"(The) acting president ... has signed into law the Civil Union Act, 2006," the president's office said in a statement.
The legislation came into operation on Thursday, and allows for civil unions to be solemnized by way of either a marriage or a civil partnership.
Archbishop Nichols said that the proposed regulations, designed to ensure equal treatment for gays, could mean the end of the Church's co-operation with the Government in providing a range of welfare services.It amazes me that the Catholic Church would still try to flex is flabby arm of power to put down gay and lesbian people. God knows that helping the poor is less important than those terrible gays proclaiming love and loyalty for life.
That's right, it means standing up and proclaiming that certain people should be discriminated against and do not deserve that same rights as others!Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative minister, said that the proposals spelled the "end of freedom of conscience in our country".
"They create a hierarchy of rights and whenever a homosexual right comes up against any other right the homosexual right prevails," she said, adding that the Government "seems to have no clue practising a religion means more than going to church".
Well, if the people vote on it, I think again it would depend on what the voter turnout was, it would depend on a lot of things. I mean some people are going to say, ok the voters have spoken and that's it, other people aren't going to be silenced until, ya know, they feel that everything possible that can be done has been done. And from I have been seeing in other states is that the majority of the people do not support homosexual marriage and I don't believe that we would lose.She had been talking about a meeting she went to to prepare for the anti-gay rally that was held last week.
Feel free to add your own!
Well, Massachusetts' absentee governor held his presidential campaign rally, er, anti-gay marriage rally today in front of the State House. (From the looks of it, I wonder if tax payer money was used to put together this heinous show of discrimination?) All the news stories so far have said "hundreds" of people showed up on both sides. Me thinks they didn't get the turnout they were hoping for. Even Cardinal O'Malley and Ex-Boston Mayor Ray Flynn got about a thousand in 2004 for their hate fest.In a move to publicly pressure lawmakers who have so far ignored him, Gov. Mitt Romney plans to appear at a Statehouse rally on Sunday to demand the Legislature vote on a proposed ballot question that would end gay marriage in Massachusetts.It appears that every time Governor Willard makes an appearance in Massachusetts it has something to do with same sex marriage. God know he's not appearing to announce that more jobs are coming into the Commonwealth or that violence in the State is dramatically down. Who are you kidding, everyone knows that this will be a photo opportunity for the absentee Governor. Brings to mind Governor George Wallace blocking the school doors from African American children.
"No matter how you may feel about the marriage issue, people have a right to participate in their own government."Uh, Governor, you might have been out of town, but an election was held last week and your Lt. Governor, Sherry Healey lost. Deval Patrick, the man who said during at least one televised debate that the Mass SJC "got it right" when they ruled for marriage equality, trounced her. Do you remember? Were you around that day? I know you were around in the evening because I saw the presidental campaign speech you gave that night, I mean the introduction you gave to the Lt. Governor when she conceded. Remember?
Here are a few pictures of Article 8/Massresistance head Brian Camenker "entering the Lion's Den" to take some photos for their website:
Here is one from the other side of the street where the anti-gay 
protestors stood. There were really quite a small group. There are more to come from inside the statehouse.
Of course, I don't understand why they call Sen. Barrios' speech"slimey" since he did exactly what they wanted, he just pushed their bill forward. They should be happy that the whole legislature finally got to vote on their bill. Did I say it was unanimously defeated?Shockingly, today we learned that there's not a single honorable, courageous legislator in Massachusetts. Item #19 on the calendar, the pure definition of marriage with a ban on civil unions (just before the weaker VoteOnMarriage amendment, #20) was voted down 196-0, just before the ConCon adjourned. Now what is wrong with #19? Our group filed it as a bill (H653), in an effort to strengthen the definition of marriage in our statutes. (Gov. Romney recommended this very course in his famous Wall Street Journal op-ed of February 2004!) The bill's co-sponsors were Rep. Goguen and Rep. Travis.
Granted, homosexual activist Sen. Barrios turned #19 from a bill into an amendment. (Though he never said a thing about that in his slimey speech.) But it could never have passed today anyhow (needing 50%+), so the pro-family legislators could safely have voted for it -- but still didn't. Unbelievable.
Reps. Goguen, Loscocco, Parente, DeMacedo, Sens. Brown, Hedlund: What happened to all of you? What twisted strategy were you following? The wording of #19 is exactly the same as the marriage amendment you supported in 2002! So why the change? Not a single legislator in Massachusetts is "brave" enough to confirm marriage is between a man and a woman, and civil unions should be banned! And that the Goodridge ruling is illegitimate; and that current same-sex "marriages" are illegal and should not be protected!
