http://www.bynkii.com/archives/2005/05/thisis_what_i_m.html It's not cut.All I can say is “Word”, and if I lived in Houston, I'd be sending her donations and volunteering time.She said it all, and she said it perfectly.HJR 6 Speech by Representative Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston)I have been a member of this august body for three decades, and today is one of the all-time low points.... Members, we all know what this is about; this is the politics of divisiveness at its worst, a wedge issue that is meant to divide.Members, this issue is a distraction from the real things we need to be working on. At the end of this session, this Legislature, this Leadership will not be able to deliver the people of Texas, fundamental and fair answers to the pressing issues of our day.Let's look at what this amendment does not do: It does not give one Texas citizen meaningful tax relief.... You used a wealthy white minister cloaked in the cloth to ease the stench of that form of discrimination.So, now that blacks and women can vote, and now that blacks and women have equal rights-- you turn your hatred to homosexuals-- and you still use your misguided reading of the Bible to justify your hatred.... Texas does not now recognize same-sex marriages, civil unions, religious unions, domestic partnerships, contractual arrangements or Christian blessings entered into in this State-- or anywhere else on this planet Earth.If you want to make your hateful political statements then that is one thing-- the Chisum amendment does real harm.... Today, you are playing to the lowest common denominator-- you are putting aside the real issues of substance that we need to address so that you can instead play on the public's fears and prejudices to deceive and manipulate voters into thinking that we have done something important.I realize that gay rights are not the same as civil rights-- but I can guarantee you we are going in the wrong direction.... Some of you folks hid behind your Bible then, too, to justify your cultural prejudices, your denial of liberty, and your gunpoint robbery of human dignity.We have worked hard at putting our prejudices against homosexuals in law.... But, we have also absolved them of all family duties and responsibilities: to care for and support their spouses and children, to count their family's assets in determining public assistance, to obtain health insurance for dependents, to make end-of-life or necessary medical decisions for their life partners--- sometimes even to visit in the hospital, even to defend our own country.... The prejudices exhibited by members of this body disgust me.Last week, Republicans used a political wedge issue to pull kids-- sweet little vulnerable kids-- out of the homes of loving parents and put them back in a state orphanage just because those parents are gay. en-us http://tattoo.xxlfind.biz.xxlfind.biz tattoo http://computer-art.morediscounts.info butterfly artreligious artblack art art deco]]>