Texas GOP on Homosexuality’s Threat to the Family

Apparently, the Texas GOP is striving to make the Republican Party of Virginia and Taliban Bob McDonnell and Ken "Cooch" Cuccinelli appear to be middle of the road moderates. In fact, the 2010 GOP party platform is so extreme that one has to wonder how much Kool-Aid the folks that adopted it were drinking - it must have been vast quantities. The rabidly anti-gay and anti-immigrant platform can be found here. It looks like something the Klu Klux Klan could happily endorse. As the Dallas Morning News notes in a main editorial:
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[Y]ou didn't have to look far to see that the GOP base continues to value purity of belief. Gov. Rick Perry repeatedly pounded his fist about his party facing a battle for the soul of Texas. Other speakers wasted no time emphasizing their own conservative bona fides on such issues as protecting the Second Amendment.
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The party platform took a hard line, too. For example, it calls on the feds to stop sponsoring pre-kindergarten classes. It proposes strengthening the powers of the hard-right-dominated State Board of Education. And it calls for overturning the U.S. law that makes children born on U.S. soil automatically U.S. citizens. (You can guess who that one's aimed at.)
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How the GOP thinks it can continue to win in a state with an exploding Hispanic population by demonizing Hispanics is dumbfounding. Meanwhile, the platform takes aim at gays who are viewed as a menace to society. Cities like Austin and Houston that are flourishing precisely because they are more open to diversity and tolerance ought to be unnerved by the lunacy of the state GOP. Here's some of the platform language on gays:
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We support the definition of marriage as a God–ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and a natural woman, which is the foundational unit of a healthy society, and we oppose the assault on marriage by judicial activists. We call on the President and Congress to take immediate action to defend the sanctity of marriage.
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Marriage Licenses – We support legislation that would make it a felony to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple and for any civil official to perform a marriage ceremony for such.
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Homosexuality – We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should “family” be redefined to include homosexual “couples.” We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant special privileges including, but not limited to: marriage between persons of the same sex (regardless of state of origin), custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.
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Texas Sodomy Statutes – We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.
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Not surprisingly, creationism would be taught in schools as science under the platform. Read the whole thing if you want to understand true lunacy. All in all, the platform is a call to oppose modernity and would impose one particular religious - and racist - view on all citizens. The Texas Tribune has live blogging of the coven of would be Klan members, religious extremists and general nutcases.