Your Next President Could Be Texas Governor Rick Perry

[Guest Julie T]

Hi everyone, I rarely like to see politics discussed here on Laura's Playground, but presidential candidate Rick Perry is a serious opponent to our community, and I want to make everyone aware. We who are from Texas or live there now know him as the Ultra Conservative he portrays himself to be. I don't really want his positions on LGBT issues to go unnoticed;

From Mother Jones, a good source for pretty straight information, in my opinion.

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Flashback: Rick Perry Supports Criminalizing Gay Sex

By Tim Murphey - Thu Aug. 11, 2011 6:42 AM PDT

Dan Hirschhorn reports that former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) is continuing to hammer likely GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry on gay marriage—even after the Texas governor announced that he would support an effort to ban gay marriage nationwide:

"When someone who is a serious candidate for president is doing things that will be destructive not just for the Republican Party, but for the country, I'm going to point that out any chance I get," Santorum told POLITICO.

Santorum is upset, or at least pretend campaign-upset, that Perry told Colorado GOPers in July that New York's decision to legalize gay marriage was their right. "That's New York, and that's their business, and that's fine with me.”

But next to Santorum, Perry might be the least lgbt-friendly candidate in the race. More so than former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who warns we face an existential threat from 'gay and secular fascism' ; more so, even, than Rep. Michele Bachmann, who once feared that the Lion King would corrupt children because its soundtrack was created by Elton John.

So what exactly has Perry done? Well, for one, he is (still) a supporter of the Texas 'homosexual conduct' statute, an archaic law that made it a crime for two consulting, unrelated adults to have sex if they were of the same gender. The law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the landmark 2002 case Lawrence v. Texas, but, despite repeated efforts, Texas has yet to formally repeal the statute. When Perry was asked about the Lawrence case in 2002, he defended the anti-sodomy statute: "I think our law is appropriate that we have on the books." He wrote about the case in his 2011 book Fed Up, too, citing the Lawrence decision as the product of "nine oligarchs in robes" and an example of what's wrong with our judicial system. And last spring, when Perry ran for his third full term as governor, he did so on a state GOP platform that explicitly stated "we oppose the legalization of sodomy."

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I can only imagine what views he has on the transgendered.

Julie

[Carolyn Marie]

I agree, Julie, that we have a lot to fear from Perry, but given the Republican field, we have a lot to fear from just about any of them. On the other hand, President Obama hasn't exactly been our savior, either.

Once they get elected, or even nominated, candidate's statements tend to moderate, as they know they have to answer to a much broader audience than they do in the primaries. No republican, no matter how vociferous their following, can win the general election on the strength of their ultra conservative backers alone.

We managed to survive the Bush years, we'll probably survive the Perry, Pawlenty, Bachmann years, too.

On the other hand, if Palin wins, I'm moving to Canada.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Micha]

Sad state of this country when people like that get voted into any office. . . I mean, an existential threat from gay fascism? Wha? Do these people even know what they're talking about? What does sexual orientation have to do the a government take over of the private sector? And a republican warning against fascism, that's rich. I guess it's alright by them if it's the private sector taking over the government, tha's a bit different.

Consenting adults loving eachother is a huge threat to national security. God forbid these TBLG people start *gasp* opening up people's minds! OH! THE HORROR!!!

[Guest Donna Jean]

So what exactly has Perry done? Well, for one, he is (still) a supporter of the Texas 'homosexual conduct' statute, an archaic law that made it a crime for two conselting, unrelated adults to have sex if they were of the same gender.

Julie

Oh...so it's still ok for two RELATED, CONSENTING adults to have sex?

Cool....had me worried for a minute.....

Must be a Texas thing.....

Dee Jay

[Guest Julie T]

Oh my goodness

Must be a Texas thing? Oh my oh my. so who in the field is worth considering? I have never iri my 64 years felt so sick over the field of candidates to date, and I voted for Obama last time?

Julie

[Sally]

So what exactly has Perry done? Well, for one, he is (still) a supporter of the Texas 'homosexual conduct' statute, an archaic law that made it a crime for two conselting, unrelated adults to have sex if they were of the same gender.

