The tiny town of Porterville, California, is suddenly, almost overnight, ground zero in the fight to overturn Proposition 8, as citizens appeared en masse Tuesday night to confront and challenge elected officials over their endorsement of the ban on gay marriage. Porterville’s city council passed a resolution supported Prop 8, and that has angered those who elected the members mightily, including resident Jamie Garza, one of the eighteen-thousand Californian’s who married last year, who told of the both emotional and physical abuse she and her wife have had to endure while defending their right to be wedded, and resident Barry Caplan who argued before Council Tuesday night that Proposition 8 has effectively created a three-tiered class of citizens and has divided the town.
Vermont Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is holding a hearing Wednesday on an immigration bill that if passed, will allow United States citizens and legal aliens to sponsor residency in America for their same-sex partners, following the same protocol in place currently for opposite sex couples.
The bill, known as the Uniting American Families Act, however, has already raised the ire of the usual suspects of the hateful masquerading as Christians, including Bishop John C. Wester, the chairman of the Catholic bishop’s Committee on Migration who argues the Act would “erode the institution of marriage and family” as it affirms a position that contradicts “the very nature of marriage.” By the way, Bishop John C. Wester was one of the more prominent players brokering a partnership with the Utah Catholic Church and the Mormon Church last summer in a successful effort to pass Proposition 8.
This past Saturday a number of local Topeka, Kansas gay activists and straight allies came out to stage a peaceful protest directed squarely at the hate mongering members of the Westboro Baptist Church, home to Fred and Shirley Phelps. The organizers of the rally, millionfagmarch.com, intend to offer a message of acceptance and tolerance to compete with the WBC’s message of hate and intolerance.
The National Enquirer is reporting that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are separating.
Um, I thought that Kevin of all the Jonas Brothers was the obvious make believe heterosexual and yet Joe gives his brethren a run for the proverbial money.
And Mr. Adam Lambert and boyfriend Drake LaBry lunch in Venice, California, and play possum, while being more than out and about.
6 comments:
I am Barry Caplan, the organizer of last night's pubnlic speakers at Porterville's City Council Meeting.
Thank you for noticing us, everyone spread the word far and wide, and in California, ask, no demand that your own City Council and County Supervisors state their take on developments publicly, whether up or down.
We need to know how it is as we begin our effort to overturn this civil rights boondoggle, the largest of my adult life.
Keep track of what is going on at my blog, portervillenerd.com. There are already some updates there. And if you blog about it, please be sure to let me know or at least put in a good link to one of my posts so I can track the reach we hare having.
Barry is a freaking insult to normality. An outsider who has invaded our hometown with malicious intent and contempt for the majority. He has no job and lives off generosity of strange and stranger people, well beyond the insanity expressed in the character of Blanche in Streetcar Named Desire. He use to be a friend but turned out to be a backstabbing SOB, philandering dwarf and general anarchist. he has insulted all he comes in contact with . My opinion is that he would even be kicked out of Krakow for being obnoxious and disliked. He supposed "success" is a laughable matter staffed by extreme minority of local GBLT's. Most gay friends of mine in our city are appalled at his overt radical droning functions. He has beemn kicked out of most every endeavour he has contaminated with his prescence. The law has been passed on Prop 8 and that's it. he needs to pack up and return to San Fran.
Heh - Will is so out if it he thinks I ever lived in San Francisco. As a guy who used to be my friend until he decided otherwise (we have been to each other's houses for social events), I wish he would have paid more attention to what I told him. It would give the rest of his rant at least the shred of credibility.
Anyway, I'd be happy to meet with his so-called gay friends. They can find me easily enough.
Just the same, I have never met a single gay person who was prepared to give up their civil rights at the vote of a plurality, let alone a minority. In fact, I never met a single person gay straight or in between who was prepared to do that.
If Will knows some folks like that, I'd like to meet them. Maybe they can make the case why it is a good idea. He knows how to reach me.
In the meantime, consider his rant and just what bee might be stuck in his bonnet. Know that as a local journalist, his bias on this matter was recently subject to correction and apology in writing by his editor.
As for his claim of lack of progress on the matter, I assure you, Will knows not of what he speaks here.
Oh Barry,
I appreciate your instantaneous response, since you are unemployed you have lots of freetime to search out the ridiculous, but NOW on your venue of self-serving antagonists have angered me beyond description. Your calls to our newspaper with veiled threats of pyscho-viruses, improper promotion of your extreme minority view are indeed irritating.
