A BIT OF GOOD NEWS FROM THE LAND OF DOROTHY

[trilingual]

Voters in Topeka, Kansas (the state capital) rejected a proposal sponsored by the unspeakable Fred Phelps which would have removed gay rights protections from the city's municipal civil rights ordinance. Phelps's daughter also ran against an incumbent lesbian city council member, and came in last! (The incumbent was re-elected.)

 

Maybe there's hope that Kansas voters will reject the anti-gay marriage amendment scheduled for the April ballot. . .

[camshaft9]

That's great news to wake up to. I was anxious to hear the results.

Maybe Kansas is'nt all red.

[Guest zipperzone]

>That's great news to wake up to. I was anxious to hear the

>results.

>Maybe Kansas is'nt all red.

 

Good news? YES

 

But....... there is a scary element to it too. I don't have the EXACT figures but the figures I read indicated there were 14,700 to defeat the motion and a whopping 13,200 for it. That's only a margin of 1500 voters. A victory to be sure, but hardly a resounding one!

[trilingual]

If I recall correctly, the figures I saw were percentages: 53% in favor of retaining the current protections and 47% against. The low numbers aren't unusual: Topeka only has about 200,000 people and turnout in these kinds of off-schedule elections is usually pretty low. But a win is a win! The April election, when the constitutional amendment will be voted, is also likely to be a low turnout affair. If there's a decent turnout in the more enlightened parts of the state, there's a chance of defeating it.

 

Only time will tell, but I guess I should see if I can get an absentee ballot for the April election!!!

[trilingual]

If I recall correctly, the figures I saw were percentages: 53% in favor of retaining the current protections and 47% against. The low numbers aren't unusual: Topeka only has about 200,000 people and turnout in these kinds of off-schedule elections is usually pretty low. But a win is a win! The April election, when the constitutional amendment will be voted, is also likely to be a low turnout affair. If there's a decent turnout in the more enlightened parts of the state, there's a chance of defeating it.

 

Only time will tell, but I guess I should see if I can get an absentee ballot for the April election!!!

[eastbayguy]

>Good news? YES

>

>But....... there is a scary element to it too. I don't have

>the EXACT figures but the figures I read indicated there were

>14,700 to defeat the motion and a whopping 13,200 for it.

>That's only a margin of 1500 voters. A victory to be sure, but

>hardly a resounding one!

 

That's elections these days. Our current governor, here in Arizona, won by only a similar margin in the last statewide election. That's a state wide race, in a state with a fairly large population. The governor's race, statewide, was decided by something like 1,200 total votes.

 

It only takes one vote to produce a clear winner.

 

--EBG

[Guest jeffOH]

I saw Jael Phelps on Scarborough Country squaring off against the legal counsel for Log Cabin Republicans. She's(Phelps) just 20 years-old, intelligent, but jeez, that cult-like smile she had plastered on her face was pure evil. Blah, blah, Bible says...you know their usual line. Scarborough told her that Jesus said all sins are equal. She begged to differ, of course.

 

The lesbian councilwoman who retained her seat on city council is the only openly gay officeholder in the whole state of Kansas, which in addition to the repeal failing is important. Unfortunately, I think what motivated some was an even greater disdain for the Phelps freaks than for gays. Ohio is a bit more liberal than Kansas and the amendment here was passed 60-40. I wouldn't doubt if Kansas approves theirs by an even great margin.

[trilingual]

Kansas is weird, though. The only other thing on the ballot this time around are some mayoral and city council elections. (Not all cities in KS are having such elections this year.) If we're lucky, there will be elections in less conservative areas like Kansas City and its suburbs, and Lawrence and Manhattan (where the universities are) and not in the most conservative areas. That could skew the turnout.

 

Also, if people in Kansas can be persuaded that Fred Phelps is heavily behind the amendment, it may get people to vote against it because Phelps is considered loathesome by most Kansans. He's the center of a very small fringe group that seems to be mainly his extended family and people are tired of the bad publicity he brings on the state.

 

The biggest employers in Kansas (like SW Bell, Sprint, Boeing, etc.) DON'T support the amendment, and their views carry weight. Even though the K.C. suburbs aren't liberal, they also don't consider themselves redneck, either, and that could inspire some backlash votes against the proposal. Wichita is the other big city; it's conservative but it also has a large unionized workforce in the aircraft industry, so maybe some of them will vote against it, too.

 

In any case, I plan to vote. It turns out I could download the absentee ballot request form, so I'll fax it in the morning which should give the election board plenty of time to get me a ballot!

[Guest zipperzone]

>>Good news? YES

>>

>>But....... there is a scary element to it too. I don't have

>>the EXACT figures but the figures I read indicated there

>were

>>14,700 to defeat the motion and a whopping 13,200 for it.

>>That's only a margin of 1500 voters. A victory to be sure,

>but

>>hardly a resounding one!

>

>That's elections these days. Our current governor, here in

>Arizona, won by only a similar margin in the last statewide

>election. That's a state wide race, in a state with a fairly

>large population. The governor's race, statewide, was decided

>by something like 1,200 total votes.

 

That's not quite the same thing. In a vote for Governor, presumably people are voting for who they think will do the best job.

 

That's a very different kind of a vote than choosing whether to grant civil rights to people who should be concidered as equal. The fact that the margin was so slim. indicates there are a lot of people out there who don't like us and think it's OK to treat us as 2nd class humans.

>

>It only takes one vote to produce a clear winner.

 

Not really - a winner, yes. But a clear winner, hmmmmmm