Troy Mayor Janice Daniels, who first came under fire in December for making an , is facing further criticism this week after she compared the dangers of the homosexual lifestyle to the dangers of cigarette smoking Wednesday during a radio interview.
"What I said while I was mayor ... I was in a business meeting, I come from a business perspective ... I said that I would bring a doctor into a meeting that would say that the homosexual lifestyle is dangerous," Daniels told Talk Radio 1270 host Charlie Langton, according to CBS. "Had I been with a group of smokers I might have said I would like to bring a doctor into this meeting to say that smoking is dangerous."
After Langton asked whether the mayor felt it was dangerous to be gay, Huffington Post reported, Daniels said she had no opinion, but noted, "I think that doctors can make a case for it, certainly."
The radio interview took place less than a day after political action committee Recall Janice Daniels filed . If 7,985 of the group's signatures are verified, the recall issue will be put to Troy voters in the Nov. 6 general election.
Daniels has remained the center of controversy after (a was later approved), telling the Gay-Straight Alliance she would bring in an expert to tell them and writing a lengthy position paper some viewed as .
Congratulations on being able to compile one of the most factually incorrect pieces of propaganda that I've read in a while... 1. Homosexuals do NOT die younger than heterosexuals. The "study" done to spread that lie had some major flaws. http://www.christianpost.com/news/expert-blasts-study-on-gays-dying-younger-as-severely-flawed-26941/ 2. Many, many studies have been done that show children of homosexual parents do as well, and in some cases better, than heterosexual parents. It depends on income and access to education. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20051012/study-same-sex-parents-raise-well-adjusted-kids 3. There is no homosexual curriculum, but there have been moves made in states like California to not hide the fact that historical figures were gay. No one is teaching children to be gay because it's not something you learn. 4. One of the biggest lies is this bit about pediophilia. Pediophilia is a disorder that exists in both straight and gay people. The notion that this applies only to gay men is propoganda spread by Paul Cameron and has been debunked. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_molestation.html 5. Pre-teen births? You relealize that homosexuals don't reproduce, right? They are born to heterosexual parents... 6. Last I checked sex ed classes teach safe sex to prevent STDs and teen pregnancies. Your post is just an example of the blind hatred and misinformation that religious groups have pushed for decades.
Here is the current listing on the Red Cross website: "The top priorities of the American Red Cross are the safety of our volunteer blood donors and the ultimate recipients of blood. On June 11, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability voted against recommending a change to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy of a lifetime deferral for men who have sex with other men. The FDA is responsible for determining donor eligibility requirements and the Red Cross is required to follow their decisions. However, the Red Cross does support the use of rational, scientifically-based deferral periods that are applied fairly and consistently among donors who engage in similar risk activities. We will continue to work through the AABB (American Association of Blood Banks) to press for donor deferral policies that are fair and consistent and based on scientific evidence, while still protecting patients from potential harm." http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-topic#lifestyle
I messed up the link to the AABB and Red Cross joint statement that is referred to in the paragraph that Dave W posted above from the Red Cross. Here's the correct link. Hopefully it works this time. http://www.aabb.org/pressroom/statements/Pages/statement061510.aspx
Perhaps we should do JUST a little background research before we post a statement. Certainly, you don't want the reputation that you will say anything to support the mayor, no matter how incorrect? Do you?
Your opinion does not equal fact, Cathy.
I never suggested it was fact. Representing an opinion as fact is your purview. It is my opinion (that is what I believe this forum is for). As well as the opinion of the other 9,300 people who signed the petitions in a 90 day period. Many other people told me they wanted to sign, but were afraid of retribution. The vote will be private.
I have done some thinking on this topic. I'm particularly interested in your statement or question. "Is two "partners" better than a man and a woman." I don't think you can ask is something better or worse unless you bring in an emotional component to your response. When I look at this question from a purely unemotional, fact based approach the only difference I can see between same sex partners and male/female partners is that the male/female partners MAY create a child through sexual union and the same sex partners can't. Many male/female partners never create offspring so in this case I can't see any difference at all between the two types of unions. Now if I have the belief that creating offspring is BETTER than not creating offspring then I could make some sort of emotional judgement in favor of the fertile male/female partners. But where does that leave the non non-fertile male/female partners? They don't make the cut. If I think it is better to not create offspring then you can easily see that I would think that the same sex partners are BETTER because it is guaranteed that they will never create offspring. So any judgements of which are better have to be based on my personal emontional based beliefs. Which do you think is BETTER and what facts and beliefs are you using as the basis for the comparison?
Quite a few well respected organizations disagree with you: Major health organizations from the American Psychiatric Association ( http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx ) to the World Health Organization ( http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6803&Itemid=1926 ) to the American Academy of Pediatrics to federal Department of Health and Human Services have all dismissed notions that homosexuality is anything medically/psychologically unnatural or inherently dangerous. Also, Dr. Jack Drescher (member of the American Psychiatric Association) was asked about the Mayor's comments and stated: "She’s not really stating a medical issue. She’s really stating something about the perception that everyone who is gay is leading a promiscuous sexual life and the promiscuous sexual life may lead to increased health risks. Religious social conservatives call that ‘the gay lifestyle,’ even though that’s as absurd a phrase as ‘the heterosexual lifestyle.’ There are sexually promiscuous heterosexuals and there are risk-taking heterosexuals. It’s not really a medical issue. It’s a culture wars issue." If you want to continue to push stereotypes and misinformation, people will call you out for it. The SPLC does... http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/10-myths
Mat - I'm curious, when did you make the conscious choice to be straight? Or could you choose to fall in love with someone of the same sex? If you can "choose" to do that, I'd venture to say you're not heterosexual. If you can't, then you are heterosexual. No one is asking for special treatment or rights, people are asking to be treated as equals under the law. "I thought this was America?" You know, with liberty and justice for all...
My second response was a little more emotionally charged, but it still points to the fact that your "special rights" arguement doesn't really hold water. Please provide an example of a "special right" and how that right would be special under the law. If you look closely at all three posts, we never mentioned God. Since you can only fall back on religious arguements, then I assume everything you say is emotional instead of based in facts. Last time I checked, He also said that eating shellfish and getting a tatoo were equally wrong, and that we should stone adulters, and that slavery was acceptable. Are these all things you think are right?
Last I heard, Jesus said "Judge not, lest ye be judged". And "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". God gave us free will. Only he gets to judge our use of that will.
Tattoo Leviticus 19:28: “do not tattoo yourselves, I am the Lord” Shellfish Leviticus 11:10, 11: “but of the various creatures that crawl or swim in the water, whether in the sea or in the rivers, all those that lack either fins or scales are loathsome for you, and you shall treat them as loathsome. Their flesh you shall not eat and their dead bodies you shall loathe.”Slavery: Deuteronomy 15:12-15, addresses the treatment of Hebrew slaves and Colossians 4:1 addresses the treatment of slaves.Adultery: Deuteronomy 22:22 "If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die." Leviticus 20:10 "If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death."