Connecticut Catholic Conference 'Florists Need Protection'

I'm just waiting for the first "no faggots, dykes or trannies"

sign to go up in a business's window.  that's what they're calling for here - a revisitation of jim crow.

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Lurleen on Twitter.

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by: Lurleen @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 14:16:40 PM CST

As if...

...gay couples wouldn't select one of the tens of thousands of gay florists anyway.

Seriously, though. Imagine a florist refusing to sell flowers to the family of an LGBT person for his or her funeral.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 14:48:45 PM CST

How stupid do you have to be to not want to provide flowers for a wedding?

Seriously, who would rather not have money than provide flowers to a queer couple? I don't want to support any homophobes, so I'd be happy to see a directory of homophobic businesses to not bother giving my money to, but isn't that just stupid business sense?

I can kind of see not wanting to rent an apartment to a gay couple, under the premise that they'll be having sex on your property. Of course, I think it should be illegal to not rent to someone on the basis of anything other than reasonable suspicion that they will trash your place or won't pay their rent (and I don't mean a sweeping "those people are dirty," but an income too low for the monthly rent). But I kind of see the logic.

But not providing flowers because you might see queers when you are making the delivery? I encourage them to do so. Let the queer and queer-friendly businesses make the profit instead.

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by: one jewish dyke @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 17:05:11 PM CST

How about a law

protecting gay florists from Catholic nutjobs.

Dena

Cisgender. Because "Genetic" (or non) is so 2006.

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by: Denabeth @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 17:05:12 PM CST

We know who they are

Watanabe Floral donated to Yes On 8, and the island LGBT community has boycotted. We know who our friends are.

Besides, what part of "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" has the Catholic church forgotten?

God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 17:07:06 PM CST

And just how are they…

going to be able to tell if it a religious objection or discrimination? Will they have a list of religions that are exempt from the law? Will you have to take a religious test? Or do they just have to shrug their shoulders and say "it's against my religion."

I like what Sen. Kissel said...

But several lawmakers oppose extending the religious exemption. Sen. John Kissel is Catholic and has long shared his church's opposition to gay marriage.

"I've been with you guys all along," said Kissel, a Republican from Enfield. But, "we're at a fork in the road and I have to let go of your hand."

A law preventing a Catholic caterer from serving guests at a same-sex marriage could also be used by a Protestant baker who doesn't want to sell a cake to a Catholic father for his son's first communion, Kissel said. "It could just as easily turn against each and every Catholic in the state of Connecticut."

http://www.courant.com/news/po...

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by: Diana CT @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 17:32:48 PM CST

I just watched Religulous

  I laughed so hard, I need a good laugh.  Michael Steele is great for humor as his deal is just plain stupid.

 But Religulous is funny as Bill Maher exposes the christofacists for the dumb shit they spew.

 I can see why the religious riech has their panties in a twist, he proves them to be the idiots they truly are.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 17:33:43 PM CST

Seems like this could be

a GREAT financial windfall for LGBT friendly businesses!

Or for those who are LGBT supportive, the perfect opportunity to start up a business.


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by: Louise @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 18:03:36 PM CST

Love Makes a Family email...

Yesterday's public hearing in the Judiciary Committee on the marriage codification bill had run 10 hours when the last of our supporters finished testifying.

The bottom line: it was a good day to be on the side of equality!

Whew, that was a long day! They were there at 9:00am to draw numbers from a basket to determine the order of the testimony. Some of the number that they drew were in the 115 - 130 range.

On the flip side, the Catholic Conference and Family Institute representatives were grilled throughout the day--even by opponents of marriage equality--for overreaching in their attempts to retain demeaning language in our state statutes directed at gay people and to expand exemptions of who can refuse to provide goods and services at weddings for same-sex couples...or to LGBT people generally for that matter.

My favorite headline from the day was the one that appeared on the Hartford Courant website: "Church: Florists should be allowed to refuse gay weddings." Given the number of families falling into poverty in this state, it is beyond ironic that Connecticut's Catholic Conference is choosing to put its energy into sanctioning discrimination. It won't fly when the Judiciary Committee votes later this month, and our hope is that the Church's amendment will meet a similar fate when the full legislature votes.

