The Oregon Citizens Alliance (OCA) is a scum-sucking (IMO) anti-gay organization that has tried over the last decade to get several anti-gay rights ballot measures passed. They’ve been unsuccessful so far, and I thought leader Lon Mabon had finally gotten the message and thrown in the towel, but they’re back this year with yet another Measure 9.
Last week, I received a particularly offensive piece of mail from them. It wasn’t offensive because it contained a flyer for a class on gay relationships and featured a cartoon drawing of a bare butt and the words “Tunnel of Love.” What was offensive was their claim that this flyer was being passed around to our school children in an attempt to corrupt them! We must protect our darlings from the homosexual menace!
What they buried on the reverse of the flyer is that it was passed out at a college. The conclusions I drew from this fact are:
The majority of people who received this flyer and will attend the class are over the age of 18 and are, therefore, legal adults;
Attendence is not mandatory; and
Those who do attend will pay a sign-up fee.
To me, it’s quite a leap to get from adults choosing to pay to attend a seminar to tax money being used to force children to become sexual deviants, but not for the OCA.
Also, among their literature was a list of policies from area public schools. I assume the one they bolded is the one they think is too gay; though I don’t have the literature anymore so I can’t quote it exactly, the bolded text said basically that all teachers and students have a right not to be harassed, ridiculed, etc. Oh, how awful! You must treat people with respect despite being different from you! These PC demons are sending the country to hell in a handbasket!
I found the whole thing terribly offensive, not to mention ironic (they’re against homosexuals invading our homes and families, so they combat it by sending gay propoganda unbidden into our homes–what if my husband had been turned on by that line drawing and wanted to attend the lecture? What then, Mr. Mabon, what then?? Ok, I’m getting silly.). I’m just afraid that by using this underhanded tactic, Joe Oregonian will finally agree with the OCA and pass one of their stupid measures.
So my views are: The OCA is full of crap and “The Tunnel of Love” isn’t going to corrupt children, but the average voter might actually fall for it and vote for Measure 9. Am I right? Am I wrong? Is something terrible going to happen this November? Is Oregon the least gay friendly state in the union? Why us?
Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but it seems that less and less anti-gay propositions are being put on ballots these days, particularly after the debacle that was Amendment 2 in Colorado.
I’d say don’t sweat it - people seem to be getting wiser, but it’s probably only short-term until we hit an economic hardship and elect another {shudder} Republican…
I’ve always wondered why recession and prudishness go hand-in-hand. (The “roaring 20’s” were a lot more sexually “open” than the great-depression-30’s, for example.)
Write the Postmaster General and enclose the flyer. Tell him that the OCA is sending out pornography by mail (where the letter might be opened by children). Point out that the group that originally printed and distributed the flyer only passed it out to adults and didn’t use the mail, unlike the OCA.
Lon was on the O’Reilly Factor two weeks ago. He was spouting the same crap trying to claim we need to protect our schools from homosexual references. O’Reilly took the opposing side and made Mabon look like the fool he is.
Y’know … after living around the country, and seeing the homophobia, I still find it ironic that the place I was gay bashed was here in Oregon. I love the state and continue to live here, but it does get trying…
I’ve been lucky - I haven’t ever gotten any spam from the OCA. What I did see was a similar phenomenon - a bunch of Fred Phelps’ minions parading around proudly on the street with signs depicting homosexual activity. These didn’t offend me as much as the “God Hates Fags” and “Fags Doom Nations” posters, but I did think it was odd that people who reckon themselves to be supporters of families were showing direct depictions of gay sex to any and all passersby on a busy street. I’ve never seen gay sex depicted on TV, and it’s rare even in the raciest movies - if I were a parent, I’d be facing the possibility that the first exposure my children had to the mechanics of gay sex (or any sex, quite possibly) came from a Fred Phelps hate sign.
“Dad, why is that one person bent over in front of that other person on that sign that says ‘fags’?” Bigotry dooms nations.
I know what your talking about. (Some) Teachers have this thing in my schools right now. If you take out the sexual preferance part, it’s still “illegal” for them to post it because the next few words are something like “or any of the other countless traits that make us different.” Homosexuality makes you different so it’s still being “promoted”.
At school on monday I’ll write it down.
All I can remember is it starts off “This is a hate free class.”
Notif she putsit in a 2nd envelope, inside the first, with a large red label “Lark’s Vomit”…oops… I mean “Pornographic material”, so the Postmaster can open or not, at his leisure
