Golden Oldie: Madison’s Testimony (video): A daughter eloquently expresses the meaning of marriage equality
December 28, 2010
This one at Sagesse’s request.
We at P8TT are taking Christmas through New Year’s off. Golden Oldies you requested will run in the place of regular posts. Regularly scheduled programming will resume on January 3rd–Adam Bink
By Eden James
On Tuesday, Garden State Equality responded by organizing an overflowing town hall in Trenton, New Jersey, that attracted 158 people, according to Courage staffer Arisha Michelle Hatch’s hand-count (versus the 48 who showed up for the NOM rally).
The GSE town hall was quite moving, featuring same-sex couples and their children expressing what being denied marriage equality means to them personally.
Here is one touching moment that moved me to tears, quite frankly. We just got the video up last night:
If
If you have a reaction to Madison’s testimony or the experiences of the Galluccio family in being on the front lines of the battle over adoption rights and marriage equality, share it in the comments and share this post with your friends and loved ones.
UPDATE: Watch this video — a really good summary of the day, including Madison. “Lesbians Love Boies” just posted it in the comments. Thanks LLB!
22 Comments
1.
Bill | December 28, 2010 at 1:52 am
Off topic, but a MUST read….
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40830
2.
Joel | December 28, 2010 at 3:19 am
Sorry, but this disgusting drivel is only appropriate for those suffering from bulimia and feel the need to purge.
3.
Kathlene | December 28, 2010 at 4:24 am
Thanks for the link, brb leaving comments.
4.
Lodi Gal | December 28, 2010 at 7:40 am
I can dismiss the content of the article as partisan hackery fomenting fear for political purpose. It's the comments that are painful to read–I want to reach through the computer screen and grab some of those people by their red necks. I work in the public schools and hear children repeating this stuff. It makes me ill. And I am not allowed to address those comments the way I can address racism or sexism. We aren't allowed to mention the word "homosexuality" by order of administrators who fear a backlash from parents. So frustrating. So, so, frustrating.
5.
Evelyn J. Brooks | December 28, 2010 at 11:01 am
A reply I left there:
Your personal take on the premise of homophobia is entertaining. You've managed to speak volumes about yourself in this article. Out of everything you've said here, I think there's at least one thing that I perfectly agree with you on. I can agree that you're utterly and unequivocally petrified.
Let me break down a few points that I found most interesting:
"On the one hand, I’m a devout Christian who believes the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong. On the other hand, I’ve always been pretty tolerant of other people’s lifestyles. I prefer to “live and let live”. So long as you don’t hurt me or mine, then I’ll leave you alone."
Uh huh…
"God said that men shouldn’t have sex with other men. That seems pretty cut and dried. But is it possible that God made a mistake? After all, Congress says it’s okay. The President says it’s a civil right. . . I see where the gay community is taking our country and it scares the hell out of me. Between homosexuality and abortion, we are killing our country."
Are you expecting the reader to have the attention span of a biscuit? You just said that you were always tolerant of other people living their lifestyles. By the sound of it, it seems you would want nothing more than to drag every gay person off and quarantine them in a concentration camp for doing just that. Live and let live? I feel sorry for the poor fucker who actually believed that when you said it the first time.
"America is now at zero population growth"
I almost choked on what I was eating when I read that. Screw statistics, or peer reviewed studies – unless you live in a tool shed in the middle of the fucking moon there's no way you can even believe that and still be a human being with eyeballs in his skull and a window in his house. Seriously, I don't even think you even believe that.
"John and Jim are not a family; they are just two men having sex."
If you don't want them to have sex then let them get married.
"They aren’t content to “live and let live”. They
want to teach my kids that homosexuality is a good thing, that it’s a life choice as noble and pure as Christianity itself."
uh huh…
A) Homosexuality isn't a choice. Gay sex is. The reason why I pointed that out is because you clearly don't understand the difference between homosexuality and buttsex.
B) LOL, noble and pure? Have you even heard of the crusades?
C) No one gives a damn about you, or your kids, or your marriage. It only becomes an issue when YOUR kid, starts to harass MY kid for being gay. Then we have a problem. You can raise your kids however you want to at home, but at school there are standards of respect that all students must adhere to. If you don't like the idea of your kids treating their gay peers like human beings then life sucks for you then. Quite frankly you can crawl in a hole and die for all I care.
D) As I've clearly demonstrated, people who claim that they "live and let live" aren't doing anything vaguely resembling the term anyway, so yeah – your INTERPRETATION of "live and let live" is not good enough.
"They have become so successful at terrifying, badgering and vilifying heterosexual Americans"
Here's what I find entertaining about you. You think that every straight person in existence is just as insecure and uncomfortable as you are.
Here's what you're afraid of. You're not afraid of gay people. You're afraid of the reality that you might live in a world where you must confront your own sexuality. Heterosexual people find gay sex disgusting, yes. That's not you. You've proven that you feel absolutely and unequivocally threatened by gay people, and that you feel overwhelmingly vulnerable. The very thought of gay sex invokes a feeling of hostility. Among heterosexuals, you are in a minority, my friend.
Are you a bigot? No. You're just a sad fool who probably needs a hug LOL! Someone who feels empowered by attacking gay people, when it is you who feels panic stricken and powerless. I'll pray for you.
6.
Ed | December 28, 2010 at 2:52 am
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=3433…
Haha!!
7.
fern | December 28, 2010 at 3:20 am
Happy New year to all.
