Republican Congressman James Lankford of Oklahoma doesn't think a law should be passed banning discrimination towards LGBT employees.
In a sidewalk interview with Think Progress, Lankford explained that homosexuality is a choice, unlike race or gender.
"Race and sexual preferences are two different things. One is behavior related, preference related. One is something inherently, skin color, something obvious, that kind of stuff," Lankford said. "You don't walk up to someone on the street and look at them and say gay or straight."
He also added that he doesn't believe that some is born gay.
Apparently, Lankford didn't get the memo from the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association. Both medical organizations have said that homosexuality is not a choice.
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Wrong Wrong Wrong! If even One American,regardless of their sexual Preferences loses their rights then we are all in danger of losing our Rights,Prime Example Wisconsin.
And now fools will be exposed. We will know what their true charater is. Never deny any one their rights. That makes you a bigot!
I agree with Simpson 3800554. They the Republicans should not be able to get away with this.
Landfool is predjiudice.
What rights are you in danger of losing? I hear all of this crap about you losing your rights? No one is threatening your rights. The only thing being threatened is the moral fiber of our country. Taking prayer out of the schools decades ago. Now look at our schools. Breaking down the family that God intended. Now look at our families and now this president says he is for gay marriage. I'll be you if your son came home and started making out with another man on your couch, you would have a change of heart. Its not right in my opinion. In my opinion, it is a sin. God hates the sin....but loves the sinner. Is this the right you are talking about? No wonder kids are so confused these days. They don't even know who their mother and father are. Two mothers....two fathers.....wow are we in trouble. Aren't you glad you were not raised like that? Deep down, you are glad.
Have faith in God.
@Johnny-3188986, if you want to live where there is no Separation between Church and State, you're free to emigrate whenever you want to.
There is a very good reason why organized prayer in public schools is not allowed. Namely, that religion that accords with the majority is forced upon others who have different religious beliefs (e.g., Jews, Muslims, Wiccans, or atheists having Christian prayer crammed down their throats, in violation of their rights). How would you like it if you were amongst the minority and had a different religion crammed down your throat?
Lack of organized prayer in (public) schools is not the source of the breakdown of civility. The fact that even in two-parent nuclear families that both parents have to work, leaving no parent at home to supervise children after school, ensuring that children are not regularly subjected to discipline and boundaries to live within is much more relevant. Single-parent families add to the problem. After-school programs help provide structure, but they cost money, which taxpayers may not want to provide.
If the kids are confused, that's due to inadequate or inconsistent structure and discipline. Adopted children most often don't know who their biological parents are, but if they've been raised by adoptive parents who love and care for them as if they were the normal (biological) parents, confusion will most often be avoided. Or, take the example of Zach Wahls, who just wrote the book "My Two Moms." He's not confused. In fact, he appears to be better adjusted than you are, Johnny.
Personally, I was born and raised a Catholic, I had a stay-at-home-Mom, went mostly to Catholic schools all the way through high school, was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout, yet still ended up an Atheist - because too much of what the Catholic Church would have me believe was in direct violation of Science. Even so, I still agree with most of the Ethical Core of Catholicism. I believe that abortion should generally be avoided, but that doesn't give me the right to tell a pregnant woman that she can't have an abortion. That should be her choice, hopefully with input from the would-be father.
Johnny, you're an arrogant sociopath. I'm very glad I wasn't raise like you!
johnny,
i really doubt if a teenager or young adult were gay or lesian, that they would come home and start making out on the couch.
what is this misconception you have of gays and lesbians? my sister is gay. she has been in a long term monogamous relationship with her partner, and they married last year in iowa where it is legal, they live in minnesota. my lesbian sister has a 4 year degree in dental hygiene, and a masters in chemistry. her "wife" is the deputy sheriff of a large metropolitan area.
my sister also designed and built her own 2 story house. she cut down trees and aged them, removed the bark, and used them when she built her house. she put up a silo on a hill about 100 feet from their house, put a furnace in the silo, and piped heat from the silo into their house.
no, she is not a "dyke" (derogatory term for a lesbian). for years she hid her sexuality at her job because they would have fired her. is that fair? she never misses a day a work, and as you can tell from what i have written above, she is a hard worker. they always have several dogs and cats they rescused from the pound. i don't know how you could find a better, more creative, hard working person, yet here i am defending her to the likes of YOU.
my mother and father were not gay, yet i have a brother and a sister who are gay. this happens in families.
there are many children who would be better off with two gay parents than with the abusive alcoholic heterosexual parents that "god" gave them. i don't think god likes that very much either.
