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HB2661: The Unintended Consequences
There is a breaking story in Washington State today that goes something like this:
Straight Woman Seeks Equality Under Gay-Rights Law.
I just finished an interview with KING 5 TV in Seattle and the news people are still trying to sort out all of the ramifications.
Sandi Scott-Moore, an employee of Honeywell International in Redmond, WA, claims health insurance coverage for her male partner was denied because the unmarried couple is not of the same gender.
Robert Ferris, of Honeywell, says the company does provide health benefits for partners of its gay and lesbian employees. He is also saying Honeywell has a zero-tolerance stand on discrimination. Yet he is saying her claim has no merit. Which is it?
How can benefits go to the unmarried partner if you’re gay but not if you’re heterosexual?
Marc Brennen, Human Rights Commission Director said, “We could be creating new policy for employers and other entities in the State.” He said, “Upholding the claim could set a sweeping new precedent for Washington business.”
Faith & Freedom and other faith-based organizations have been saying that this bill was dangerous and would have far-reaching and possibly unintended consequences.
A lawyer friend of mine just sent me the following email.
“Gary. So now the flood gates have been opened. The ‘special rights’ law will reorder our entire society by marginalizing and blurring [traditional] marriage and traditional roles such as man, woman, husband and wife. All relationships will be equal and marriage will no longer have specific meaning nor be special.”
When the faith community unsuccessfully campaigned to get HB2661 on the ballot, we were consistently accused of being prejudiced or bigoted.
We are not. However, there are reasons why traditional marriage and values have served humanity well for thousands of years.
To re-engineer society is to begin moving down a slippery slope from which there is little hope for recovery.
House Bill 2661 is a solid first step in that direction. We have only begun to see its unintended consequences.
__________________
Gary Randall
President
Faith & Freedom
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29 Comments:
Oh let us light our hair on fire and run around too!
Sheesh you act like this hasn't come up before in other states with anti-discrimination clauses.
If our state is like others the commission will find that because we don't have marriage equality the company can require marriage WHEN possible for benefits to be conferred.
Of course if there was marriage equality its not an issue - in Massachusetts several major employers have announced they will be getting rid of domestic partnership benefits since now all employees can civilly marry their spouses.
Marriage equality strengthens the civil aspect of marriage because it puts all citizens on a level playing field and has them all using the one same civil contract.
Ole' Miss Hyphenated 2-name could get married & get tax-sheltered employee benefits......gay couples cannot, plus DP's get taxed on any domestic partner benefits their employer offers.
Sounds frivolous in nature. What are her damages?!
Interesting , so now you can have someone who does not want to get married , receive the same benefits as if they do . The benefits without the commitment or liability of putting both assts together ...
Basically a gay person who does not want to get married , even if they were allowed to, have the same medical benefits granted , so under the law and commonsense , heteosexual partners should have the same rights .. Unless of course they are "special" rights .. And we all know that is not the case ..
Yes, indeed, gay marriage would be a very simple, eloquent solution. Agreed w/ 4:48pm that it's a frivolous suit, but it might actually help by more clearly illustrating the inequities and injustices of discrimination.
That unmarried opposite-sex couples in Washington and other states want access to domestic partnership benefits is an expected consequence of the country’s continued discrimination against same-sex couples in marriage.
As long as we continue to discriminate, companies, cities, and counties will fill in the gap with these marriage substitutes. These substitutes offer some of the benefits of marriage but do not require the commitment of marriage because marriage is denied to same-sex couples. It’s not surprising that opposite-sex couples who are not willing to commit to each other through marriage want access to these benefits, too.
The solution: Gay couples and families will always be a part of the human fabric and will not go away, so make the commitment of marriage the golden standard for all couples – gay and straight -- and drop these marriage substitutes. Offer the benefits of marriage only to those couples who are willing to commit to each other through marriage, but offer them to all couples. This current patchwork of obtaining rights only serves to further erode marriage.