Y'all been good this year and I hope y'all keep on being good in the next one.
8.
Ann S. | December 28, 2010 at 4:46 am
Late to the game.
(::shakes fist in rage at makers of spyware::)
9.
Sagesse | December 28, 2010 at 5:29 am
Thanks for finding this and reposting. Just passing thru, will be back to watch later.
10.
Rhie | December 28, 2010 at 6:02 am
Scribin
11.
Ronnie | December 28, 2010 at 6:05 am
Although I only got the chance to shake the hands of Galluccio family at the gathering after the Garden State Equality Town Hall meeting….My mother & I got to hear their testimony at the meeting….they are an amazing family…<3…Ronnie
12.
matthew | December 28, 2010 at 7:15 am
I was just over reading up on the NOMbies blog.
It makes me sad that they censor polite, thoughtful, fact-based arguments against their point of view. While letting things like this get posted no problem.
" CARMA MCCONAHAY
Posted December 28, 2010 at 3:24 pm | Permalink
***Give a license to one to avoid discrimination you have to give one to them all not one is any different then the other" Sexual Pervert/Freaks***
NECROPHILIA{Erotic attraction to or sexual contract with corpses}
ZOOPHILIA{Practice of sex between humans and animals}
HOMOSEXUAL{Practice of sex between same gender}
PEDOPHILIA{Person who rapes children}
There is not one that is any better or any worse then the other they are the very same.
Just as if a thief steals bread to feed ones family is no different than a thief that steals just for joy, a thief is just a thief, a sexual pervert is just a sexual pervert!
All wrongful desires can and must be resisted"
13.
Leo | December 28, 2010 at 9:26 am
<cite>Just as if a thief steals bread to feed ones family is no different than a thief that steals just for joy</cite>
Wow, really? Jean Valjean comes to mind…
14.
Helen in Ireland | December 28, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Someone just reposted this diatribe to Jeremy Hooper's Gay As You site, as an example of the nutcases on NOM. The offensive drivel then apparently got deleted from the NOM comments – I guess the wimps at NOM got nervous at knowing that their hate speech is going viral…
15.
allen | December 29, 2010 at 4:44 am
So someone raping their children is no more harmful than two consenting dudes or girls getting it on in the privacy of their own bedrooms? Right.
16.
Regan DuCasse | December 28, 2010 at 7:56 am
I met the Galuccio's years ago after I'd seen a documentary about them and their fight for their children. I believe they ended up raising five altogether. What is rarely pointed out is how many gay couples have adopted or fostered the most difficult children for states to place.
Those opposed to marriage and adoption equality are always talking about the 'ideal couple' as being a man and woman, but they don't talk about those families wanting IDEAL CHILDREN.
And the children that gay couples were allowed to have were rejected by those ideal couples too.
But as also can be attested, these difficult to place children THRIVE with their gay parents. Even if as infants, they are very sick, or damaged from addicted mothers. They thrive despite obstacles, which sometimes, the least of which, is having unmarried parents.
I remember a couple from NJ featured in the documentary "All Aboard!", they adopted two sibling sets from the same mother, a total of five children. Three girls and two boys.
The couple had a wedding on the cruise, and anyone would envy the beauty of those children and watching the tucking in ritual of the family would be so happy for those five children that they had such compassionate and generous parents.
I remember the Galuccio's boy and I worried about his HIV, because it was still very tricky to treat it in children.
And I remember them telling me about what they had to do as parents to keep him healthy.
Amazing, he's all grown up now.
I'm so happy to hear that. Proof positive that good parenting is good parenting, and no group has a lock on it.
But it's individuals who do.
17.
Kathleen | December 28, 2010 at 11:41 am
Scribin'
18.
Jenny | December 28, 2010 at 1:18 pm
I must have missed this post the last time, because I do not remember seeing that video clip before of the young girl's testimony. That was so precious! Really shows why the arguments against equality which claim to be "for the children" will never stand when actually tested.
19.
Richard A. Jernigan | December 29, 2010 at 12:08 am
I still get weepy when I watch this. Madison's testimony is one part of the truth that NOM and others like them are trying to hide from the world. They don't want this to be seen on a wide basis because then their sheeple will know the truth and their money will dry up as they are exposed for the bigots and haters that they truly are. I have to admit that I am kinda jealous of Ronnie. He actually got to meet this wonderful family.
Sorry to be so late in posting to this account, but we had P8TT family from Minnesota here yesterday. Paul and his husband Steve are just absolutely fabulous! We had a very enjoyable time visiting with them yesterday, and are hoping to get up to Minneapolis when the weather is warmer.
20.
Kathleen | December 29, 2010 at 1:01 am
How wonderful that you had a visit from Paul and his husband!
21.
Richard A. Jernigan | December 29, 2010 at 1:30 am
It really was a great visit. Paul introduced me to a music composition software package called Finale that I just have to order for the songs I have in my head, and the four of us went to the new Chinese restaurant on North Main Street. Will have to take you there when you get the chance to come to Hope Mills. The food is all so fresh, and it is cooked so wonderfully well, the buffet tables are kept so clean and refilled so frequently. And their team is so attentive to the customers. It is really a nice place to eat, and not very expensive, either. They are rapidly building up their customer base, and I predict that they will be around for a good long time.
22.
Lodi Gal | December 29, 2010 at 12:23 am
A Harvard/UC study has made it official: The NOMers are genetically programmed to fear.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/conservatives-…