Repost with corrections: 14-year-old wants gay marriage ban for her birthday
7:30 pm - 02/04/2012
Yikes, forgot the source! Mods, can you please post this instead of the other entry?
14-Year-Old Girl Pleads With Senate Officials To Vote Against Gay Marriage On Her Birthday
Whether or not same-sex marriage will be legalized in Maryland remains to be seen, but one local girl has made her stance on the issue clear.
The girl, who identifies herself as Sarah and says she is home-schooled, told Maryland's Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee that not only was it her 14th birthday, but that it "would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote no on gay marriage."
She goes on to note, "I really feel bad for kids who have two parents of the same gender...I don't want any more kids to get confused about what's right and OK."
She concludes, "People have the choice to be gay, but I don't want to be affected by their choice."
Among those unlikely to agree with her are Gov. Martin O'Malley, who urged lawmakers in what Reuters has deemed an "unusual personal testimony" at the same event to approve marriage equality. "The very reason for our state's founding was for religious freedom. At the heart of religious freedom is respect for the freedom of individual conscience," he said. "The way forward, the way to sustain and enhance our common life together, is equal respect for the freedom of all," he said in unusual personal testimony that underscored the importance he attaches to the measure.
Source
Transcription:
Interesting...Sarah's mom, Kathleen Kositzky Crank, is all over the comments of this article defending her daughter and their bigotry.
EDIT (2/5): One of the Think Progress commenters linked to an article about Sarah Crank winning some pageant last year. She says she plans to become a Supreme Court Justice. Oh Lord....
14-Year-Old Girl Pleads With Senate Officials To Vote Against Gay Marriage On Her Birthday
Whether or not same-sex marriage will be legalized in Maryland remains to be seen, but one local girl has made her stance on the issue clear.
The girl, who identifies herself as Sarah and says she is home-schooled, told Maryland's Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee that not only was it her 14th birthday, but that it "would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote no on gay marriage."
She goes on to note, "I really feel bad for kids who have two parents of the same gender...I don't want any more kids to get confused about what's right and OK."
She concludes, "People have the choice to be gay, but I don't want to be affected by their choice."
Among those unlikely to agree with her are Gov. Martin O'Malley, who urged lawmakers in what Reuters has deemed an "unusual personal testimony" at the same event to approve marriage equality. "The very reason for our state's founding was for religious freedom. At the heart of religious freedom is respect for the freedom of individual conscience," he said. "The way forward, the way to sustain and enhance our common life together, is equal respect for the freedom of all," he said in unusual personal testimony that underscored the importance he attaches to the measure.
Source
Transcription:
Hi, I'm Sarah Crank. Today's my 14th birthday and it would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote no on gay marriage. I really feel bad for kids who have two parents of the same gender. Even though some kids feel like it's fine, they have no idea what kind of wonderful experiences they miss out on. I don't want any more kids to get confused about what's right and OK. I really don't want to grow up in a world where marriage isn't such a special thing anymore. It's rather scary to think that when I grow up that the legislator or the court can change the definition of any word they want. If they can change the definition of marriage, then they can change the definition of any word. People have the choice to be gay, but I don't want to be affected by their choice. People say they were just born that way, but I’ve met really nice adults who did change. So please vote no on gay marriage. Thank you.
Interesting...Sarah's mom, Kathleen Kositzky Crank, is all over the comments of this article defending her daughter and their bigotry.
EDIT (2/5): One of the Think Progress commenters linked to an article about Sarah Crank winning some pageant last year. She says she plans to become a Supreme Court Justice. Oh Lord....
*waits*
*eats popcorn*
and, i mean 14 is old enough to have an opinion - however she is home schooled - so, it probably only the one her parents are giving her. IDK.
And yeah, home schooled kids are SO sheltered. I know there's some home-schooled kids who are well-adjusted, but a lot of the time I've seen them become mouthpieces for their parents beliefs, whether they're far right or far left.
But I knew a few crazy sheltered kids whose parents used the Bible as their only text book.
And yeah, home schooled kids are SO sheltered. I know there's some home-schooled kids who are well-adjusted, but
By sheltered, do you mean ignorant? Because I agree with you to a small extent in that they're often sheltered from assault, intimidation, and generally hateful behaviour. Shaming and name-calling and all the behaviour that leads to damage to their self-esteem and suicides. Also, homeschooled kids often mix happily with others regardless of age or gender because they haven't had the "stick with your own" message stressed the way it is in schools.
I'd like to hear more about how homeschooled kids parrot their parents beliefs differently than schooled kids, especially since you said parents who are left and right. People who homeschool for religious reasons do often limit their children's exposure to differing views but the left? I don't let me son read Stormfront but he explores a lot of information. One of the most important things he's learning is how to distinguish a good source of info from a bad. And I think other lefty parents also encourage critical thought, more so than is done in many schools.
The homeschooled kids that I knew growing up would ONLY spout of their parents weird beliefs, because they weren't allowed to use the internet unsupervised or watch certain television shows or read certain books. If I only went to church, I would probably be one of those weirdo kids who yells about God creating dinosaurs and the Remington bolt-action rifle. At least going to public school, I learned about science. Actual science, and not "Galileo stopped scientific pursuit because he found Jesus" science.
I was replying to "And yeah, home schooled kids are SO sheltered" in the hopes that the poster could be reminded that the homeschooling community isn't a monolithic whole. So it would be cool to be more specific. I don't expect everyone to care but it would be nice.
I was asked to come up with a name for this co-op that worked out to a pronounceable acronym. So far, my best effort is Children Taught at Home University with Love, Harmony, and Understanding. My sister actually likes this but fears it would turn away new families. /coolstorysis