The conservative problem is that kids raised by gay parents aren't going to grow up to hate gay people. That's hard for them to swallow.

Children have to be taught to hate and if their parents don't teach them the joys of persecuting a minority, who will?

Attitudes change fast, though. Most of us can remember in our lifetimes when a mixed race couple would have been run out of town, or if your white daughter were to date a black boy, it would be pert near the end of the world. Now it's common.

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Gay marriage in Iowa has not yet ruined traditional marriage...in fact it seems to be helping:
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/07/…

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Ark. Drops to 48th in National Study of Child Well-Being
Posted by Tara Manthey on July 27th 2010


2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book shows some improvement, yet decline in other areas

Little Rock - Arkansas's national rank dropped one place from 47 to 48 in the 2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a state-by-state study on the well-being of America's children. The Data Book reveals that Arkansas improved on five of the 10 measures affecting child well-being since 2000. Yet on two other measures, conditions worsened for Arkansas kids. Conditions remained unchanged on one measure, and two others were not comparable to previous years.

"This year's Data Book highlights some troubling facts about child well-being in our state," said Paul Kelly, Senior Policy Analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. "Our state officials must take note of these findings and take action soon. Solutions exist, but they cannot be implemented by advocates alone. We need a strong partnership between both sides to really see improvement."

Arkansas's low ranking can be attributed to being ranked in the bottom 10 nationally on eight of the book's 10 indicators. Among the 50 states, Arkansas ranked 50th in the percentage of teens not in school and not working; 48th in the percentage of children in poverty; 47th in the teen birth rate; 46th in the child death rate; 45th in both the teen death rate and the percent of children without secure parental employment; 44th in the percentage of high school dropouts; and 43rd in the percentage of children in single parent families.

"Probably the most disheartening fact in this year's book is our state's percentage of "idle" teens," said Kelly. "The data show that our rate stood at 12 percent, the highest in the country compared to the national rate of 8 percent. That translates into about 20,000 Arkansas teens that were not in school and not working. These are youth who have likely dropped out of school, who do not have job skills, or who are caught up in the criminal justice system because of substance abuse. Quality afterschool and summer programs are effective in keeping youth engaged in school by offering alternative learning opportunities, teaching job skills through work-study programs, and providing positive alternatives to the risk taking behaviors that occur when youth lack structure and supervision during out of school times. These programs offer support to the working families often headed by single moms with low wage jobs that struggle to provide structured activities for their children when they are at work."

http://www.aradvocates.org/ark-drops-to-48…

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Elwood,

Since we can't give kids the best possible situation we will just ban anything less than perfect.

We all know kids do best with their married, employed, educated, biological parents if kids don't have that we can just keep them from being placed in any lesser setting.

Let Arkansas' motto be "only the best possible for our kids".

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I'm thinking of a "deep stroke" tonight. Or was it a "long stroke" that so deeply turned Rekers on? Except my deep stroking will come from sweetie and not a near under-aged boy.

Ok, problem solved Rekers wanted the "long stroke" from his rent-a-boy.

http://fromtheleft.wordpress.com/2010/05/0…

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Plus these interesting results from the Public Religion Research Institute's July 21, 2010, report on "Religion and Same-Sex Marriage in California" --

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith…

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Anyone ever thought maybe Mike Huckabee and gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum might just be closet homosexuals and this George "Rent-boy" Rekers, despite what he looks like might be the hottest little honey in the sack? Here we're thinking there's a religious attraction and they're thinking deluxe Mangina! Rev. Haggard ain't the only one, ya know. Huckasexual?

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Huckasexual - DBI

Thanks...now I have beer on my keyboard, hope you're proud. 8^)

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WBW and I met rather late (I was 39 and she 35 when we got together). And, neither of us had the urge to be mothers. We actually like having a little money in the bank and the freedom to do what we want when we want.

Lots of our L friends don't feel the same way. WBW's dearest friends in the world - an L couple who recently celebrated their 10th anniversary - adopted a 6-month old boy about 4 years ago from a single, teenaged girl in Texas.

He's the cutest little fellow and is so well-mannered. He looks like he could be their biological son with his big, blue eyes and his sandy, blond hair.

He's enrolled in a private pre-K and is smart as a whip. His mothers work with him every night and they take great pride that he's ahead of his peers in both his reading and math skills.

I asked them recently if they had gotten any flak from the Harvey or FBL-type parents at the school. You know, the bigots who take pride in being bigots.

I'm happy to report that they said they haven't been met with any resistance. The parents of the other children know their son has two moms and they've been very receptive. Their son has not been shunned from any birthday party or other out-of-school function.

We're making small steps in this bigoted state because we're leading by example.

Honestly, who'd you want your kid to be around? A smart, well-mannered child with two devoted lesbian parents or something that Harvey or FBL would've spawned?

Can we get required vasectomies/hysterectomies of bigoted people on the books? Where's Mrs. Buttersworth when you really need her?

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Dang. Thanks for the tip, Harv. Now I'll be wary of those folks talking to me about Bible studies. Man, I didn't know this study bidness was such a racket to be avoided.

And, I'm so awed by your blanket condemnation of ALL studies. What moxie!! "Believe nothing and no one. Everyone has been bought off."

Now I can eat all the grease I want, throw away all my blood pressure medicine, stop using that pesky old seat belt, and ignore thousands of so-called studies bent on dictating how I'm supposed to live, breathe, sweat, chew, read, and brush my teeth.

Man, you've saved me from the government and the dreaded threat of having to marry a goat because some study says helping kids is important. I am so thankful that you've shared your wisdom on this with me. Bless you.

Do you mind if we quote you the next time you cite a report to support an argument?? (Oh.....sorry, I forgot. You don't really like to cite reports or anything to back up what you say. My bad.) So, do you mind telling us who pays you to write your stuff?

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Whoever it is, Jake, they've gotta be pretty stupid for throwing their money away like that.

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“PS — New polling shows Californians remain about equally split still on gay marriage.” ~ Max Brantley

Argentina a few days ago legalized gay marriage and now 250 million people worldwide live in jurisdictions that recognize it. With Argentina now in the fold, same-sex couples can marry in Buenos Aires; Mexico City; Pretoria, South Africa; and Ames, Iowa.

But interestingly enough, not in San Francisco.

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