Thank God for and God Bless the Democratic Party

In November 2004 I voted "no" on the state constitutional amendment concerning gay marriage that I considered to be gay bashing.

That summer on my website I wrote:

For a Republican to admit that he or she is only a "M" for moderate, then such Republican is considered by other party faithfuls as being no better than a Democrat, and as such is anti-family and has abandoned family values.

Thus with today's Georgia GOP, to really be a "good" and faithful Republican true to the Party's tenets, you must wholeheartedly believe in the politicization of social issues that are none of your business -- and despite America's general acceptance of divergent opinions and appreciation of the right to agree to disagree -- you must reject the idea that a matter such as abortion is a personal and private matter (and for some, also involves views that are religious rather than being not purely political).

And if you dare fail this GOP litmus test, you've got it, obviously you're anti-family and have no family values.

And if you also -- God forbid -- believe something as radical as judging others not on the content and qualify of their character, but rather on their sexual orientation and choice of lifestyles, then you must be a nonbeliever and -- you guessed it -- have to be a Democrat.

Our Party as the Party of the People follows the advice of the Greatest Teacher of all times who teaches in Matthew 7:1 "Judge not, that ye not be judged."

I say to heck with you GOP-Pharisee Holier Than Thou types, and I say thank God for and God Bless the Democratic Party.
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Today Jim Galloway in an article in the ajc entitled "Gay group says it won't push for GOP defection" writes:

The largest gay rights organization in Georgia wants to put the kibosh on talk of a mass defection to this month's Republican primary to protest a lack of support among top Democrats.

But Georgia Equality, an advocate for same-sex marriage, could recommend today that gay men and lesbians skip over the two Democratic candidates for governor, Cathy Cox and Mark Taylor --- and focus on lesser, down-ballot contests.

"Hopefully, this will send some message not just to Cathy and Mark, but to the party as a whole," said Chuck Bowen, Georgia Equality's executive director. He said the organization's board of directors is scheduled to debate the issue today.

Gay rights activists in Atlanta have accused Cox of shifting her position on gay marriage and related issues, and have withdrawn their fund-raising support. Taylor opposes gay marriage.
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I am a State Committee Member of the Democratic Party of Georgia, and speaking for myself, I hope Georgia Equality will reconsider trying to send a message to Cathy Cox, Mark Taylor and "the party as a whole" by recommending that the gay community abstain from voting for either one of our two leading Democratic candidates.

In a 6-15-06 post I wrote:

"Prior to the week of qualifying, Cathy Cox's campaign had the momentum in the Democratic primary race. Since then, one misstep after another has left her campaign on the defensive and resulted in some of her initial support moving either to the undecided column or over to Taylor."

Obviously one of such missteps was her ill-advised and poorly timed decision to jump into the same-sex marriage debate, and this unfortunate and foolish move on her part has been a costly mistake indeed that gained her nothing positive from persons otherwise inclined to vote for her. Personally I think her true opinion on the matter was that expressed in 2004, but this is for her to say and not me. Also, I think this misstep on her part cost her the endorsement of Mayor Shirley Franklin.

And Mark Taylor is entitled to his opinion regardless of whether it is something with which we agree.

I certainly realize that there are many with strong feelings about this that are different from my own. I also realize that even though I have many friends and acquaintances who are gay, I am not able to completely stand in the shoes of those in gay community because my own sexual orientation is different.

All of the foregoing notwithstanding, with today's decision by the Georgia Supreme Court holding that Georgia's amendment banning gay marriage is constitutional, it is time to put this issue to rest and move on.

I hope that all Democrats -- straight, gay and otherwise -- will join me in pulling the lever for one of our leading two Democratic candidates for governor. The election for governor this year is one of the most important our party will have for a long time to come. Any message some might attempt to send by not voting Democratic or not voting for one of the two top candidates in this race will represent a situation where the cure is worst than the disease.