Interesting article from 365gay.com. Particularly so, since there there have been rumors for years that the governer-elect for Florida, Charlie Christ, is a closeted gay man. The issue has haunted him for most of his life in politics, but resurfaced more strongly during this election season after the Mark Foley scandal. Although Republicans don't have a lock on closeted politicians making anti-gay decisions (Jim McGreevey in NJ), the general lack of acceptance in the GOP seems to make closets deep enough to reach to Narnia.
To summarize the story, the State Senate in Florida has a new questionnaire for high level state appointees that they vote on. It is a bio kind of form that they use to begin to understand who a nominee is. One of the questions on it asks whether they have ever been accused of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Conservatives want it off the list because it isn't a protected category in the State's Constitution. There is nothing in the quesionnaire that says that a person wouldn't get a job if they answered yes to the question.
The protesting groups claim that it is a discrimination against their religious beliefs; that if they oppose the dreaded "homosexual agenda," that they will be excluded from positions in state government. The governor seems to be more of a Schwarzenegger conservative on gay issues: "Live and let live as long as it doesn't piss off the base too much." The Family Association (they always have names like that don't they) is leading the charge on this change and is also strongly lobbying the state to make same sex marriage illegal in the state.
So it seems the group is worried about getting their folks in plum spots so it can spread it's own agenda. However, there is no need to think that someone's beliefs about gay marriage would mean that they also harass people based on sexual orientation. If this group has a big overlap on those two issues, they probably won't find themselves too successful in their campaign anyway.
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Comments: 6
Your reference to McCarthyism is absurd on several levels, the least of which is that it is these folks own political party (conservative christians are called the republican base by republicans themselves) that developed the questionnaire.