The choice is clear; are we making choices that lead to LIFE or death. This is not about right and wrong as much as it is about a choice for LIFE. It is a narrow road to be sure, but EVERYONE is invited.
Correct Anonymous 7:31 pm. It is because some citizens are denied license to the civil contract of marriage that these little problems exists at all. I have no doubt that the commission will reach the same conclusion that other states and municipalities have reached: that a business can require a civil contract for all married couples that are eligible and still give benefits to those married couples that can't. But again look to Massachusetts to see this problem melt away with equal treatment - businesses are giving notice to their employees with domestic partners that they will have to license the civil contract if they want to retain spousal benefits.
It is discrimination that creates situations like the current one, it will be equal treatment that make them go away.
Oh and anonymous 9:04 pm, a couple's love is life affirming regardless of their gender combination.
Oh and anonymous 9:04 pm, a couple's love is life affirming regardless of their gender combination
Tell that to Romeo and Juliet
And another type of unintended consequence:
(Madison, Wisconsin) Fears of a gay "brain drain" over Wisconsin's pending vote on banning same-sex marriage, and the lack of partner benefits for gay employees of state institutions, may be starting to come to fruition.
Rob Carpick, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who has won millions of dollars in grants for his research in the field of nanotechnology, is leaving for the more gay-friendly University of Pennsylvania.
He takes with him the funding - some $3.4 million in grants from the National Science Foundation, branches of the U.S. military and private companies since 2000.
"After six and one-half years of working very hard, I found it's problematic to work in an environment where you are not treated equally," Carpick, 37, told The Associated Press. "Fortunately there are other entities that are more enlightened than the state of Wisconsin on this issue and the University of Pennsylvania is one of them."
I'm sure Wisconsin will be better off without the jobs from those grants since they will have gotten rid of two more gays from their state.
Dear Vishanti,
You are precious to Christ. So precious that he became human like you so that you would come to him.
"Tell that to Romeo and Juliet"
Wouldn't the first obstacle to that be that they are fictional characters?
anonymous 11:33 am. Christ and I are fine. He didn't believe in blind following of dogma or fear-mongering and never chastised the gay people He encountered in His ministry. Christ has very little to with Christianists other than the name.
Being gay and Christian is totally compatible with Christ, being a Christianist isn't.
To my beloved brethren,
Remember:
Do not associate with one easily angered (Prov 22:24)
Some of these anti-traditionalists are delightful. Others are so hateful that there is no point in even addressing their hostile comments. One stewing in their own bile of anger, resentment, and hate, (as some here are), is not capable of being rational or of rational discussion. They will just want the last word, hurl insults, and try to bring you down with them.
The following is from Agape Press:
Commentary & News Briefs
August 23, 2006
Compiled by Jenni Parker
...The judge who recently ruled against the federal government's warrantless wiretap program may have had a conflict of interest in the case. Michigan U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor struck down the government's effort to track terrorists using wiretaps, ruling that particular strategy unconstitutional. But according to a USA Today report, a conservative group called Judicial Watch is highlighting what it sees as a "potential conflict of interest [that] merits serious investigation." It has been noted that one of the groups that brought this case before Judge Taylor is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Now, Judicial Watch is calling attention to the fact that the U.S. district judge is a member of a local foundation that recently gave $45,000 to the ACLU for programs serving homosexuals. Although it is unclear what effect, if any, this disclosure will have on Taylor's recent federal wiretap program ruling, the government has already announced its intention to appeal her decision. [Fred Jackson]
Remember: Do not associate with one easily angered (Prov 22:24)
And remember it is the Christianists who are the angry ones - they are the ones who think there should be special rights, they are the ones saying others marriages are unworthy of equal treatment. Be good Christians and allow all your neighbors and fellows to make their own decisions about these very personal areas of their lives just as they allow you to make yours.
Gary, found your article better than Swecker's. Perhaps the journalist had poor journalistic skills, as the majority do. Nothing like what we were taught in Journalism classes in high school in the early 60's.
