I’m sure that I’m not the first person to notice this bizarre phenomenon, but I definitely find it odd that any time a group of right-wing Christians decides to get up on their high horse and start handing out Christian morality-based laws, they almost invariably do so under the name of the “Family Soandso”:
The Family Party has its first meeting planned for Tuesday night, part of an effort to gather the 343 signatures necessary to become a recognized political party. It already has a web site selling merchandise, and has published an extensive platform there.
Provincial Green Party Leader Sharon Labchuk takes exception to the P.E.I. Family Party’s stance on homosexuality. The Family Party’s platform includes a section under education titled “Freedom from sexual indoctrination.” It says the province should ban all school material that normalize what the group calls “deviant sexual practices.” Among other things, that includes sodomy and lesbianism.
It is only in the mind of the right-wing fundagelical that government-enforced bans on what subjects can and cannot be taught in schools is “freedom from indoctrination”, but I’ll let that pitch go by with nothing more than that comment. I’ll also leave it to people who have more sex than I do to comment on what constitutes ‘deviant’, except to say that “sodomy” is a really stupid term that encompasses much more than mere butt secks (and it’s pronounced ‘lesbianity‘).
No, while these topics are certainly fruitful grounds for discussion, my concern is with the word ‘Family’. Do these people think that only Christians have families? We’ve got authors on this site that are parents, and others that are in officially state-sanctioned marriages (praise be to Allah). Atheists have families. So do Jews, Zoroastrians, Baha’i, Mormons (big ones), Muslims… you name it, they’ve got families. Who elected the Christians the bosses of who’s allowed to pay too much for a DJ?
Brian Nash of Middleton is the P.E.I. Family Party’s main organizer. He said the party stands for promoting core family values. ”Our foundation is upon integrity and honesty in government. But being honest isn’t always saying what’s popular. And doing what’s right isn’t always saying what’s popular,” said Nash. ”But we want to present a platform which is best for families in P.E.I.”
You know what might be best for families, Mr. Nash? If their gay kid doesn’t get the tar kicked out of him at school by other kids brought up on the milk of human kindness that is your ideology. If their bi daughter isn’t convinced that the way she feels is an abomination, and if the school is able to tell the other kids in her class that the rigid gender roles that you promote aren’t the only thing under the sun.
Another thing: is Mr. Nash aware that gay people have families too? Has it escaped his notice that there are something like 4,100 same-sex couples in Canada with kids? Or maybe he thinks he is defending a ‘traditional’ definition of marriage, which is only ‘tradition’ in one part of the world, and even then only if you’re ignoring the fact that women were essentially livestock to be sold into marriages when those ‘traditions’ were founded.
I am personally tired of seeing the word ‘family’ dragged through the metaphorical mud by small-minded prudes that clamor for enough political power to make sure that nobody else is enjoying their sex life. The ‘Family Party’ is one that I am happy not to be invited to. PEI legislators take note – this fringe group has no chance of gaining power. Let them sign their petition, then completely ignore them during the elections. Paying attention to their lunacy only grants it legitimacy.