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"Deep" Thought #11: The Denial of Death Benefits is "Good News"

By Fannie

Recently, as the Americans for Truth [sic] About Homosexuality reported, a domestic partner bill for same-sex couples was defeated in Illinois.

This bill would have... well, why don't I sit back and let The Illinois Family Institute explain (as reported on the website for Americans for Truth [sic]) the "good news" on the bill's defeat:

"You made a difference! Thank you for taking action on this bill!

Thanks in part to your phone calls and emails, the Illinois House of Representatives in Springfield voted 43 to 67 (with 1 voting ?present?) yesterday, defeating HB 4731, a bill that would have allowed homosexual partners of public school teachers to qualify as surviving spouses for purpose of survivor and death benefits.

Look at the chart below to see how your State Representative voted, or you can also download it by clicking HERE.

If your State Representative voted ?NO? ? please call to thank him/her. You can look up your elected officals [sic] HERE, or you can call the IFI office at 630-790-8370, and we will be happy to look them up for you." [emphasis added]

What the defeat of this bill tangibly means for same-sex couples is that when a public school teacher dies his or her same-sex partner will not be able to receive survivor benefits as do the opposite-sex spouses of public school teachers. That the Illinois Family Institute and other so-called "family" and "values" groups are celebrating this injustice to the family of someone who dedicated his or her life to the honorable profession of teaching is, in my opinion, anything but moral or admirable.

Unfortunately, groups like Americans for Truth [sic] About Homosexuality, in their quest to defeat anything and everything "pro-gay," propagate the idea that compassion, fairness, and equality would utterly destroy the moorings of Family (tm). As Peter LaBarbera from Americans for Truth [sic] says, such a bill is the "last thing that children and the beleaguered institution of marriage need in the Land of Lincoln."

Indeed.

I would very much like to see the exact reasoning process behind how a bill giving death benefits to a deceased teacher's same-sex partner would magically hurt The Children (tm) and the Institution of Marriage (tm). Not that those pesky details matter, of course. Who cares. It's time to part-ay! The homasexuals lost this round! [insert touchdown dance and high fives]

Thank you Americans for Truth [sic] for continuing to give old words like "good news" new meaning.

It's simply fantabulous news when honorable tax-paying law-abiding citizens aren't afforded equal rights upon death. Yeah, deep thoughts.

Full post as published by Fannie's Room on April 29, 2008 (boomark / email).