Sen. Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe Co.) is a co-sponsor of the Non-Discrimination in State Employment bill. |
It seems as though N.C. Sen. Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) got “stomped” by his stepson, arch-conservative Republican Chad Nesbitt.
Sen. Nesbitt is co-sponsor of a bill that would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation for folks employed directly by the State of North Carolina. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll just call the bill “N.C. ENDA-lite.”
Chad Nesbitt is upset that Sen. Stepdaddy has decided to support equality, fairness and justice under the laws of his great state of North Conservalina.
Step-sonny Chad is the founder of Carolina Stompers, a right-wing Republican group based in Asheville with the motto, “True conservatives stomping liberals and ‘Republicans in Name Only’ for our children’s future.”
In a web posting on the group’s website, Chad rails against N.C. ENDA-lite and says, “What people do in the privacy of their own bedroom is their business. But to push your sex life on others is wrong. Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender groups like Equality NC and Faith in America are doing just that. Their sales pitch is civil rights. Slavery, segregation, and denying women the right to vote was wrong and Americans have come a long way since those days. But is the way you have sex a civil right?”
He continues his rant and rips into Sen. Stepdaddy, all while giving the public some major misinformation about what the bill actually says.
“That means Martin Nesbitt is sponsoring a bill that would allow transsexuals or transvestites to teach his grandchildren and your children in drag in the public school classrooms,” he writes. “Teachers are state employees and in an area where disturbing homosexual castrations and the gay lifestyle is on the rise, this will happen if this bill is passed and there is nothing you or their employer can do about it.”
Good one, Chaddy Boy — you just go ahead and show the whole world how ignorant North Conservalinians can be. At best, Chad is unaware of what the bill actually says (although the text is publicly available via the N.C. State Legislature website). At worst, he is willfully lying to a conservative audience eager to find any reason to attack a good Democrat like Sen. Nesbitt.
Here’s the real deal: the bill, which didn’t go anywhere in the 2007 session, would only protect employees on the basis of sexual orientation — not gender-identity or expression as Chad states.
Furthermore, Chad states that teachers would be covered under the bill. That claim is another falsehood.
Republicans like Chad are likely the reason the GOP can’t get anywhere in this state. The most vocal conservatives seem to always want to jump off the deep end.
On that note, I am reminded of Vernon Robinson, a former Winston-Salem city council member who is so disliked that some call him “Vermin.” In his 2004 and 2006 bids for the U.S. House, Robinson used so many exaggerations that it became hard to keep up with them all.
He even lied about me once. On his 2004 campaign website, he said, “Ex-Scout and Confessed Homosexual Matt Hill [Comer] calls Vernon a ‘religious zealot’ because of his successful efforts to keep homosexuals out of Boy Scout pup tents.”
Someone really had called Vernon a “religious zealot,” but it wasn’t me. I’ve only ever described him as vile, corrupt, insane, narcissistic and completely out of his mind. Oh yeah, can’t forget about “bigot,” “evil incarnate” and “media-whore.” I’ve called him those, too.
We expect bigotry to flow like a river from the Gay Objectors’ Party, but we can find it far too often in the Democratic Party as well.
U.S. Reps. Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler — two Democrats representing the Wilmington area and portions of the North Carolina mountains, respectively — stand in the way of progress for LGBT equality. Their most recent transgression was their votes against ENDA.
McIntyre has previously supported a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriage, a position that won him a “Defender of Marriage” award from the Alliance for Marriage.
Clearly, prejudice and bigotry aren’t limited to a particular political persuasion. They are WMDs for all those who are hell-bent on division, destruction and degradation.
Those of us who see the real ideals of our nation in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have an obligation to stand up for truth, equality, justice and freedom.
As we head toward the next general election, keep your head up and your eyes open. If we let our guard down, we will fall prey to those who are ready and willing to make us invisible and powerless. |
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