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Longtime couple Carline Banegas, center, and Jodie Dearborn, right, snuggle on the couch with their daughter Dakota Banegas, left, 13, after dinner in their Las Vegas home Monday, Sept. 28, 2009.
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 | 2 a.m.
A Family Portrait
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Carline Banegas and Jodie Dearborn have been together for nine years. They got married in California last year and on Oct. 1 will be one of the first couples in the state to be formally recognized as domestic partners.
Sun Archives
- 78 couples pre-file for domestic partnership rights (8-24-2009)
- State to begin taking domestic partners forms Monday (8-18-2009)
- Domestic partners must wait for coverage (7-10-2009)
- Board extends coverage to domestic partners of state employees (6-20-2009)
- Power, luck, finesse bring gay rights win (6-5-2009)
- With veto override, domestic partners bill becomes law (5-31-2009)
- Gibbons' veto of rights for gay couples appears safe (5-28-2009)
- Search is on for votes to beat Gibbons' domestic partner veto (5-27-2009)
They’ve been together for more than nine years. Most of their time revolves around the kids: dropping off, picking up, going to games and recitals, meeting with teachers, reminding about chores and nursing colds. In the evenings, their family has dinner together and yet they still find time for just the two of them, to laugh and tease and flirt and say, “I love you.”
And today, Carline Banegas and Jodie Dearborn will be one of nearly 700 couples receiving Nevada’s first domestic partnership certificates.
In the eyes of the law, their family will be almost normal.
• • •
Carline and Jodie met playing softball in Pahrump in May 2000. Carline, who was 27 and had been divorced for a few years, had never thought of herself as a lesbian. She had three young kids. Jodie, though Carline didn’t know it, was 18. Carline at first tried to convince herself that her attraction to Jodie was admiration for the teenager’s athletic talent. Jodie, already out of the closet, knew exactly what her attraction to Carline was.
After their first date, they say they just knew. It wasn’t long before they moved in together.
“It was fairly quick. A couple of weeks, a month. It’s a total lesbian joke: What does a lesbian bring on a second date? A U-Haul,” Carline says.
They rented a little three-bedroom house in Pahrump.
“It was exciting,” Jodie says.
“But we were so poor,” Carline says.
Jodie worked as a grocery store florist, behind the front desk in a veterinarian’s office and at a video store. She was just out of high school and had never really been around a lot of kids, especially little kids like Carline’s. She had to learn how to be responsible for them, how to take care of them, she says. And she did.
After five years, they moved to Las Vegas.
Today, the oldest daughter, 17-year-old Brenna, is living with relatives in Boise, where she hopes to go to college. Nathan, 14, is a high school freshman who practices karate and is on the cross country team. Thirteen-year-old Dakota competes in pageants, is a cheerleader, dances and plays in the middle school orchestra. The other schoolchildren and the teachers know about Carline and Jodie — after all, they’re field trip chaperones. It hasn’t been a problem.
“We’ve been really lucky,” Carline says.
Carline does most of the cooking and is the first one to ask the kids about their homework when they come through the door. Jodie is the one who can find the keys and keeps the family’s schedule. She snowboards with Brenna, plays video games with Nathan and sews with Dakota. (Jodie also made all the curtains hanging in the house.) As a family, they like to play board games, take their three small dogs to the park and go on an occasional Disneyland trip. Sometimes in the summer, they rent a hotel room in town so the kids can swim in a pool.
“It sounds boring but I wouldn’t trade our lives for anyone’s,” Carline says.
• • •
Why do they love each other?
Carline, who is now 37: “She has the biggest heart I’ve ever met. I don’t know anyone who would take on all of that responsibility when she did. She was 18, she could have gone to college and only had one job. But she took three jobs and was with us. She’s always provided for us, making sure we have what we need. She’s always been there for us. She’s been really good to me and really good to the kids. She’s funny. She’s smart.”
Jodie, who is now 27: “She’s always there to talk to. We work well as a team. We get things done.”
Carline: “She’s a woman of few words.”
And then the whole scene dissolves in blushes and hugs.
• • •
In June 2008, Carline was hospitalized for three days for prolonged dizziness and fainting. Doctors eventually hypothesized that she had been exercising too hard in an effort to lose weight.
Jodie took time off work to care for the kids and worry over Carline’s hospital bed. There were no problems at the hospital of the sort that same-sex couples often face, problems that some of Jodie and Carline’s friends tell them about. Jodie was allowed to visit Carline and meet with her doctors.
But when Jodie went back to work, her supervisors told her they were going to mark the time she took off to care for Carline as unpaid leave, “ ‘because she’s not family.’ ”
It was enough to push the couple to drive to San Diego and marry on a beach on Sept. 9, 2008, two months before California voters outlawed new same-sex marriages. Carline and Jodie knew their marriage wouldn’t be valid in Nevada, which has a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
They just hoped that a marriage license would be a piece of paper they could wave at doctors and bosses, some little evidence of their love and their family.
• • •
Last spring Nevada’s Legislature debated a bill introduced by state Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas. It wouldn’t overturn Nevada’s ban and make us one of the four states with same-sex marriage. It wouldn’t provide federal recognition for same-sex couples. But it would make Nevada the 10th state with either domestic partnerships or civil unions. It would be a legal piece of paper for couples to show doctors and bosses.
Carline and Jodie consider themselves active in the gay community, but they don’t think of themselves as activists. As Carline says, “I’m a lesbian but that’s not the only hat I wear. I’m a mom, I’m active at my kids’ school.”
They also were among the couples who traveled to Carson City in April to lobby legislators to pass the bill.
With some apprehension, they knocked on a lot of doors. Carline went into the office of Ed Goedhart, a staunch anti-tax Republican assemblyman from Amargosa. He was wearing a cowboy hat.
