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Gay Billboards

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by Brian30755, Jul 20, 2005.

  1. Brian30755

    Brian30755 New Member

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    This was in my local newspaper today.....a picture of a billboard with a picture of 5 or 6 people on it with this caption: "We are your neighbors. And.....we are gay."

    These billboards are going up in the Atlanta area.

    Am I the only one who does not understand WHY the homosexual community wants to keep shoving their lifestyle in our face? Do they honestly think this is going to make me accept their lifestyle? If they do, they are dead wrong. It disgusts me.

    What if somebody put up billboards all around Atlanta that said "We are your neighbors. And we are NOT gay." I don't know, I guess I'm just venting, but this kind of stuff really makes me sick.

    I went to this groups website, georgiaequality.org, and here's what it said about these billboards:


    AP Reports on Billboards - Christian Coalition Responds


    Tuesday, 19 July 2005

    The Associated Press - ATLANTA

    The blue billboard bears a simple image _ five casually dressed men and women standing arm in arm _ and a simple message: "We are your neighbors. And ... we are gay."

    The sign, posted on a stretch of nightclubs and restaurants in midtown Atlanta, is part of the first wave of a statewide campaign Georgia's largest gay and lesbian group hopes will change attitudes throughout the state.

    "For so long, extremists have used gays and lesbians as a means to further their own agendas," said Chuck Bowen, executive director of Georgia Equality. "The purpose of this campaign is to let people know we're no different than anybody else."

    The group's "We Are Your Neighbors" campaign is an 18-month effort that comes on the heels of what gay activists call a bruising year in politics.

    Last year, several states, including Georgia, passed anti-gay marriage amendments and many believe homosexuality was used as a divisive wedge issue in the presidential campaign.

    "We're tired of being chased," Bowen said. "We constantly had to react to very negative, erroneous misrepresentations of us. Now, we're trying to send a positive signal to let people know who we really are."

    The campaign began with 12 billboards in metro Atlanta's Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Paulding counties.

    The billboards went up two weeks ago and, on Sunday and Monday, the "we are gay" messages were added. According to official traffic counts, more than 8 million people will see the billboards during July, Bowen said.

    A second wave of billboards is expected to go up in October in suburban and rural communities throughout the state. Bowen said many of the locations were picked using polling data from last year's election that showed low levels of support for gay issues.

    Over 18 months, billboards are planned in 38 counties. The campaign, funded by private donations, also will feature television and print advertisements.

    Other billboards feature a firefighter, with the phrase "I protect you ... and I am gay," and a female doctor with the phrase, "I care for you ... and I am a lesbian."

    Bowen said the people featured on the first wave of billboards are from out of the state, but that future signs will picture residents of the communities where the signs are placed.

    Members of some conservative groups who pushed last year's anti-gay marriage amendment in Georgia see the campaign as a political ploy.

    "I think it's just one more step in their agenda to try to mainstream their lifestyle," said Sadie Fields, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Georgia. "I'm certainly not going to question their stated motives, but I don't expect their political agenda to stop."

    But supporters say the campaign is more about winning friends than winning votes.

    "It's just about people," said David Greenberg, 43, of Atlanta, a speech coach and author who is speaking to the public and media as part of the campaign. "The more people get to know gay people, they realize that we really are just people with similar issues just wanting to have a happy life like everyone else."


    Am I the only one who is bothered by things like this? Am I wrong to let it bother me?
     
  2. Joseph_Botwinick

    Joseph_Botwinick <img src=/532.jpg>Banned

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    I wouldn't let it bother me. It only makes them look stupid. Speaking of which, perhaps their billboards should read: "We are your neighbors...and we are stupid idiots". [​IMG]

    I would laugh at them and go on with your life. They are an irellevant joke who nobody really takes seriously. Otherwise, they would not have to resort to such desperate tactics to be noticed.

    Joseph Botwinick
     
  3. Su Wei

    Su Wei Active Member
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    it sickens me too, Brian. [​IMG]

    I hate to think of having to raise children in an environment like that.
     
  4. Mike McK

    Mike McK New Member

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    I'm not nearly as offended by the idea that somebody would declare themselves to be gay, as I am that our culture has degraded to the point that people (both gay and straight) think that their sex lives are appropriate for public display.
     
  5. just-want-peace

    just-want-peace Well-Known Member
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    Just one more attempt to "normalize" a deviant lifestyle by those who know full well that it's wrong, but hope to gain acceptance by blowing smoke! :rolleyes:
     
  6. Bro. Curtis

    Bro. Curtis <img src =/curtis.gif>
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    You have not lost your talent for hitting the nail on the head.
     
