"I know that gay people are unhappy, but I don't actually know any gay people personally"

[ck4829]

In Orrington, population 3,526, Ken Graves worked as a lumberjack for nine years after he started Calvary Chapel near Bangor. Twenty-five years later, the 47-year-old still sports a woodsman's thick arms and tough hands as he towers over an evangelical congregation of 1,500, one of Maine's largest.

Last week, Graves stood on the bank of the nearby Penobscot River clad in a red flannel shirt, where he and a videographer filmed a 30-second ad in favor of Question 1. He'll pay "a few thousand dollars" to air it locally.

"What got me is how the homosexual community being portrayed in this campaign is a gross misrepresentation of how it really is," Graves said. "You see these commercials of two happy moms, or two happy dads and happy siblings - when in fact they are not happy families. They are depressed."

He acknowledged that he doesn't know any gay families, saying he relies on the Family Research Council, a conservative think tank that finds homosexuality "harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large," and Focus on the Family, a group that helps people "overcome" gay attractions.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/who-needs-know-gay-people-when-you-can-rely-religious-right

Something tells me that this might be a pattern in the homophobe movement.

[pnwmom]

1. Does he think that gay people married to straight people -- or their

straight spouses -- are happy?

[TexasObserver]

2. "he relies on the Family Research Council"

He doesn't know any homosexuals, but he knows they're depressed because that ass hat in Colorado Springs told him.

[Botany]

3. This calls for a song

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/42973/monty_pythons_flying_circus_the_lumberjack_song/

BARBER:
I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.


MOUNTIES:
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
BARBER:
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.
MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shoppin'
And has buttered scones for tea.
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.


BARBER:
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.
MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
BARBER:
I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa.
MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra?!

What's this? Wants to be a girlie?! Oh, My!
And I thought you were so rugged! Poofter!

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.
He's a lumberjack, and he's okaaaaay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

[eShirl]

5. +1

That's a great photo of him; you can even see the Mounties just over the border. :D

[Botany]

6. I think the pastor "doth protest too much"

No women ..... timber camp ....... strong men ...... need i say more?

[Kurovski]

22. !

:rofl:

[eShirl]

4. Sounds like someone's been bearing false witness against his neighbors.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Worse. He's engaging in gossip that repeats false witness

as he admits, he has no knowledge first hand. He's just parroting lies he's heard, from the pulpit.

[Happyhippychick]

7. I don't know anyone on the Family Research Council but I assume they're all assholes.Now we're even.

[la_chupa]

8. oh I bet he does know some gay people

I have a mirror right here he can borrow if he wants to find one.

just sayin'

[marmar]

9. "when in fact they are not happy families. They are depressed."

The level of mindf**ked ignorance in this country is absolutely terrifying.

[Toasterlad]

10. Mind-Boggling Ignorance.

[saltpoint]

11. My hunch is that sexual identity, while a matter of essence, is not the

lone determinant of personal satisfaction.

Relationships with family members, co-workers, receptability to ideas, instinct for the common good, adherence to tenets of citizenship, whether one is medically stable, and the force of delight in the arts and in play, would also be very persuasive variables, and I'm not seeing any of those as measurable in only straight folks or only gay folks.

Mr. Graves needs to put on his thinking cap.

[NMMNG]

13. Tell me again

why we're supposed to sit back and take it while assholes like that vote away our rights, using their "deeply held beliefs" (IOW, regurgitated talking points from other bigots who make up bullshit as they go along) as an excuse? Nobody else would stand for that bullshit so why are we asked to time and time again?

[Toasterlad]

16. Healthcare! The Wars! The Economy! Education! Puppies!

There are many, MANY more important things that must be accomplished first. Haven't you heard?

[NMMNG]

20. Oh yeah

Thanks for reminding me that everything under the sun, plus the "deeply held beliefs" people pull out of their ass, are more important than our civil rights.

[Tim01]

14. Why does anybody pay attention to crap like this? nt

[theHandpuppet]

15. Maybe because it's ignorant fucks like this man...

... who are funding campaigns of hate against LGBT citizens.

[Toasterlad]

17. And Winning!

[Raster]

18. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing"

[Ikonoklast]

19. Funny dat. The gay people I know seem quite happy.

Couple of guys, few girls.

Would be happier if they could be married, but on the whole, seem content with themselves.


Know plenty of straight people that are unhappy, however.

[REP]

21. He's almost right ... GLBT people are just people, and some people aren't happy

It's worse, of course, if you're legally discriminated against - that's depressing to a lot of people, especially those who are legally discriminated against.