Some people aren’t comfortable with public displays of affection. Don’t believe me? Consider the scene that unfolded at a Hartford Public High School (in Hartford, Connecticut), when audiences reacted to a pro-gay advocacy play featuring two boys locking lips. The musical, called “Zanna, Don’t!,” is about an “opposite world” of sorts in which heterosexuals are the minority and homosexuals are the majority. In the play, straight individuals are outcasts and the most popular guy in school is — gasp — a gay student who is on the chess team. “Zanna, Don’t” was brought to the school by the Leadership Greater Hartford’s Quest, which is described by the Hartford Courant newspaper as, “a program for professionals that develops leadership skills.” The paper also reports that the group put on the show in an anti-bullying effort that members hoped would help gay, bisexual, transgendered or “questioning youth.” The Courant continues : In a partnership with the nonprofit True Colors, one Quest team raised $10,000 to show the musical three times at Hartford High this month. The Knox Foundation and the Samuel Roskin Trust at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving gave sponsorship money. But not everyone was enthusiastic about the show. As soon as the kiss took place, there was instantaneous clamoring. Screams, loud voices and disgust broke out and the school’s football team stomped out in protest. Some people were so anxious to leave the auditorium that they allegedly jumped over seats to get to the exit. Now, here’s the intriguing part. The school’s principal, David Chambers, claims that the students knew beforehand that there would be homosexual affections displayed in the play. As a result, some had asked to be excused prior to the assembly. While Chambers did consider sending a letter to parents in an effort to allow them to opt their children out of the assembly, he inevitably decided against it. According to Beliefnet , Chambers said that he believes the teens need to develop “a sense of empathy toward gays and lesbians.” But be contends, “Our kids are not there yet.” School personnel had to work diligently to prevent the students from leaving the school. Chambers continues: “Even though it’s kind of chaotic, kind of wild and crazy, I see it as very successful. Our kids never deal with this, they keep it inside, and that’s that nervous energy. That’s why they walked out.” In response to this, Beliefnet’s Rob Kerby wrote : It apparently did not occur to him that some of the kids had moral issues with the scene — believing that glorifying same-gender romance is wrong. Chambers’ intent was to wear down the students sense of disgust and discomfort with viewing homosexuality on stage. While there certainly was a negative response, the Courant also reports that many students enjoyed the show and found it important to progressing discussion surrounding homosexuality. Dineily Vargas and Angel Ayala, who are both 17-year old 11th-graders in the law and government academy, said that the show actually changed the minds of people they had seen being “homophobic” in the past. (H/T: Beliefnet via Hardford Courant )
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Gay Kiss During High School Musical Leads to a Student Walk-Out
Last week the California State Senate passed a bill along strict party lines that would criminalize the open carry of unloaded handguns if it gets signed into law by the governor. The author of the recently passed bill explicitly intended to go after members of the California Open Carry movement, who attend political rallies and go about their daily lives with unloaded handguns displayed in plain view to promote their 2nd Amendment rights . Not a single Republican State Senator voted for the bill. It originally passed in the State Assembly last May along party lines , 45 votes to 29. The California Assembly passed it just days after the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tuscon, Arizona. The bill was sold to the public as a necessary means to combat the fear that Californians allegedly feel when they see a fellow citizen openly carrying an unloaded firearm in public. As the Sacramento Bee reported on this gun paranoia issue, State Senator Kevin de Leon claimed: “This is not the wild west… how discomforting can it be if you walk into a restaurant, to Starbucks, to Mickey D’s, wherever it is that you may go to, and all of a sudden you see someone walking around with a handgun, and you don’t know, can’t discern if they’re a law enforcement agent.” The bill also has support from law enforcement officials who claim wasted man hours and tense situations result from citizens calling in complaints about those who openly carry. Perhaps if they knew it was legal, as it is in many others states , they wouldn’t be so concerned. The Blaze previously reported on a highly professional, courteous police discussion with an open carry advocate that would seem to indicate California law enforcement is well-equipped to handle open carry as long as the statutes are clear. Here is the video of that open carry advocate’s encounter with Oceanside Police: Many Republican lawmakers in California haven’t bought the argument that open carry is a public safety threat. State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R) already voiced his strong disapproval of the bill when it first passed the Assembly, stating in reference to the 2nd Amendment that “It is not just the right to keep, it is the right to bear arms.” The bill is now set to go back down from the Senate to the Assembly for minor amendments. But is is not clear if it will ever make it to the governor’s desk. The LA Times reports that a budgetary dispute may keep the bill from passing. Given California’s status as a “may issue” state for concealed carry permits, passage of this most recent gun control bill would effectively ban normal law-abiding citizens from carrying a handgun in the Golden State under any circumstances.
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Calf. Senate Tries to Criminalize Open Firearms Carry
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he made a deal with the Democratic leader of the state Assembly that would ensure she stayed in power if she helped pass cuts to public-worker pensions and benefits.
Do you remember the “Tito the Builder”, the Prince William County small construction business owner who introduced Sarah Palin at a Virginia McCain-Palin rally?
