VA Republican Claims Flying the Gay Pride Flag Undermines the US Economy

Wingnuts • June 2011 • Views: 1,184

www2.timesdispatch.com

The Richmond Federal Reserve Bank’s attempt to show inclusiveness in the workplace by flying the rainbow flag outside its building has reignited a divisive gay-rights debate.

Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, is calling on the bank to remove the flag, terming its presence “a serious deficiency of judgment by your organization, one not limited to social issues.”

In a letter to Richmond Fed President Jeffrey M. Lacker, Marshall says the homosexual behavior “celebrated” by the bank “undermines the American economy.”

“What does flying the homosexual flag, or any other similar display, have to do with your central banking mission under the Federal Reserve Act passed by Congress?” writes Marshall, one of the General Assembly’s most conservative members.

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17 comments

dragonfire1981 Sat, Jun 4, 2011 8:34:47am

It undermines the economy? What is he saying, gay people shouldn't work?

celticdragon Sat, Jun 4, 2011 8:42:13am

re: #1 dragonfire1981

It undermines the economy? What is he saying, gay people shouldn't work?

When Virginia voted in their own "no recognition of gay marriage or any legal document that duplicates any aspect of marriage" law, the state representative who crafted the bill said specifically he "wanted to drive every homosexual out of the state".

That is the attitude we are dealing with here.

dragonfire1981 Sat, Jun 4, 2011 8:50:30am

re: #2 celticdragon

When Virginia voted in their own "no recognition of gay marriage or any legal document that duplicates any aspect of marriage" law, the state representative who crafted the bill said specifically he "wanted to drive every homosexual out of the state".

That is the attitude we are dealing with here.

Wow, that's abhorrent.

calochortus Sat, Jun 4, 2011 8:57:53am

re: #3 dragonfire1981

Wow, that's abhorrent.

It sure is.

They can all move into my neighborhood. Well, maybe not all, its not that big a neighborhood, but you get the idea...

Haven't these people got anything positive to do? It seems like I keep asking this question and the answer always is: Apparently not.

dragonfire1981 Sat, Jun 4, 2011 8:59:52am

re: #4 calochortus

The funny thing is I have never EVER gotten a good answer from anyone when I ask "what makes gay people so evil?"

watching you tiny alien kittens are Sat, Jun 4, 2011 9:21:26am

Perhaps he is saying that it undermines the economy because we already have several million nutjobs led by laup nor and laup dnar and friends that want to get rid of the Federal Reserve entirely. Encouraging them only makes it worse...

I might possibly be giving him too much credit for being rational but still, why in the hell is a federal agency flying the gay pride flag? Especially when they are under attack by the Tea party and the Libertarians? This is like waving a red cape in front of a bull, it was obviously done to provoke a response, I'm just clueless as to why any responsible Reserve official would purposefully want to draw more animosity against the reserve right now.

Seriously, this is just wrong, who runs this office and decided to fly this flag? The people here would be asking that question and digging into it if they had raised a flag with the "Jesus Fish" or the "Hamas Flag." I honestly want to know because I am not so far convinced that this isn't simply an attempt to damage the reserve with the Wingnuts.

theheat Sat, Jun 4, 2011 9:30:35am

I hope the bank flies that fucker until it rots off the poll. Or whenever gays can legally marry in that redneck hillbilly state. Whichever.

BARACK THE VOTE Sat, Jun 4, 2011 9:41:01am

re: #6 ausador

I might possibly be giving him too much credit for being rational but still, why in the hell is a federal agency flying the gay pride flag?

June is LBGT pride month.

BARACK THE VOTE Sat, Jun 4, 2011 9:41:23am

re: #7 theheat

I hope the bank flies that fucker until it rots off the poll. Or whenever gays can legally marry in that redneck hillbilly state. Whichever.

WIN!

What, me worry? Sat, Jun 4, 2011 9:42:30am

re: #6 ausador

Perhaps he is saying that it undermines the economy because we already have several million nutjobs led by laup nor and laup dnar and friends that want to get rid of the Federal Reserve entirely. Encouraging them only makes it worse...

I might possibly be giving him too much credit for being rational but still, why in the hell is a federal agency flying the gay pride flag? Especially when they are under attack by the Tea party and the Libertarians? This is like waving a red cape in front of a bull, it was obviously done to provoke a response, I'm just clueless as to why any responsible Reserve official would purposefully want to draw more animosity against the reserve right now.

