from slap upside the head.

[erastes]

Matt Windschitl and Jason Schultz, two Iowa lawmakers, have proposed a bill to explicitly remove gay and lesbian students from anti-bullying policies in state schools.

Comments

[angrboda]

O.o

I thought the USA was supposed to be a so-called 'free country'... With so-called 'equal rights for all men (and women)' and such things.

How naive I am.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's Animal Farm. " All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

[angrboda]

Weird, though, how this is displayed so often and yet, I'm still surprised every single time.

[beckyblack]

Weird, that exact thing came to mind. How can any bullying of any person be acceptable?

[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

Dollars to donuts that these two also believe that bringing back the stigma to out-of-wedlock pregnancies will stop them.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I don't understand how anyone could possibly not only decide that it's OK to bully some children, but actually move to have the right to bully certain children made legal. Are they hoping that more GBLT kids will kill themselves?

[liebesdammerung.livejournal.com]

You know, maybe they are.

I wish I could wipe people like this off the planet. And you know what else is weird? SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS ALREADY LEGAL IN IOWA. They don't need to worry about it becoming legal then! Not that it's a valid excuse anyway, but. Grrr.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

They know it's legal. They want to get same-sex marriage repealed.

I think their thinking, for lack of a better word, runs like this:

"If we acknowledge that LGBTQ kids are in danger of bullying and need to be protected and treated like human beings, we are saying that they are no different from any other minority that is oppressed and needs to be protected and treated like human beings.

"If we acknowledge that LGBTQ kids are no different from other minorities who need protection under the law, and admit that LGBTQ kids grow up into LGBTQ adults, then that leads to acknowledging that LGBTQ adults are also no different from other minorities who need protection under the law.

"If we acknowledge that LGBTQ adults are no different from other minorities who need protection under the law and that, as a result, they should have the same rights that every other person in the state possesses, this leads to admitting that if we are going to treat minorities fairly, we cannot, under the law, call for a repeal of same-sex marriage, because every other minority has the right to marry and our demanding such a repeal would clearly be discriminatory.

"Therefore, we must raise the specter of LGBTQ people demanding 'special rights' they do not need, rather than the same rights everyone else has. If they are not protected by law, then it will be that much easier to whittle away at same-sex marriage but any other rights they might possess."

***

Odious bastards.

[cassandra-gold.livejournal.com]

Absolutely sickening. As a teacher, I am vehemently opposed to anything that would empower bullies more than they already are. Too many children have to live in fear as it is, and these two clowns want to make it worse?!?!

I don't care what their justification is. ANYONE who claims to care about children and backs this notion repulses me. Just when I thought the politicians here couldn't get any more disgusting...

I have family in Iowa, perhaps they can contact these morons and let them know not everyone agrees with their bigotry.

[johnrw.livejournal.com]

From another standpoint it legitimises ALL bullying because it provides a 100% perfect defence 'So I was bullying the little queer creep, so what?'

From the Law of unintended consequences.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's the duty of care that stuns me - ADULTS owe CHILDREN a duty of care - no matter who or what they are. From an English legal standpoint, my head is fried. It leaves anyone open to a legal challenge if any harm is caused because of this missing duty.