As David Prosser enjoys what appears to be a stable lead in the Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, perhaps you’re breathing a sigh of relief that America’s Dairyland won’t have to deal with another highly-contested local election anytime soon. Yes, you’re sighing too soon. A May 3 special election will fill three vacant state assembly seats. Republicans Mark Gottlieb, Scott Gunderson and Michael Huebsch resigned their positions after inauguration after being appointed to the Walker Administration. Republicans currently enjoy a 57 to 38 advantage in the chamber over Democrats (with one Independent), so it is not as if control of the Assembly is at stake. But nonetheless, every election in this state is likely to be highly charged for the near future. For the Republicans, Duey Stroebel is running in the 60th District , which includes Port Washington, Grafton and Cedarburg. Dave Craig is running in the 83rd District , which includes East Troy, Mukwonago, and Waterford. John Lautz is running in the 94th District , which includes the counties surrounding LaCrosse.
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Three Weeks Until Wisconsin’s Next Big Local Elections
Editor’s note: This post previously contained a live-stream video of the Assembly’s vote. Now that the vote is over, we have updated the post with the breaking news. The bill, passed by the Assembly and Senate , now goes to Gov. Scott Walker, who will sign it . MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin lawmakers have voted to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from the state’s public workers in one of the strongest blows to the power of unions in years. The state’s Assembly passed Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s explosive proposal 53-42 Thursday. The state’s Senate approved it the night before after using a procedural move to bypass its AWOL Democrats. Walker says he’ll sign the legislation as quickly as possible. The vote brings a swift end to a standoff over union rights that has rocked Wisconsin and the nation. Tens of thousands of protesters have converged on the state’s Capitol for weeks of demonstrations. The implementation of Walker’s proposal will be a key victory for Republicans who have targeted unions amid efforts to slash government spending. Below is AP footage of protesters being dragged out of the Wisconsin capital earlier today. The Blaze reported on that here .
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Wisconsin Assembly Passes Anti-Collective Bargaining Bill
On Fox News today, Megyn Kelly hosted Jesse Jackson, who was coming in live from Wisconsin, where a controversial bill banning collective bargaining passed the state Senate yesterday, and the state Assembly today . The bill passed the Senate with no Democrats present for the vote, so Jackson took issue with what he called the “ramrod democracy” of Gov. Scott Walker. A poised, but determined, Kelly pressed him on this issue, reminding him that a procedural maneuver caused health care to be passed through the U.S. Senate with only 51 votes, rather than the typical 60 vote majority needed. Where was Jackson’s protests of “ramrod democracy” then? Here is that exchange (and you can watch it below): Kelly: We saw this in Washington DC on the health care vote that president Obama wanted. The tea partiers and the Republicans did not want that law to go through and the Democrats did a procedural maneuver in the Senate where they got it through with 51 votes instead of 60. And that’s just life. Now that’s law. Why isn’t the same answer in place now for the Democrats who are losing? They are losing, but they’re losing farily in Wisconsin. Jackson: More health care for more Americans was not as hurtful as less education, and less health care, and fewer jobs. What you see here is the rise of hurt and people are acting out their democratic rights and sharing their pain. And they want to be heard, and I feel that when they’re steamrolled as they were in the Assembly, and as they are in the Senate, people are going to fight back until the governor hears them and engages in deliberative democracy and not ramrod democracy. Watch the clip below: Here’s another telling exchange, which comes later in the interview: Jackson: [Walker] must govern not just Republicans, but the republic. He must govern all the citizens, not just a party. He is not the governor of a party. He’s the governor of a state…. Kelly: …It seems like you’re saying you should look at the popular will and govern accordingly. Again, I go back to the health care legislation. The popular will was against that bill and yet President Obama and the democrats pushed that through at a national level. You felt very differently about that piece of legislation than you do about this one. Jackson: Well because 59 million Americans don’t have health insurance. People are dying because of that. 50 million Americans are in poverty….poor people are dying. There’s a sense of death for the poor people and surplus for the wealthy. Something about that is unhealthy for our democracy… You know what else is unhealthy for democracy? Double-standards about the democratic process. And Ken dolls. Or so says Rush Limbaugh: “Jesse Jackson is a Ken doll. There’s a little string in his back with a little ring, and you pull it, and out comes standardized number one, and you pull it again, and here comes standardized answer number two.”
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Megyn Kelly Exposes Jesse Jackson’s Double Standard on Democracy
**Written by Doug Powers Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of success is just showing up. And if you’re in the Wisconsin Senate, the other 20 percent is having a firm grasp on the rules in order to work around those who don’t show up : MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate voted Wednesday night to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers after discovering a way to bypass the chamber’s missing Democrats. All 14 Senate Democrats fled to Illinois nearly three weeks ago, preventing the chamber from having enough members present to consider Gov. Scott Walker’s so-called “budget repair bill” – a proposal introduced to plug a $137 million budget shortfall. The Senate requires a quorum to take up any measures that spend money. But Republicans on Wednesday split from the legislation the proposal to curtail union rights, which spends no money, and a special conference committee of state lawmakers approved the bill a short time later. The measure moves on to the Assembly and is expected to pass on Thursday. This guy is really gonna be mad whenever he wakes up. Well, hungry first, then mad. Earlier in the day, there was a little insult-to-injury : Earlier Wednesday, Senate Republicans voted to fine Democrats $100 each for missing the day’s session. The fines passed 18-0. All Democrats were absent, as was Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere). In terms the Wisconsin Fleebaggers can understand, they’re being fined about one night each at the Heritage Inn & Suites in Harvard, Illinois. Update: Let the temper tantrums begin . **Written by Doug Powers Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Wisconsin GOP Finds Way Around Fleebaggers; Senate Votes to Strip Bargaining Rights for Public Workers
