Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Minnesota Gay Republican To Vote Against Marriage Equality

"Minnesota State Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, told KLKS on Friday that he will not vote for the Marriage and Family Protection Act, a bill that would make Minnesota’s marriage laws gender-neutral, allowing same-sex couples many of the rights currently denied by Minnesota statute. Koering, who is gay and a Republican, said he would vote against it because the state faces bigger problems.

“I think some of the gay activists will be upset with me for this, but sometimes I think an agenda is pushed so far and so fast that people have no alternative but to push back,” Koering told Raw Story at the time. “And I think that sometimes you have to move slowly." (Minnesota Independent News)

This is a pot of gold for the right wing! Tell Mr. Koering we have enough enemies opposed to equality and that it's one thing not to bring up the legislation but quite another to vote against it once it comes up for a vote.

100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
State Office Building, Room 131
St. Paul, MN 55155-1206
651.296.4875
sen.paul.koering@senate.mn

12 comments:

Buffy said...

WTF is it with these jerks? Our quest for equality is always an "agenda" that they have to fight against. We're always moving too fast. How slow do they want us to go? Shall we bow down and ask if we can have equal rights some time in the 29th century, if that's OK with them? Who the &%$# are they to withhold them from us in the first place?!

Queers United said...

Pathetic is the key word anon.

Buffy you are right on, what is too fast, we want our rights, we are moving too slow in my opinion. This should not be up for debate.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone else out there starting to lose hope that any change toward equality will happen for us? I am saddened by someone like this, being a gay man, selling us out. I also feel Obama has sold us out.

Laurie said...

I bet he ain't getting any that's why
he's being like he is...

TACKLE YOU HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

Scot said...

Odd. Does this guy not have a husband to protect? (Or does he call him his roommate? ;-))For many people the "bigger problems" he seems to think can't be addressed along with marriage equality are dwarfed by problems of marriage law.

Anonymous said...

Someone should revoke his license to be GAY ,

Theo said...

OK. So I took the time to actually email this guy and he wrote back twice. Er, his assitant did. One was this automatic message that said, basically: Not up to me, leave me alone.
The second was an apology as he (or his assistant?) re-read my message, which was very kind and totally undeserving of such a 'tude, and he said that Honestly, its just not up to him!

To quote, "you must remember and respect he is here to represent the interests of his rural Minnesota constituents who voted him into office. As a constituent of his myself, I am happy to see him take non-personal votes on several issues."

Sad but true. Leave the guy alone, I'm sure he feels like a dick as is.

Theo said...

PS you can read the FULL email response on my blog, if this seriously ticks you off enough to find out more news!

Anonymous said...

another self-hating loser. people like him, without the balls to stand up for what is right in the face of opposition, are exactly the reason this is STILL an issue. he's a pathetic excuse of an office-holder, gay or straight, republican or democrat. just another do-nothing that is hoping to never have to hold a real job or stand up for any issue stronger than building lot variances and dog scooping laws.

Anonymous said...

Theo, he is wrong. He was NOT elected to parrot the ideas of his constituents- that is NOT the role of a politician in a representative government.

He was elected as an individual to use HIS judgment to make decisions ON BEHALF of his constituents. That means he is supposed to be the level-headed educated one, the one who learns about issues inside and out and comes to decisions based on that knowledge.

Imagine if his view of politics were applied to medicine: patients would tell doctors what drugs to give them, or what surgical procedures to do.

That is just as stupid as him caving into bigotry when HE is SUPPOSED to know BETTER.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous dated Feb 20 11:18pm,

How on Earth can you equate a polition trying to keep his job to a doctor not letting his patients tell him what drugs to give them or what surgical procedures are needed?

If a patient feels uneasy about a doctors advise and years of schooling, they can get a second opinion the next day.

On the other hand, if a constituent feels uneasy about a polititions advice or vote (who has no technical schooling except maybe in how to get by with a lie)they have to wait years in order to vote them out of office.

There is no comparison.

Anonymous said...

"sometimes you have to move slowly"????? how many more centuries should we have to wait before equality takes hold??

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