Rand Paul on Gay Marriage
As far as I know, this is an up to date example. In France everyone who wants to marry must have a legal civil ceremony before they have a religious ceremony.
All marriages must be performed by a French civil authority before any religious ceremony takes place. The mayor can authorize the deputy mayor or a city councilor to perform the ceremony in the town in which one of the parties to be married has resided for at least 40 days preceding the marriage. These requirements can not be waived.
Here’s the link. This is for ALL couples.
So this twisted account of Rand Paul’s stand on gay marriage by the highly biased LGBT media about civil contracts makes me wonder if the author of the article thinks we’re all stupid. And, of course, CNN is right there to help twist the words. And don’t get me wrong. I’ve fought for “gay marriage” because that’s the word we use for civil marriage and religious marriage in the US. I don’t think of the word as having a religious meaning. But I also know there are people who would disagree with that and it doesn’t necessarily mean they want to take away my right to a civil “contract,” or “union” that’s recognized the same way a religious “marriage” is recognized by the government. In other words, it’s the word “marriage” that gets many people frustrated, it’s not gay people. I don’t agree with it, but I understand it.
“I do believe people ought to be left alone,” Paul says. “I don’t care who you are, what you do at home or who your friends are, where you hang out, what kind of music you listen to. What you do in your home is your own business. That’s always been who I am. I am a leave-me-alone kind of guy.”
“But not when it comes to marriage,” Bash pushes.
“Well, no, the states will end up making the decisions on these things,” Paul replies. “I think there’s a religious connotation to this. I also believe people ought to be treated fairly under the law. I see why if the marriage contract conveys certain things, that if you want to marry another woman, you can do that and have a contract. But the thing is that the religious connotation of marriage that has been going on for thousands of years, I still want to preserve that.”
Rand Paul said nothing different than was said in the previous election by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton…or any other candidate looking for votes. Leave it up to the states, which essentially is what has been done. Gay marriage has only been a top priority for a FEW politicians, none of whom were ever taken seriously by anyone, including the LGBT community. Had it not been for Judge Jones in Pennsylvania, gay marriage would still be illegal. And, if anyone out there can find me a quote from Barack Obama stating that he supported gay marriage fully on a federal level in any of the previous elections while he was campaigning I will update this post as fast as I can. Obama has helped advance the cause when it suited him well, however, I saw no vocal support during any of the previous elections.
The only thing with which I find fault is the word choices of Rand Paul. But then maybe he did that on purpose. I’m not sure. But a civil contract that’s legal and recognized in the US sounds basically to me what a religious marriage is to someone else. Tony and I were married by a Vermont Supreme court justice and I make a point of stating it was not religious at all. It was the equivalent of a civil contract, legal and binding…just like they have in France. We call it civil marriage ceremony because that’s the word we all use here in the US.
I know it’s complicated, and I also know there are those who don’t support any LGBT equal rights in the US. But what they did with this Rand Paul article is highly questionable and not very good journalism. This is what pundits do to make millions of dollars on our emotions.
There’s more about Rand Paul and the CNN reporter, here.
Gay Sex Slave Ring Miami
Don’t get too excited. This isn’t about another fun filled weekend like they have in San Francisco during Pride Week. There actually, literally is a deranged guy who has been running an illegal sex ring, and trafficking humans as sex slaves.
According to court documents, Vass met three victims, all in their early 20s, online. He told them they would make between $3,000 and $5,000 a month working as male escorts and offered to fly them to New York City. When the men arrived, however, they soon found themselves forced to live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment with five other male prostitutes and perform sex acts literally around the clock, either with johns or on live web cams. The victims were not paid for the work, though Vass and his fellow pimps raked in around $40,000 each per month.
To prevent the victims from escaping, Vass confiscated their travel documents and threatened them and their families back in Hungary. In 2012, he moved the operation from New York City to Miami, where he was eventually caught.
This creep is going to be sentenced on June 2 and I hope there’s a follow up. It also states these young men were forced to be “escorts.” I’d like to know why those who were paying for these escorts are never prosecuted.
Hot Men of Coachella
If you haven’t been hearing about Coachella than you clearly haven’t been on any social media at all in the past week. It’s been tweeted about so much I actually went deaf after a while. It’s like authors who constantly promote books on social media. They become invisible if you see them too much.
In any event, it looks like fun and games were had by one and all. Madonna is very big there.
Another Coachella (round one) has come and gone, and with it an overload of social media uploads blasting FOMO onto the touch screens of those not in attendance.
The parties, the celebrities, the looks — oh, and what’s that other thing again?
Ohh, the music. Right.
You can check out the photos here.
And, there’s more to come this weekend.
