Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Abandons Gay Rights Bill
andrewagill writes "Microsoft has withdrawn support from a bill that would "protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in employment, housing, banking, insurance, and other matters by adding sexual orientation to a state law which already bars discrimination" of the other usual suspects. Odd, given their previous accolades from the GLBT community, and their prior public support for the bill."
The full article can be found here:l
http://www.thestranger.com/2005-04-21/feature.htm
He has noting on him.
The bill was basically stalled as many other unrelated things got tacked onto it. The spirit of the bill was so diluted it was useless.
MS will support a new bill, which adheres to the original with none of the extra fluff.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but here's a quote from the good Pastor, during the Senate Hearing on HB1515, on March 22nd:
(He then went on to say that homosexuals want to molest young boys.)
Sorry, but with that sort of intolerance, this man has no right to call himself a servant of God.
All his parishoners should be ashamed.
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Um, no. Marches and political clout are to *precisely* get us what you already have. I must have missed the memo about how we're trying to take over the world or something. We're not trying to legislate how we're thought of; we just want the same *rights*.
What rights? Lets just look at marriage rights, shall we? Here's just a handful.
* Access to social security after a spouse's death
* Access to health ensurance through the spouse's workplace
* The right to custody of children after divorce
* Visitation rights for non-biological children
* Joint parenting rights, such as access to children's school records
* Bereveament leave after death of a spouse
* Burial determination after the death of a spouse
* Domestic violence intervention
* Sick leave to care for a spouse or non-biological child
* Legal validation of a long term relationship
* Ability to live in neighborhoods deemed "families only"
* Access to life insurance in spouse's workplace
* Access to survivor benefits in case of emergency
* Access to spouse's crime victims' recovery benefits
* Ability to file wrongful death claims
* Right to shared property, child support, and alimony after divorce
* Ability to file joint home and auto insurance policies
* Joint rental leases with automatic renewal if spouse dies or leaves
* Access to adopting children
* Automatic inheritance of shared assets after spouse's death
* Automatic inheritance of retirement savings tax-free after spouse's death
* Automatic exemption of property tax increases on shared assets gained after spouse's death
* Ability to file joint tax returns
* Access to tax breaks for married couples
* Assumption of spouse's pension after death
* Ability to file joint bankruptcy
* Ability to collect unemployment benefit after leaving a job to relocate because of spouse's job move
* Ability to transfer property from one spouse to aother without transfer tax consequences
* Access to fostering children
* Automatic next-of-kin status for emergency medical decisions and hospital visitation status
* Immigration and residency priority for spouses from other countries
* Ability to invoke spousal privilege in a court of law
* Access to reduced rate memberships at health clubs, social clubs, organizations.
* Prison visitation rights
Many, many more.
We're tired of being second class citizens. Sick of it, really. I can just picture you, back in the 1960s, claiming that blacks "just want political clout and to march". It's the same sort of tripe that they got then, and we're taking it now.
Marriage is not "a different animal". First off, just from a technical perspective, civil unions are generally pretty worthless. the most important benefits are at the federal level. Many private benefits are simply based on the word "marriage" as well (private organizations have the right to exclude same sex couples if they want, and few would argue them that, despite what Fox News and the like tell you; the issue is that many organizations simply want a legal status, and use whatever the government decides is "married"). Civil unions are "consolation prize"; separate-but-equal (but not really equal) really sucks.
But most importantly of all: It is not *your* institution. Because *your* church, or whatnot, says that it's wrong, means nothing to me. My partner and I were married in a Unitarian church; they recognize and honor same sex marriages. Who are *you* to say that my religion's viewpoint is of lesser value than your own?
The American Anthropological Society completely disagrees with the notion that marriage has always been as it is now, and that same sex marriages are either ahistorical or harmful. Hundreds of societies throughout history have had them. Up until recently, interracial marriages were illegal in the US. Before that, marriages between African Americans were banned, period. For the
"It felt almost as good as stealing cars from grandma." -- Margaret Thatcher, probably.