Writing on her organizations hate-blog today Slaggie Gilamonster had this to say:
"The suicide of that teen was not only a tragedy it was a crime. The young people who violated laws out of mindless desire to bully or embarrass or whatever the heck kids do this stuff will be prosecuted and probably jailed, I hope. Nothing in the press accounts suggest the kids who did this were motivated by homophobia, and the cruelty of cyberbullying is causing teen suicides among those who are not gay, as well. I do not think the absence of gay marriage is the cause of these tragedies or its presence will resolve them. We can make this a symbol of all our other fights, or we can try to save all our kids, gay and straight, from this kind of ugly and mindless cruelty. My heart goes out to the family of the young man. God bless him and them."
- Maggie Gallagher, commenting on NOM's blog.
Oh look, Maggie Gallagher the woman who has made her career out of saying how evil Gay and Lesbian Americans are, feels bad that a teenager killed himself - how nice. But of course, according to Maggie, the fact that Tyler Clementi was Gay should not be the issue. Maggie feels we should make Tyler a "symbol"in the fight to protect ALL our children. Wow.
Maggie Gallahger of the National Organization for (some people's) Marriage wanting to find common ground on stopping bullying. What could possibly be wrong with that?
Plenty. Because, you see, Maggie's sudden outbreak of sensitivity has NOTHING to do with keeping kids safe.
The wing nut social conservative Right knows they need to get control of the Bullying debate and get control of it FAST.
They are desperate to take sexual orientation out of the debate. Because if you say it is wrong that a kid was bullied because he was gay, you are really saying there is nothing wrong with being Gay; and NOM can never allow that to happen.
This in spite of the clear evidence that bullying based on sexual orientation was the direct cause of a number of recent tragic suicides across the the United States. So much so that the United States Government was compelled to issue this statement:
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STATEMENT BY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ARNE DUNCAN On the Recent Deaths of Two Young Men
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released the following statement:
"This week, we sadly lost two young men who took their own lives for one unacceptable reason: they were being bullied and harassed because they were openly gay or believed to be gay. These unnecessary tragedies come on the heels of at least three other young people taking their own lives because the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear.
"This is a moment where every one of us - parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience - needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms. Whether it's students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay, it is time we as a country said enough. No more. This must stop."
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Maggie's dear friends and bankrollers over at "Focus on the Family" figured out the danger to them, and the threat this poses to their arguments against LGBT equality right away. So they quickly launched an all out attack on anti- bullying programs and proposed safe school legislation, because it might say things like a kid shouldn't be beaten and tormented simply for being Gay.
As I mentioned in my previous posting. Focus on the Family knows they have to change this debate so that any efforts made to protect Gay and Lesbian Teens are portrayed as part of some sinister Gay plot to indoctrinate children;
" LGBT groups use bullying prevention to promote their homosexual agenda, including the idea that homosexuality is normal. Focus on the Family education expert Candi Cushman said that the group is against bullying but that bullying prevention “is being hijacked by activists.” She claims that anti-bullying programs are gay activism in disguise and that these programs conceal their true purpose."
OF COURSE Maggie and NOM want to have a nice generic "gay free" discussion on "Cyber bullies", and not have to answer for their barnstorming around the country constantly spewing the talking point that Gays and Lesbians are inferior to Straight People, and don't merit any legal protections.
It's hardly a surprise that Maggie wants to say that this is about generic "Bullying" and NOT about homophobia.
Maggie Gallahger has spent millions of dollars saying that Gays and Lesbians are "attacking families" and are out to "destroy traditional marriage", that Gays and Lesbians have a "Radical Agenda" and are a "threat to children". So I am sure the LAST thing Maggie would want to do is have to answer for the impact that her "work" might have on people like Tyler Clementi's Roommate Dharun Ravi and Ravi's friend Molly Wei.
So from NOM"s point of view, if you take the fact that Tyler was GAY out of the discussion, (as Maggie DESPERATELY wants to do) , you can be "sympathetic" but NOT have to examine the motives behind WHY Tyler's roommate Dharun Ravi did what he did.
Talking about the death of Tyler Clementi in it's true context means you have to ask the question; why didn't Ravi and Wei feel that Tyler Clementi had the SAME rights to privacy, dignity and common courtesy they would expect and even demand be given to them without question?
To have to face the honest answer - That Ravi may have felt that Tyler Clementi was somehow "less than" because he was Gay; means you have to accept the idea that someone being discriminated against because they are Gay or Lesbian, is wrong. Maggie's whole world view could never allow for that..
Maggie Gallagher is the face and voice of an organization that has spent millions of dollars putting out the message that Gays and Lesbians do not deserve to have equal rights. To even allow the argument that homophobia is a bad thing is to risk the entire premise upon which her career and her organization's very existence is based.
NOM's "concern" over bullying has NOTHING to do with protecting kids, and EVERYTHING to do with protecting homophobia.
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