when babies are born, sometimes twins are born with one body and two heads, sometimes they are born conjoined where they cannot be seperated. this doesn't happen very often, but it happens. some families have the congenital "defect" of being born with a penis and a vagina. parents don't know what sexual orientation direction their child will take.
there have been genetic studies on gays and lesbians, and on mothers who give birth to these children.
your view of "right and wrong" and "sin" and "god" are very narrow, and are making you very judgemental and not accepting or tolerant of others. this was the debate during the civil rights movement. i don't like your god. he doesn't appear to be very loving and accepting of others, and niether do you.
we all sin and fall short of the glory of god. stop using one or two verses in the bible to condemn gays and lesbians, when there are many other verses about adultery and other sinds that we commit.
in biblical times (do some research) men were married to more than one woman. women were treated like cattle 5000 years ago, good for purposes of reproduction only, to serve the man and bear his children.
the earth is populated. having babies is not the only reason for marriage. we all find fulfillment in different ways. the bible can be a guide book for those who wish to use it as such, but not everyone does.
stop trying to control the lives of people who you view as different, because your god tells you to judge them, and treat them as sub-human. everyone deserves equal rights under the law, and "god" should not be the final word. how do we treat our fellow-man?
i would wonder about a god that made me so hateful and judgemental.
Are we a free nation any more? Many of us have said we have seen things here we can not believe. I am so glad to see where the medical foundations have chimed in on this. Just as there are men and women, a ray of colors of skin , and brown eyes , blue eyes and green. Babies who are born with downs syndrome, cancer and genetic diseases. The human body is the most complex machine on earth ! In the 21st century can we please come out of the dark ages and say yes some one can and has for century's been born gay or lesbian? Stop the hate! To fire some one because they do not fit in your mold makes you an idiot! What happen to minding your own business ? Believe I heard Some one say that recently.
Robert Burns :
"Human bodies are sich fools,
For a' their colleges and schools,
That when no real ills perplex them,
They make enow themselves to vex them...."
Why can't these thick-headed fools just let these people contribute based on their skills instead of causing unnecessary problems by interjecting their petty biases and prejudices?
So how does that interfere with their job performance?
Perhaps you should judge individuals based on their performance.....not their sexuality, religion, race, political party, gender....etc.
I think Ronald Reagan would okay republicans so it's okay to believe in that for you guys
Yes, I guess don't ask don't tell no longer applies......Now every one out of the closet. We must all live a lie. This guy certainly is the type to encourage it.
LGBT people are just like you and me do they not bleed the same color like you and me. I wonder how the people of earth are going to treat an alien race if they decide to come to earth. If they are friendly of course they should be treated with respect. Just like LGBT should be treated with respect. Do they pay taxes just eveyone else does YES they do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of them are our children, or friends, or sisters and brothers. How dare you try to make them secondclass citizens in a free world.
I believe in karma, reincarnation and 'past lives'. Everyone alive has been here before, all races, all colours, all creeds... We carry partial memories of these lives imprinted in our subconcious memories, unable to access them conciously, but partially guiding our actions... We program these behaviours constantly, but almost unconciously. I say 'almost', as intentional reprogramming is possible through hypnosis, self-hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming...
In this context, natural homosexuality is bound to exist, through subconcious memories of past lives while you happened to be of the opposite sex! If your sex life in a recent past life with someone the same sex you are now was ecstatic, your subconcious mind will direct you to the same sex to return to that state of ecstasy...
Becoming aware of our past lives and how we 'program' our subconcious minds can alleviate a lot of unnecessary fears and guilts. If everyone realized that, at any moment, we could be living in someone else's shoes, it would increase empathy and ensure that we 'do unto others'...
Each child we bring into the world is reincarnated from a part of us. We don't all know what parts of us come from hundreds or years ago, and what our ancestors went through or who they were. Many gay men and women come from those that weren't and many have lived straight and had children so where can this start and end. The choise is to deny what you are, or declare it.
Someone should ask Lankford if it's ok for a gay owner of a business to fire someone because they're not gay.
those who cryout the most against a thing are more than likely doing the thing they cry out against......we have seen it time and time again as republicans comeout against this and are no sooner caught doing this.....our constituion provides for "....life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.." except the GOP would deny folks this based on religous bigotry despite the separation of church and state....were those men so long ago, much wiser than we today.....maybe so cause right now, we are not showing much wisdom.
This is a further mainfestation of evangelical influence ....the dangers of their broad interpretation of biblical verse leads to their ( GOPs) continued bigotry and hatred ...regretably the GOP continues to answer to these splinter groups regardles of how far right they take the party .....this is not the REAGAN party that they continue to refer to ...this is a party driven by the relegious right, the NRA and a bunch of very rich and greedy business people , much like theii current presidential candidate ...OBAMA 2012 !!
