

Awana went on to explain same-sex marriage — which has yet to be enacted in Hawaii — is already responsible for a “culturally responsive teen pregnancy and STI prevention program.” Awana said that the Hawaii Department of Education is “already implementing the programs to indoctrinate our children into believing that homosexual relations are normal and healthy, and heterosexual relationships are abnormal and unhealthy.”

(Of course, that’s not accurate, and a fellow Representative already had debunked that lie.)

Awana claimed that the Hawaii Department of Education is teaching that homosexual sex may be “better” than heterosexual sex “because you don’t have to worry about getting pregnant!”

But that wasn’t enough for Rep. Awana, who started the reading of a doctoral student’s paper in the middle of her testimony.

She then went on to complain that if same-sex couples are allowed the right to marry, the state “will bestow on couples certain benefits, which are costly to the state and other individuals.”

Nevermind that LGBT people have been subsidizing the relationships of heterosexual couples for centuries — apparently they haven’t paid enough yet.

Awana kept up her anti-LGBT attack.

Children need a mother and a father she complained — pointing to no valid study.

But Representative Awana wants you to know that she is “appalled” by the governor’s special session, and by the “dreadful language” — not in her speech, mind you but — in the bill.

Fortunately, Rep. Awana says to the “GLBT community” that she will “work tirelessly” and “commit the resources” of her office “to find a solution.”

Awana said she is worried that if the same-sex marriage bill were to pass, she would “feel like a stranger” in her “own homeland.”

No doubt, many would be happy to find her an alternative one.

Watch:

//www.youtube.com/embed/7H1zrOPhne0

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
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

Melania Trump Hails Herself as a ‘Visionary’ at Women’s History Month Event

Published

on

First Lady Melania Trump, in remarks at a White House Women’s History Month celebration, hailed herself as a “visionary” as she gave advice to guests.

“As a visionary, I know success is not born overnight, but rather takes shape after long, and sometimes challenging process,” the First Lady said. She also described herself as “a mother, humanitarian, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.”

Mrs. Trump also mentioned her new film, “Melania,” saying that she “shaped its creative direction, served as a producer, managed post production and activated the marketing campaign.”

Noting that “curiosity is a core value” that keeps her “ahead of the curve,” she said that her “unrestricted mindset” has led her to “build across very different sectors,” including, “fashion, digital assets, publishing, accessories, skincare, commercial television, and of course, filmmaking.”

Sharing advice and personal experience, Mrs. Trump told the audience, “Often alone at the top, I follow my passion. Listen to my instincts, and always maintain a laser focus.”

She also declared that the “strength of America is closely tied to the role women play in shaping their children’s character, education, and morals. The values cultivated within our communities shape the voice and vision of our next generation.”

“A woman’s influence strengthens our democracy, capital markets, and time-tested business institutions,” she said. “Across the country today, women are finding unique ways to balance career, ambition, and family.”

Image via Reuters 

Continue Reading

News

‘Seems to Be No Plan’ Expert Says on Trump Securing Iran’s Nuclear Material to End War

Published

on

President Donald Trump says he is bombing Iran so it “does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” but a veteran nuclear policy expert is blasting his war strategy, warning there appears to be no plan to secure Iran’s nuclear stockpile — a failure that could leave the U.S. in the “worst of all worlds” while Iran is “holding all the nuclear cards.”

“This may be the worst planned war in history,” Joe Cirincione told Mother Jones. “I see no sign that they knew what they were doing. It seemed to be just literally bomb, bomb, bomb. There didn’t seem to be a plan for how you were going to get at that particular material. If there is one, it hasn’t emerged.”

He warns, “there seems to be no plan for how to end this war.”

“Almost all wars end by some sort of negotiation,” Cirincione says. “If you project forward several weeks, it’s going to have to end. Usually there’s some sort of arrangement that’s made to end a war.”

But, he says, President Trump “seems to be flying by the seat of his pants and making this up as it goes along,” so “we just don’t know.”

READ MORE: Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

Cirincione warns that “it’s possible that Trump has put us into the worst of all possible worlds. He’s made it impossible for us to have a negotiated solution to this. And we can’t use any military means to solve the problem. So we’re left in this worst of all worlds, which is Iran is holding all the nuclear cards at the end of this war.”

Mother Jones reports that “with his war in Iran, Trump has created a big, possibly catastrophic problem: A half-ton of highly enriched uranium, which can be made bomb-ready, is somewhere…out there—available for use by Iran’s new regime or perhaps not fully secured and susceptible to theft or expropriation.”

So, what are the options?

“The United States either has to conduct some high-risk military maneuver where we would land people from the 82nd Airborne or an Israeli commando unit into the site at Isfahan and try to find the uranium, go down hundreds of meters underground, retrieve the uranium and pull it out or perhaps destroy it on site,” says Cirincione. He calls it “a high risk proposition.”

“What you’re left with is really the only other solution where we started: a negotiated deal.”

President Barack Obama signed one with Iran. Trump tore it up during his first term.

With a negotiated deal, “You have to get Iran’s agreement to secure that material, declare it, allow inspectors, and then either secure it under inspection or downblend it—the process in reverse, bring it down to a 3-percent or 4-percent level. That’s the only two solutions to this problem.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

Continue Reading

News

Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

Published

on

President Donald Trump says not only does he not know if his war against Iran will help win him the Nobel Peace Prize, he also doesn’t care, and doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Trump claimed to have ‘no idea’ if Operation Epic Fury will ‘get him over the finish line’ with committee members,'” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday, after a telephone call with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not interested in it.”

“No, I don’t talk about the Nobel Prize,” Trump also said, when asked if the topic came up in his recent talks with foreign leaders.

The Examiner’s Christian Datoc, who spoke to the president, reported via video that Trump “appears to be having a massive about-face about winning the Nobel Peace Prize amid his war with Iran.”

“He told me over the phone that he’s not sure if he’s deserving of this award anymore,” Datoc added. “This is a massive change in the president’s rhetoric from really anything he’s said over the past thirteen months.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.