Julie

Oh...so it's still ok for two RELATED, CONSENTING adults to have sex?

Cool....had me worried for a minute.....

Must be a Texas thing.....

Dee Jay

That's West Virginia Dee Jay!

We can survive Perry or any of them - we made it through Reagan, Bush versions one and two with only brief respites between to recover from the huge deficits that they created - Clinton left a surplus that bush turned into the largest deficit in History yet it is Obama to blame for the economy - the truth is no one is in the least interested in what is best for anyone that cannot get them more power - we are too small of a group to make anyone take notice - so we hang on and do the best we can and heaven help the working class if the GOP regains the White House.

Got to love the two party system when you really have a hard time telling them apart.

Love ya,

Sally

[Bulldog1948]

To me, the Republicans are a mess of BS. Everytime one of them opens their mouth I wait to hear what stupid and bigoted emarks are going to flow forth. Just remember that they are all playing to the ultra right wing. Right now , there's not a one of them that I would vote for. And, when I saw Perry enter the race, I groaned and told my wife, "Oh no".

[Guest Donna Jean]

.

I have voted in every local and national election since 1972.....

Right or wrong....I exercise my rights.....

Donna Jean

[Guest Julie T]

Sally

The point is we don't want to have to survive Perry. He needs to be shut down hard, and shut down early. My dismay is in I am not sure, yet, who would be better?

Alexander Tyler once said: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years."

This sort of makes you want to stab a pencil in your eye.

Julie

[Guest ~Brenda~]

On the other hand, if Palin wins, I'm moving to Canada

Right behind you Carolyn

Brenda

[Guest Mia J]

It is very scary to look at the list of candidates for the Elephants. It seems most of them would put LGBT folks back to the 40s and 50s and put us in prison for just being who we are. I look at some of the super Islamic countries that most of the world are shocked by their laws involving women and LGBT people and think that there are a lot on the right who would like laws like that here.

Id you want a really wake-up of what it could be like here just read or watch the Handmaids tale. It would be so easy for that to really happen here.

We MUST be forever diligent. As Julie pointed out in a recent post look what happened In Germany in the 1930s when Hitler came to power.

Choose your candidate carefully. Support the causes that you believe in. And most important get out and vote. We have made great strides. Let us not loose what we have gained.

I have been disappointed in Obama. Mainly because of his lack of action on conservation issues which have deteriorated a lot in the last few years. But IMHO he is still better than the others at this time. When will middle America wake up and tell both parties that they need to serve us rather than the extremes. I am so tired of voting for the least of two evils.

Mia

[Guest Daniel Dee]

What is happening in America frightens me to death, as you say there are elements on the extreme right who talk just like the Taliban in the kind of society they want. It is bad enough here but despite having a right wing coalition Gov they are publicly commited to seeking to improveing things for the transgender community. We will have to see what transpires but we feel we are going in the right direction and not heading back to the Dark Ages. What worries me most is I don't see a way out of it for you. I know and have met some wonderful people over there but also the people from the right. When I visit my sister over there all her family are republicans and I find it very difficult to engage in a rational political discusion because they are so dogmatic and taken in by all the propaganda that money buys. You know working class people defending the mega rich getting tax cuts while they lose their jobs and the rich getting richer as the poor get poorer. well I could go on. Good luck to you all. daniel

[Guest Donna Jean]

On the other hand, if Palin wins, I'm moving to Canada

Right behind you Carolyn

Brenda

Me, too........

How many pair of shoes can I bring?

Dee Jay

[Carolyn Marie]

I guess we can scratch Pawlenty off the list.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Donna Jean]

I guess we can scratch Pawlenty off the list.

Carolyn Marie

We've got a lot more scratchin' to do yet.....

dj

[Guest Micha]

All these itches. . . you think maybe this nation's sick?

[Guest Donna Jean]

All these itches. . . you think maybe this nation's sick?

Yeah, I think so......

In Louisiana an "Anti-bullying" bill was defeated to protect school kids....

One legislator said that bullying is good for kids....it builds character...

Dee Jay

[MackenzieB]

On the other hand, if Palin wins, I'm moving to Canada

Right behind you Carolyn

Brenda

Thank goodness the border is only about 100 miles away...