This is the reason that it is so important that we all stand together to fight these wrongs. War on women, gays, immigrants, and the poor who else is left?
I honestly wonder if some of these “anti-gay” people know how stupid they really sound! Pat Robertson, talking about how a male body is designed and a female body is designed and then making such an absurd statement regarding the fact they are not “designed” to work in a particular way…it’s hard NOT to keep from laughing out loud! It’s also hard to accept that he, and others, really believes in what they’re saying!
It never ceases to amaze me how some men, especially those highly religious men, are so threatened and yes, even intimidated, by gay people, especially gay men. They do tend to talk about it quite a bit…making sure that everyone they address understands how they feel. It’s as if they are trying to, by sublimation, convince people that they are, most certainly straight, because they are so against it. It is because they are so against it that it increases ones curiosity about what they might be trying to hide…and what they’re really afraid of!
I agree with him 100%.
Oh, and you agree that there are some people who are in a lower class than you? If you DARE come into my place of business I will ask you to get the he11 out because you are not good enough to be in my place of business.
Susie, I said nothing about lower classes of people. I said I agree with the man. It is none of my business if an individual wants to participate in homosexual activity, I personally could careless. I simply do not believe sexual practices should be a basis for government policy nor do I believe one person should be granted protections others do not have. Lastly I believe you have the right as a business owner to refuse service to any one for what ever reason, including some one like my self or a gay person, that should be up to you, not the government. The government cannot control what we think and should not be in a position to prevent us from acting on our beliefs. By the way, unless yo9u own a Home Depot, I doubt your rejection would bother me too much. Have a great evening.
Lankford should be fired for being a thin blond male with his brains somewhere other than between his two ears. I'll let you decide where his brains are.
I was going to email him, but he doesn't speak to anyone outside his district. I wonder if he checks on the sexual orientation of the person in his district that contacts him-- or on the political persuasion of the person who contacts him. He is nothing but a chickens**t.
How would Rep. Lankford like it if discrimination against prejudiced people were allowed. Since Lankford's prejudice prevents him from adequately representing people in the LGBT Community, therefore, provokes him into violating his Oath of Office, I agree that he has disqualified himself from being in Congress, therefore, he should be removed from office and replaced by someone who lacks that egregious character flaw.
After all, being prejudiced is not innate, so he could choose not to be prejudiced. And, prejudiced people generally cause far more harm that do the people who are subjected to the prejudicial behavior of others. And, especially since Lankford is categorically wrong when he states that "LGBT behavior is a choice." He wants it to be a choice, so he can justify his prejudice. However, it has been reliably demonstrated that most people whose Gender Preference or Gender Identity contrast with societal norms are the way they are due to underlying genetic reasons. and that in those few cases where the cause is not genetic, that it was either part of an experimental phase that goes away or was learned (and may or may not be unlearned).
and now we have told the world that we have "the first gay president"....wonder how he handles that with Michelle and the girls? Humm, maybe some truth to those Chicago bath house stories.......why don't we start a discussion on how we can affirm the rights for brothers to marry sisters, etc....this is nothing more than a slippery down hill slope we are on.
Watching Langford, he looks like a "lincoln cabin" repub club, which would explain all the hatred, or possibly the self-hatred?
Just watching the ED Show tonight, and listened to the two visitors talk about the Bible. Have the researchers come across the books by John Boswell regarding the stance of the churches and the topic of homosexuality during the Middle Ages, etc.:
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality:
Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century (Google eBook)
John Boswell
University of Chicago Press, 1980 - 424 pages
"Truly groundbreaking work. Boswell reveals unexplored phenomena with an unfailing erudition."Michel Foucault John Boswell's National Book Award-winning study of the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the early Christian West was a groundbreaking work that challenged preconceptions about the Church's past relationship to its gay membersamong them priests, bishops, and even saintswhen it was first published twenty-five years ago. The historical breadth of Boswell's research (from the Greeks to Aquinas) and the variety of sources consulted make this one of the most extensive treatments of any single aspect of Western social history. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, still fiercely relevant today, helped form the disciplines of gay and gender studies, and it continues to illuminate the origins and operations of intolerance as a social force. "What makes this work so exciting is not simply its contentfascinating though that isbut its revolutionary challenge to some of Western culture's most familiar moral assumptions."Jean Strouse, Newsweek
Same-sex unions in premodern Europe
John Boswell
Vintage Books, 1995 - Social Science - 412 pages
Both highly praised and intensely controversial, this brilliant book produces dramatic evidence that at one time the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches not only sanctioned unions between partners of the same sex, but sanctified them--in ceremonies strikingly similar to heterosexual marriage ceremonies.