Now here's the thing, if there was such a thing as an "ex-gay" don't you think that the leader of a megachurch, who supposedly has "God's ear" would have been able to break free of his gay tendencies? This man, Reverend Ted Arthur Haggard, was married with 5 kids yet he still snuck out to "hook up" with a male prostitute all the while preaching that being gay is bad.
This "Christian" thought that it was better to admit to buying drugs and lying to thousands of people than to admit to having a relationship with another man.
If God didn't want anyone to be gay, don't you think he would have at least made the leader of a megachurch and president of a National Evangelical organization straight? (My husband says God has a sense of humor)
The Ex-Gay Watch website has the letter that was read to the congregation. In it, Rev. Haggard says he tried to change but couldn't:
Through the years, I’ve sought assistance in a variety of ways, with none of them proving to be effective in me. Then, because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn’t want to hurt or disappoint them.
The most telling thing about the whole letter is that Rev. Haggard cannot name what his "sexual problem" is. Additionally, Ex-Gay Watch notes:
Unfortunately, Haggard's failure to name the failed forms of assistance leaves other people vulnerable to the same ineffective and costly treatments.
Ex-gay therapies, PFOX, Exodus and so many others are just a sham and cannot change someone's sexual orientation, Rev. Haggard proved that! I mean come on folks, if he can't reverse his sexual orientation through prayer and accepting Jesus as his personal savior who can? I think God is having a good laugh.
I will be appearing on Mass Resistance radio this weekend. The program is hosted by Brian Camenker and Amy Contrada. They invited me to come on and talk about voting your conscience.Pastor Thompson is one of the first people I've heard who is actually intellectually honest. I don't agree with his opinions but I respect the fact that he is not voting for someone because they are the "lesser of two evils" and instead is holding to his beliefs. I find Pastor Thompson more intellectually honest than the Cardinal O'Malley because of Cardinal O'Malley's stance on the Massachusetts anti-gay marriage amendment.
resigned from his position as leader of the New Life Church:“We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard,” a statement from the church said. “Our investigation and Pastor Haggard’s public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.”Let me repeat that again "SEXUALLY IMMORAL CONDUCT". Apparently, Rev. Haggard is FOR gay sex but against gay marriage since he was one of the most vocal proponents of Colorado's anti-gay marriage amendment.
Rev. Haggard should look at the bright side, next year he can be the keynote speaker at Massresistance's annual fundraising dinner ("Ex-gay" Stephen Bennett is already speaking this year).
s on the internet. Neil Patrick is a happy gay man:LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Neil Patrick Harris is gay and wants to quell any rumors to the contrary.He wants to make sure that no one assumes he's straight, I love it! I saw Neil in Assassins in New York a few years back. He's been doing more theatre these past few years (he also played the Emcee in Cabaret) and of course he played an "Ex-gay" on Will and Grace.
In case you missed it, one of the cast members, T. R. Knight, who plays Dr. George O'Malley on the hit show Grey's Anatomy also recently came out:"I guess there have been a few questions about my sexuality, and I'd like to quiet any unnecessary rumors that may be out there," Knight tells PEOPLE in a statement. "While I prefer to keep my personal life private, I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me."How many days/weeks/months do you think will pass until Rev. Haggard does an interview and says "yes, I am a Gay Evangelical?
"I bought it for myself but never used it," the Rev. Ted Haggard said today to a reporter for KISS who interviewed him as he was sitting in his car with his wife outside his Colorado Springs, cola., home. "I was tempted, but I never used it."Oh but it gets better...
Haggard said he got a massage from the man, 49-year-old Mike Jones, after receiving a recommendation from a Denver hotel, but said he never had sex with him.RRRRight, you got a massage from a male prostitute and you never had sex. wink, wink...
I hope all the "value voters" are paying attention.
Ok, now how many people, who didn't have anything to hide, would have "stepped aside" because of "accusations"? Don't ya cha love these people who are living almost the same life they are condemning?The Rev. Ted Haggard also stepped aside as head of his 14,000-member New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations."
The investigation came after a 49-year-old man told a Denver radio station that Haggard paid him to have sex.
So much for "leaving the lifestyle" behind, he he.Mike Jones, 49, told The Associated Press that Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month for three years. His allegations were first aired on KHOW-AM in Denver.
Jones said that he had advertised himself as an escort on the Internet and that a man who called himself Art contacted him. Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard.
He said that he last had sex with Haggard in August and that he did not warn him before making his allegations this week.
Jones said he has voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash, though he declined to make any of it available to the AP.
"There's some stuff on there (the voice mails) that's pretty damning," he said.
