Thursday, February 10, 2011

More Anti-Gay Nastiness from Iowa Republicans

I continue to be shocked at the level of ignorance and outright anti-gay bigotry coming out of the mouths of Republicans around the country, with Iowa - a state once known for being progressive - currently ranking up with the most hateful. In order to be a Republican today it seems one must be a religious extremist, thinly veiled racist, amazingly ignorant and threatened by anyone and anything that looks even slightly different than one self. Oh, and did I mention a lobotomy might not be a bad idea as a prerequisite for party membership? The mantra coming out of the Iowa GOP is relying heavily on the NAZI model that depicted Jews as a threat to society and a public health risk. Among the moronic haters leading the charge is Iowa State Rep. Dwayne Alons (R) who is pictured at right — a co-sponsor of Iowa’s anti-gay marriage bill - who is depicting gays as a public health risk. I'd suggest that chosen ignorance and threatening the constitutional right of freedom for all citizens, not just Christianists, in the long term poses the largest risk of all to citizens. The Wonk Room at Think Progress looks at Alons' message of hate and ignorance. Here are some highlights:
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Yesterday, I interviewed Iowa State Rep. Dwayne Alons (R) — a co-sponsor of Iowa’s anti-gay marriage bill — in the state capitol and asked him if he agreed with the Family Leader’s characterizations. Alons did, reciting some bullet points from the Family Leader’s “fact sheet” and suggesting that defining marriage between a man and a woman would reverse these “problems to society”:
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ALONS: I think that whole lifestyle has brought a lot of problems to society…For the most part when you look at some of the issues that have been brought up by homosexuals’ lifestyle, there are a lot of negatives that have been brought into society and I think government is trying to deal with that and should be dealing with.
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ALONS: Well, look at all that has been spent, you know, with the AIDS and with the issues related to the dying at an early age. I think life, longevity, of a lot of these folks is below 50, when you know, the normal people that do not enter into that kind of relationship, their either late into their 70s or early 80s for longevity. A lot more actual productive years and contributing to society. [...]
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I can't help but wonder how anyone becomes as ignorant and bigoted as Alons. The cynic in me also wonders when Alons will get caught toe tapping in some men's room. The louder the homophobe, the more likely they get caught on the down low.

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