I do applaud Swecker's courage, and it does take courage to say/do anything the angry ranters "perceive" as against them and their rebellious lifestyles. Not alternative, but anti-social, rebellious, immature, lifestyles. You hear them say, "I may grow old, but I'm never growing up!" Fortunately, many do.
The hostility of these rebellious ones indicates a need for anger management counseling, and possible medicating.
It also indicates their inner self, that small quiet voice, is telling them they are wrong about their feelings and choices. They are fighting from within.
Would you want children being raised by people who are so angry, so hateful, & anti-social?... God forbid! The immature raising the immature? Oh, yeah, right. Thhat will make for a real healthy culture, society, nation.
Children are confused naturally about sexuality, as a part of normal development. Judeo-Christian teachings give them guidance that has historically been the most successful.
On the other hand, cultures where un-natural sexuality was allowed to develop suffered from the negative outcomes of such behaviors. No time to show research, but is there for legitimate seekers of facts, which will exclude certain individuals here today.
History also has proven that un-natural sexuality just doesn't work. Not for the culture, the nation, or the individual, long-term.
Perhaps this is why libs have been involved for YEARS now to rewrite history they don't like. Doesn't change the facts of history just because wishful thinkers want to write their fairy tales out of a personal need to deny reality.
And I agree, it is an exercise in wasteful time management to dialog with those whose paradigms are logically faulty. A wise man put it clearly, "don't be throwing your pearls to the pigs".
Even the good Lord has children who choose to wallow in the stye. It is their choice, and their right. Leave 'em alone. They're enjoying the filth of their choice, and we have no right, no mandate, to waste our precious time. When they quit doing pot & legal mind-altering prescription drugs, which do affect their ability to mature, & make big enough fools of themselves, they may or may not reincarnate themselves at some point to become matured adults.
Remember Darrell, the pot smoker, who used to call in to the conservative talk shows? Believe me. A bigger waste of your time you could not perform.
I always ignore them as if they didn't exist. Drives 'em even more nutz. I'm just not going to waste my time on nonsense, and the purveyors of same. Why would anyone? Let 'em wallow. When they want the precious truth, they will seek it.
Our mandate is to do as the Maccabeans. Take a stand, no matter the cost, no matter the suffering, the inconvenience, for the principles which have a historical track record.
The war is never won. It, too, is historical. And it is personal. We all fight it, daily. It is called self-discipline, sometimes, self-denial of what our human-ness wants, vs. what is right and what is good. The human heart is evil above all things. And I didn't say it.
Thank you for elevating the discussion by calling or inferring that gays
* have anti-social, rebellious, immature, lifestyles.
* have a need for anger management counseling, and possible medicating
* are so angry, so hateful, & anti-social
* are immature
* are doing pot & legal mind-altering prescription drugs, which do affect their ability to mature
* don't know what is right and what is good
Unfortunately, you didn't include any evidence or information that you based your generalizations upon, so the only choice is to note that your opinions have no merit to anyone else. Thanks for sharing them, though. Hopefully, it made you feel better.
Gary, Gary, Gary.
It amazes me that your head hasn't exploded due to congitive dissonnence. You have argued in the past that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples isn't discriminatory becuase homosexuals are free to marry anyone they wish, so long as they are of the opposite sex. Why wouldn't the same logic apply here? Seems to me that by your own standard, Ms Scott-Moore is not being discriminated against. Her employer is willing to provide benefits to the same-sex partner of her choice.
Oh, and BTW, your opposition to HB 2661 was motivated by pure, unadulterated bigotry. You can dance around and try and obfuscate it all you wish, but it is crystal clear to everyone what motivates you.
Of course, it's crystal clear to everyone - why else would he dedicate his entire life to this cause? It's a pretty pathetic obsession.
The cranky bubbe said:
The war is never won. It, too, is historical. And it is personal. We all fight it, daily. It is called self-discipline, sometimes, self-denial of what our human-ness wants, vs. what is right and what is good. The human heart is evil above all things. And I didn't say it.
