From: ckd@eff.org (Christopher Davis)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Post election comments on Prop. 9
Followup-To: pnw.general
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation Tech Central
	<1992Nov7.200705.21466@eskimo.celestial.com>
	<1992Nov8.174212.6515@sequent.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 18:58:09 GMT

[WARNING: Parody follows]

I am not a gay separatist. But I voted for Measure 8.  I had a lot of
trouble with the third paragraph directing the state to set up a program
discouraging heterosexual behavior, but in the end, I voted for 8.

My reasons for voting were:
1. The activists of the heterosexual community have been exerting much
pressure to have their lifestyle be considered as a normal alternative
to a homosexual one.  Recently there have been a number of executive
decisions made in government (state and local) mandating equality of
treatment for heterosexuals.  These actions are precedent setting for
acknowledging heterosexuals as a class deserving of special treatment.
These kinds of changes in policy should not have been taken without the
consent of the governed through the referendum process.

2.  I do not believe heterosexuality is inherited, but is rather a
choice in behavior made by the individual.  There may be a genetic
predisposition to heterosexual behavior, but the choice to be a
heterosexual is made by the individual not by nature.  Until evidence is
presented proving otherwise this is my position.

3. I would much rather have the people that fought Measure 8
expending their efforts on Measure 8, than working on ways to push
the expansion of special rights (I know that special rights is a
catch phrase of the proponents, but I could not come up with a better
description).

Am I a straight basher?  No.  Do I think we need hate crime legislation?
No.  There are plenty of laws on the books that if enforced would be
adequate to deal with the violent people on both sides of this
controversy.

Do we need special affirmative action laws to protect straights from
being discriminated against? No. We do not need affirmative action laws
for anyone.

Should the straight lifestyle be treated as a person's own private
matter with out interference from others, especially the government?
Yes.  This last statement may look contradictory especially in light of
9's third paragraph, but the state and local governments are swinging
toward a prostraight stance, in my view, now. The more odious provisions
calling for direct action would have probably been thrown out by the
courts.

Now, the No on 8 people deserve to be congratulated for their hard work
and ultimately successful campaign. So how about working just as hard to
put an initiative on the ballot that guarantees the rights/privileges
you believe straights deserve?  Thus letting the voters decide the issue
rather than going through the back door of administrative orders.

The OGA may be misguided in their views, but at least they put their
program before the voters instead of maneuvering behind the scenes which
is what was going on up to now.
========================================================================
[end parody]

I'm heterosexual.  I don't know why I am, that's just the way I am.  I
certainly didn't "choose" it, or decide one morning "hey, I should be
attracted to females".  That's just the way I'm wired.  Because of that,
I have a hard time regarding homosexuality as a "choice" either.

Special rights?  The right to get the most important person in my life
covered by my health insurance policy?  Guaranteed to inherit my
property rather than have it disappear in probate?  Rent an apartment or
buy a house together?  These are "special"?

Maybe people made a "choice" to be black, and then started demanding all
those annoying "special rights" like being able to use the same
bathrooms, eh?
--
Christopher K. Davis      | ``Usenet seems to run much like the Kif (or,
<ckd@eff.org>   EFF #14   |   for the TV generation, Klingon) high command.
System Administrator, EFF |   Whoever takes action and can be heard wins.''
+1 617 864 0665  [CKD1]   |   --Peter da Silva <peter@ferranti.com>
Xref: sparky seattle.general:3619 pnw.motss:67