  7. hillclimber

    hillclimber New Member

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    It is a brilliant strategy, in that every "in your face" episode, and every mention of a gay family lifestyle that happens, makes it a little bit easier to accept homosexuality as mainstream.

    You are not, as Joseph points out, nearly as offended by the billboard today as you would have been 10 years ago.

    We are becoming Sodom and Gomorrah just like the old days and by the same methods.
     
  8. fundamentalfire

    fundamentalfire New Member

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    Joseph said,
    No one took them seriously in my country and now they have pushed their agenda so much that our country has on this day made a law that defines marriage as "including a union between those of the same sex." They did it in Canada and if you Christians over there in the states don't start taking it seriously they will gain the same ground in your country!

    If our countries are not as bad as Sodom and Gommorah now they will be shortly!

    My oppinion: If you are not completely against the queer movement you are for it!
     
  9. Bro. James Reed

    Bro. James Reed New Member

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    Here's an idea:

    How about all you conservative Canadians move down here to the States, and all of our liberal wackos move up there?

    Wouldn't that be nice? Then each country could have things the way we want them. :D
     
  10. Joseph_Botwinick

    Joseph_Botwinick <img src=/532.jpg>Banned

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    No one took them seriously in my country and now they have pushed their agenda so much that our country has on this day made a law that defines marriage as "including a union between those of the same sex." They did it in Canada and if you Christians over there in the states don't start taking it seriously they will gain the same ground in your country!

    If our countries are not as bad as Sodom and Gommorah now they will be shortly!

    My oppinion: If you are not completely against the queer movement you are for it!
    </font>[/QUOTE]Perhaps, you are right about my analysis. I didn't mean to not take the gay movement seriously. But, at the same time, pick and choose your fights and don't let them drive you nuts. IMO, the gay movements that should be worried about are not the ones out there acting like lunatics. They are not the ones people listen to. They are the ones people, like me, make fun of. The gay rights groups that we need to take seriously are the ones who don't make desperate moved and who look respectable. For example, you have the Log Cabin Republicans, who are certainly pushing a more accepting agenda for homosexuality, but they are not in your face and they do not act like lunatics. People take them seriously to a point, and don't make fun of them. These are the groups we need to worry about. Make sense?

    Joseph Botwinick
     
  11. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    But they are different.

    They are the only group of people in the world that feel they have to announce their sexual orientation on a billboard.
     
  12. just-want-peace

    just-want-peace Well-Known Member
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    And this fact just sticks in their craw!
     
  13. LadyEagle

    LadyEagle <b>Moderator</b> <img src =/israel.gif>

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    The good news is that next time they have Gay Pride Days in Disney World, all the homos attending will be fingerprinted. (Heard about the ID for DW on Fox News today)

    If we put up a billboard that said "I am your neighbor and I am NOT gay," the ACLU would file a lawsuit over hate speech.

    I'm sick of all of it.

    Things are sure messed up in America.

    Even so, Come, Lord Jesus.
     
  14. Brian30755

    Brian30755 New Member

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    I could be wrong, of course, but I believe this billboard campaign is going to backfire on them. Too many people are sick of having this garbage in their face, and have complained to this "Georgia Equality" group. They've posted a few of these complaints (including mine) on their website.

    One of the complaints posted on their website says "I shouldn't have to explain to my 7 year old what a lesbian is". I agree.

    I ask that you would help me pray that no more of these billboards go up in my state, and that the ones that are already up are taken down.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    I believe you have hit the nail on the head!

    We now [I don't] refer to homosexuals as Gay. 30 years ago they would have been called what they are, perverts! Now it is politically incorrect, and in some places illegal, to call them what they are. This perversion is becoming an accepted lifestyle in this country and unless there is a spiritual awakening we will go the way of Canada.

    Incidentally, our acceptance of the perversions of abortion and homosexuality are part of the justifications the Islamic terrorists use against the west. We would do well to remember that God used pagan nations to punish Israel [and I am not comparing the west to Old Testament Israel].
     
  16. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    The ACLU is a former communist organization that can't seem to get away from it's roots. I believe their main goal is to destroy America by destroying many of its institutions like religion and family.
     
  17. church mouse guy

    church mouse guy Well-Known Member
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    I think that nowadays the ACLU is a sodomite organization, isn't it?
     
  18. Songbird

    Songbird New Member

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    What saddens me even more is that my 9year old great niece lives in one of those counties. I'm sure if she notices the billboard my niece will have to explain it to her. She's not quite old enough to know the facts about "normal" sexuality.
     
  19. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Your concern is understandable.

    Think the ACLU would take your case?
     
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