And here in lies so much of the blindness of the Christianists - it is they who are following their hearts and not using their minds as God intended as Jeremiah (which of course actually said the heart was devious not evil). As the previous writer pointed out bubbe has a long list of qualities that she judges the incredibly diverse group that is gay people to have. Didn't bubbe even read about the good Samaritan? Doesn't she know that the whole point of the story is that Samaritans were know to be sinners, didn't have the right beliefs, and probably had a long laundry list of presumed failings just as she is assigning to gay people?
But they still follow their devious hearts and they allow their fears about one subject to taint all the subjects they fear as if they were one because their heart tells them this is true even though their mind should not. Looking for the 'truthiness' of the world rather than bothering to try find the real truth. Just as Dan misrepresented the true nature of Dutch marriage and they won't admit this error even with confronted with the facts so they have hardened their devious hearts to the possibility that they are the ones who are failing God and ignoring His lessons.
Haughtiness, hatred, and judgemental hearts do not a real Christian make.
Uhhh Vishanti--I'm sure she didn't know the story of the Samaratans which is New Testament.
She is Jewish.
That is Old Testament.
In your hatred of Christians, you are assuming the only people on here who don't see things your way are Christians.
People are coming to their senses. They are recognizing that Mr. Randall and his followers are not Christians. They hateful people pretending to be Christians, but Jesus Christ would not condone their actions. May God love you all!
"In your hatred of Christians, you are assuming the only people on here who don't see things your way are Christians."
Yeah Vishanti, sounds a little haughty, judgemental, and filled with hatred, if you ask me... Calmly pushing his agenda based on falsehoods. Poor guy. I'll have to pray for him...
Well if she is jewish than her point of view is even odder - jews are god's Chosen People and are alone subject to the Old Testament proscriptions - Christians and non-Christians aren't. I've never met a person of the Jewish faith who thought it was their province to tell non-Jewish people how to act, or that they were bound by Jewish law.
And again, Christians don't try and tell other people how they can live their lives, that's Christianists and why I differentiate between the two faiths. Your flavor of Christianity is NOT 'Christianity' and if I am against those that lie in the name of Christ does not mean I am against Christians.
Vishi is not against Christians , he is against Christ actually . That is something he will have to deal with , not us .
Jews are alone to the old Testament laws ? Then Christ is a liar huh ? Notice to accept homoexuality you need to condemn the Ten Commandments .
Ehh , thats right , you already believe that ...
9:56 am- God does love us all! Thank GOD for that. Anyone here casting stones. OR are we holding up our shield of faith and our sword of rightousness? We have to stand up and not let this go any further.We have to protect gods word for our kids. No one is perfect. God is in the driver seat and those going up against him and his word beware.
"Vishi is not against Christians , he is against Christ actually . That is something he will have to deal with , not us . "
That is absolutely 100% right. The hostility here was so shocking to me. Then I remembered "don't be surprised when the world (Vishi and friends) hates you, bcause they hated me first".
"We have to stand up and not let this go any further.We have to protect gods word for our kids. "
Yes! This web site and the hateful comments drives my determination to protect our kids. And it makes me love my "family" in Christ even more.
Hip hip horray!!!!!!!! Ya know it is everywhere. The negativity that is. There is so much going against gods word in this world. There are good people there are good places and there is got to be more of us here on this site than them. Believers have to stick together and stand strong with our shields. And the angry bloggers quoting this and that ,from here and there ,and doing this and that, have to be the minority here.
It is faith then freedom I believe not freedom then faith.I do think they put one in front of the other for a reason.
God you are our rock.Your hold on us is strong. You patiently await each one of us to come to you. Your word stands over us to guide us. We thank you lord for the salvation you give ,the strength , the truth ,and the mighty power you hold to grasp us.
God will bless all us believers and "God will you touch any blogger who comes along and stays. We glorify your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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