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by: Diana CT @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 18:47:59 PM CST

While I share your disdain for these meddlesome priests...

...there may be a real issue here.

The key is in what exactly the bill would carve out of CT anti-discrimination law.

...to expand exemptions of who can refuse to provide goods and services at weddings for same-sex couples...or to LGBT people generally for that matter.

If CT includes sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination laws, businesses would be required to serve same-sex weddings on the same terms as they did all the previous weddings they've sold to.

Maybe there are Catholic florists who don't want to make that sale. But I sort of doubt that's the real agenda behind the bill.

But wait, there's more!

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by: PhoenixRising @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 20:19:10 PM CST

CT has an Anti-Discrimination law....

since 1991 that covered sexual orientation.

What the Catholic Conference and Family Institute are asking is to remove the protection that already exists and to allow discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The bill that they held the hearing on yesterday would codify the Supreme Court ruling that removed the marriage discrimination and allowed marriage equality. If they added the amendment to the bill, it would take away rights already granted.

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by: Diana CT @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 20:39:23 PM CST

[ Parent ]

There's got to be a good joke about pansies here,

but I'm damned if I can think of it.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 21:18:38 PM CST

I started one, but took it down

Along the lines of snapdragons begging that we "think of the baby's breath!" and blaming the whole mess on pansies, sweet peas and their "two-lips" meeting.

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by: Louise @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 08:16:41 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh! The punchline!

How LGBT friendly businesses could come out of this, smelling like a rose and rolling in the clover- if only they decided not to be shrinking violets about going against the church.

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by: Louise @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 08:18:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

To continue the vegetation theme,

the Catholic church would have to be stinkweed.

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 10:59:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

at the risk of spewing coffee

uhm... I've never met a straight florist...have these nabobs never gone to a florist???

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by: mikamaj @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 10:10:04 AM CDT

I know a straight florist in San Francisco!

I used to work with his wife.  Whenever she mentioned her husband was a florist, eyebrows were raised.

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by: fq5757 @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 10:22:50 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

My neighbor

is a straight florist; she started with one little shop and expanded to the next town over. I cannot imagine her being bigotted or hate anyone on the planet- a delightfully nice lady and sharp businesswoman.

Oh, to watch Maine get equal marriage and her business expand further would be WONDERFUL!

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by: Louise @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 11:05:08 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

A straight florist

testified against the proposed LGBT equality law here in Allegheny County last January.  He assured us that he works with a lot of gay florists and isn't a bigot.  But he went on to express concern about being forced to rent a room in his house to a homo.  Think of the children!  Horrors!

Cynic, n.  A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.  
-Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

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by: QScribe @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 11:03:09 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ugh

I remember one time having a unlicensed big dog running around my yard, getting into the garbage cans, etc and not knowing who he belonged to- but afraid he would get hit by a car.

So I asked my gay neighbor to just come sit in the living room (kids were sleeping) while I drove the dog down to the vet clinic nearby.

Poor guy- he was terrified of "but what if the baby wakes UP?" Everything turned out fine, but he was so scared of my 2 month old that it was actually funny. Nice, nice guy- he moved awhile ago and after a decade of having our "who can out-do who Xmas lights contest", I miss him terribly.

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by: Louise @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 11:11:15 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sooo...

We have moved from "think of the CHIDREN!" to "think of the FLORISTS"? Now all we need is a scandal to break over priests raping florists and we are complete.

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by: Carbonchild @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 14:19:26 PM CDT

Florists need the right to refuse wedding flower service to their exes!

After all, dishing gossip isn't enough revenge....

The CCC is pretty much showing its complete lack of seriousness here - how could they fail to see the dumbness? How could they maintain any hope of credibility in the eyes of legislators who know what the voters are likely to care about (and florists ain't it!)?

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by: NancyP @ Sun Mar 08, 2009 at 18:27:31 PM CDT