Seriously, this is just wrong, who runs this office and decided to fly this flag? The people here would be asking that question and digging into it if they had raised a flag with the "Jesus Fish" or the "Hamas Flag." I honestly want to know because I am not so far convinced that this isn't simply an attempt to damage the reserve with the Wingnuts.

June is Gay Pride month, that's why.

In the late 60s, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village was the largest gay-run business in the U.S. and was frequently targeted and harassed by police. It was also the first time that gays fought back and is considered a pivotal time for the gay rights movement. [Link: en.wikipedia.org...]

Since that time, yearly celebrations marked the rioting and brought gay rights out in the open. It all culminated into gay rights marches and parades in the 80s. In 2000, Clinton marked June as gay rights month which is why Obama also commemorated the event this month.

As to the article

In a letter to Richmond Fed President Jeffrey M. Lacker, Marshall says the homosexual behavior "celebrated" by the bank "undermines the American economy."

He never actually states why gays undermine the American economy. It's all BS.

What, me worry? Sat, Jun 4, 2011 10:24:59am

re: #8 iceweasel

June is LBGT pride month.

Sorry, I just wanted to give a history lesson for the kiddies :p

HappyWarrior Sat, Jun 4, 2011 10:55:41am

I knew this was Bob Marshall as soon as I saw the headline. This guy isn't some fringe member of the GOP. He came very close to being their nominee for attorney general a couple years ago.

BARACK THE VOTE Sat, Jun 4, 2011 11:18:42am

re: #11 marjoriemoon

Sorry, I just wanted to give a history lesson for the kiddies :p

No, that was great! Thanks for doing that!

calochortus Sat, Jun 4, 2011 12:25:23pm

re: #10 marjoriemoon

I think the Stonewall was mob-run rather than gay-run, though I suppose it could have been gay mobsters... Had it not been mob affiliated it would a.) probably have been a nicer place than it is reputed to have been, and b.) not lasted 5 minutes as a business.

calochortus Sat, Jun 4, 2011 12:35:24pm

Oh, and when will people realize that "X pride" and "X-power" movements are the domain of people who have been suppressed and stigmatized? It doesn't mean we all need to be black, or women, or transgendered to be good or important, just that its OK to be those things.
If you don't feel represented by minority rights movements, it likely means you aren't being discriminated against.
If you want to start a White Pride movement, there are probably some other areas of your life you might want to work on first...

You just don't see white male bankers marching down the street demanding acceptance.

What, me worry? Sat, Jun 4, 2011 2:44:38pm

re: #14 calochortus

I think the Stonewall was mob-run rather than gay-run, though I suppose it could have been gay mobsters... Had it not been mob affiliated it would a.) probably have been a nicer place than it is reputed to have been, and b.) not lasted 5 minutes as a business.

Yes, it was mob run, but the rioting that ensued was the first incident to empower an actual movement. From Stonewall Inn's About page.

[Link: www.thestonewallinnnyc.com...]

The Stonewall Inn in New York City's West Village June 28, 1969

"Standing Up for Gay Rights"

It was 1:20 a.m. when eight cops stomped into the Stonewall Inn, a dive in Manhattan's Greenwich Village district that had no liquor license but served watery drinks to a mix of drag queens, street kids, gay professionals and closeted and straight mafiosi (who ran the place). Within two hours, the Village was bleeding and burning as hundreds rioted. How did the nightly saturnalia at Stonewall produce protests that would kick start the modern gay-rights movement? The uprising was inspirited by a potent cocktail of pent-up rage (raids of gay bars were brutal and routine), overwrought emotions (hours earlier, thousands had wept at the funeral of Judy Garland) and drugs. As a 17-year-old cross-dresser was being led into the paddy wagon and got a shove from a cop, she fought back. "[She] hit the cop and was so stoned, she didn't know what she was doing—or didn't care," one of her friends later told Martin Duberman, author of the history of Stonewall. Later, the deputy police inspector in charge would explain that day's impact: "For those of us in [the] public morals [division], things were completely changed ... Suddenly they were not submissive anymore." Today gays and lesbians memorialize that night each year with a weekend of rallies, parades and parties—a spectacle as inspiring and raunchy as the Stonewall itself. - John Cloud, Time Magazine