Pro and Con-necticut

The reactionary’s protest of Connecticut’s new civil-union law met in Hartford yesterday. While they only managed 3,000 – less than 1% of the population, the folk there were plainly unhappy.

As claimed by the Family Institute of Connecticut (the leader of the anti forces), the law is pretty much marriage in all but name. It provides the same rights and obligations of a married couple to those in a civil union. This takes effect October 1st.

If polls are reliable, Connecticut is ambivalent. The voters’ will seem to vary considerably by who is asking what question. The Family Institute got a 78% favorable when it asked whether a marriage should be only between a man and a woman. On the other hand, an academic poll by Quinnipiac University this month found that 56% to 37% favored civil unions, while only 42% to 53% favored same-sex marriage.

At the protest, state Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca, said, "I never heard any hate and bigotry from those who support marriage. I heard it from the other side."

He must not have been able to hear the other speakers, many of whom spewed bile and made tabloid-sensational scare claims.

• The word of God tells us to speak against homosexuality. The word of God tells us to speak against bestiality. Homosexuality is an aberration. – Bishop LeRoy Bailey Jr., The First Cathedral, Bloomfield
• Calling same-sex struggles for rights a civil rights issue are an "affront to the civil rights movement" as well as "an affront to nature." – Bishop Jay Ramirez, Kingdom Life Christian Church, Milford
• Show me the evidence that people are born this way. What's next? Marrying your sister? Polygamy? – Ramirez
• Even the animals respect their boundaries. We are not homophobics. We love all people. But we don't love practices that are out of place. – Rev. Moses Mercedes, Greater Bridgeport Clergy Council

Well, it’s a good thing there was no bigotry there. Thanks to all the men of God who showed us how they love others.