I’ve seen your resume and have called your "references" and have seen your modis operatum, my ex-friend. I am appalled. my gay and lesbians friends are appalled at you "upsetting' their world. I'd be afraid to introduce them to you! They'd either slap your face, kick your butt or unload with fervor over your pollution intheir lifestyle.
I've read your posts on our glorious worldwide 'net and see what you're self-serving polictical agenda is full of. You NEVER EVER mentioned your GBLT crap to me or my friends during our forced co-operation. All I heard was how insulting that Barry character was, and I defended you.
You dismiss miss now but once begged for my promotion of your ludicrious talent. I've even handedlypresented your smal small small grassroots group of dissenters online, in video, without a public rant, which i could do easily as an opinion piece. I spared you in public, but you have chosen to ignore me stupidedly and go public yourself. So, I guess the war is on Mr. Kaplan.
First, the majority of the city voted against for a simple resolution! You're borintg council statements dismiss the local numbers which were higher than the county numbers. So, i have a 3/4's group of rock solid citizens ready to fight dynamically, in like kind, with internet-media-grassroots enthusiasm, and political power.
Second, I will investigate deeply, with all civil rights of protecting our community from a rag-tag bunch of gay naysayers who lost and have sour-grapes as their meal four times a day. The vote was cast. Live with it.
Third, you named this ground zero for your anarchism. We will bury your agenda here and your aspirations will be deep sixed thusly. Feel free to bring your forces of pnkness from about. The worse case for me is increased web hits from your actions.
Fourth, you are dis-serving the good gay people of our community by dragging them into your idiotic revolution. It's hard for minority voices to live day to day in any place. I care about them more than you do and have done more for them than you ever could on your journey to snatch some sweet ACLU seat or Activism position.
Fifth, we will show what real civil rights are. Not some arrogant "I think this is so" so and so. Civil is constituted by the majority and the code of right and wrong. Dennis Townsend said it well. No rights were taken away from our gay citizens. ToriFan666 in her juvenile warped reactionary
mind may feel someone violated her ascent to being queen of the universe, or Neely to the same throne. But, Prop 8 did none of that to you sour grapes connissuers.
So, yes, Mr. Caplan, I encourage your friends to live in peace with the civil union they have been granted by horrible people lik me. Your bedrooms are your own. Your lives are guaranteed by all we believe, but don't flog us with your malicious banter and insults. I fear that folks less civil than will lose it sadly.
Your dearest friend , co-producer, ex-potential business partner, laugher at tasteless jokes, drinker of fine wine, player of Charades and purveyor of what I would die for.
Will
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Will it sounds like you are just another backwoods uneducated idiot.
If you are going to insult me try spelling my name correctly.
Dear well intentioned Brock,
All is fair when you boys start these dang old shenanigans. I'm a humorist but I don't see ya laughing good sir. You might as well call all of our hometown residents backwoods hillbillies.
Per your slandering "uneducated" spewing I doubled checked my educational documents just make sure I was educated, and thank God they are legitimately intact.
LOL what's it feel like to be insulted after you've lathered the city with your "P-Ville-age People" insult parades at council, fairs, public gatherings and personal attacks. its more than fair. I'm amazed they let you participate in an education institute. I don't get paid for being an idiot, but you do. I'm sure your stories of tire slashing, threats and gay-bashing are amplified like the touring sound system from RENT! Sympathy will not come to your cause like that, brother.
I know we've let you down by not quoting scripture so you could button us into oppressive religiosity argument. it's not needed. We won fellow citizen. Your rights are intact, yet you attack! Your bizarre expectation of additional rights pumped into your wish list is not the will or wishes of the voters.
Brock, B r o c k, got the spelling write. I apologize for any error in identifying you. I like you actually and applaude your fervor. It’s almost like a guy with some terrible terminal disease willing to bend all the rules in order to get his childish way through manipulation and deceit. I'm actually pretty sick right now myself from BP problems which cause outrage to fill my psyche, so I understand, bro.
So, let's be civil gentleman. I'm a paid Political Humorist and have the wonderful right to laugh at all things bizarre and this takes the cake. The many calls I’ve received open with " Will, so what will you say/do about this...lol"
Give me fodder boys. But if its stupid, insulting, goes against the majority will of Tulare Country and Porterville then I & my new found supporters will skewer you open an open flame, with shallots in a white sauce and garlic followed by a fine Australian Chateau Waggawagga Wine.
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