Carline remembers, “I went in there with my attitude, like, ‘We’ve been together almost 10 years and I’m no different than you are.’ And he’s like, ‘I know, you’re right.’
“He totally made me feel like a fool.”
A month later, after Gov. Jim Gibbons vetoed domestic partnerships, Goedhart was the only Republican in the Assembly who voted to override the veto. His was the decisive 28th vote, providing a needed two-thirds majority in the lower chamber.
• • •
Nevada’s domestic partnership law is an almost-but-not-quite kind of equality for gays and lesbians. It confers most legal benefits of marriage but not all.
Significantly, public and private employers are not required to extend health insurance to a partner as they would be to a spouse. In any state, but especially in one with an unemployment rate of 13.2 percent, health insurance matters. It matters in the lives of Carline and Jodie.
Jodie is a corrections officer at Nevada’s women’s prison. Her job provides health insurance. Carline’s job as a bank loan officer does not. Every time there’s open enrollment for insurance, Jodie turns in paperwork for Carline, “but they say, ‘No, we get it, you’re both women.’ ”
Jodie smiles and shakes her head. The Corrections Department still hasn’t said whether it will extend health insurance to domestic partners.
Another crucial difference is that they don’t have a marriage in Nevada. They have a domestic partnership. It’s a semantic difference, but it’s also a way of withholding society’s approval of their union. It’s a way of saying that Carline and Jodie are, despite their modest suburban home and their parent-teacher meetings, not quite normal.
Carline shrugs it off.
“What’s marriage? Did it make Gov. Gibbons or John Ensign or Bill Clinton stay within the bounds of their relationship?” Carline says.
It’s a word, maybe an important word, Carline says, but what matters is to make life better and more normal for each successive generation, regardless of sexual orientation.
But this difference of a word does raise another important question: On what date will they celebrate their anniversary?
Will it be the anniversary of their marriage, which is recognized in seven states but not the one they live in, or of their Nevada domestic partnership?
Oh, there’s so many dates, Carline says. Their first date, when they moved in, milestones here and there. “It’s OK. The more the merrier. The more times she takes me out to dinner, the better. She’s got lots of dates to remember.”
“I set them on Flowers.com and they send me reminders,” Jodie says.
Carline mock gasps, “Cheater!”
For a while, they thought about moving to California, but for the past year or so, they’ve been leasing a house with an option to buy it. They’ve signed up to be foster parents. Jodie wants babies, but they might also take in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens who have been thrown out of their parents’ homes.
They think they’re going to stay. Domestic partnership isn’t the only reason to stay, but it is definitely, Carline says, a bonus.
“I’m so proud to be a Nevadan.”
You people are sick. God didn't create man for man or woman for woman. This is what's wrong with America, Democrats pushing their sick agenda. The Democrats are infesting America with sick immoral values and enabling sick behavioral patterns. We're going downhill and it will only get worse the longer Obama and clan remains in power, the American cesspool. At the rate Obama is destroying America communities will overrun with the likes of North Las Vegas, Watts, Oakland, Washington DC, and all other areas where crime and hate is accepted and the normal way of life.
Thank you, LV Sun, for sharing this story! This is a wonderful family portrait, and something that more people here in Nevada to learn about. LGBT families are families, too. We deserve the same rights that all other families receive.
I'm glad our state moved forward today with domestic partnerships, and I'm still hoping for the day we see full equality at the state and federal levels.
It took some fair minded Republicans to override a hypocritical governor's veto to make this step a reality.
I can only write from my heart that what I know to be true. Robert and I would never have choosen our gayness. Who would choose something that until fairly recently has been so frowned upon by society as a whole?
And as the coversation about marriage equaity, civil unions and domestic partnerships goes foward, we see hearts and minds slowly changing.
Fair minded legislators, civic and corporate leaders have begun picking up the pieces of debris left behind from campaigns which have divided us...campaigns which became a cash cow for people who pandered for votes, using fear as a way to line their pockets.
Governor Gibbons is a role model for the sanctity of marriage? Senator Ensign, anybody? Richard Ziser is a moral leader? When Ziser bankrolled "question 2" by going on talk radio saying all he wanted to do was "protect marriage" he made it seem as if civil unions or domstic partnerships was a possbility. How many voters supported "question 2" thinking that all they were doing was protectiong the "traditional meaning of marriage" yet wanted to see your gay family members, neghbors and co-workers still find some measure of equality under the law? If this recent debate about Domestic Partneships in this legislative session didn't prove to you how disingenuous these people have been...nothing will.
As I have stated in previous posts, Robert and I feel strongly that our churches should be free to make their own choices about marriage. But, the courthouses should belong to ALL Americans. We were gratefully married in Canada.
I wish for every partnered couple the joy, companionship and happiness that Robert and I have found in our lives.
Stuart & Robert Wyman-Cahall
Las Vegas, NV 89142
Robert and I believe that the reason that the term "marriage" has become so important is beause alternative titles such as "civil unions" or "Domestic Partnerships" in places where they have already been tested (Vermont, New Jersey, Conecticut, etc.) simply do not do what they were intended to do. Especially where employee benefits are concered.
We're so heartened people are starting to come around. Thats a huge step towards progress. But the sad truth is, my casino employer will not recognize my "domestic parnership" just as they don't recognize my legal Canadian marriage. And I have been a 15 year employee who gives one hundred per cent at my job and have been recognized many time for my efforts.
"Marriage" comes with over 1100 rights and resposibilities, my domestic partnership, though we're glad to have it, does not even come close.
Robert and I were legally married in Canada on July 27th 2004, and, truth be told, if you and I passed each other on the street, you wouldn't even know it.
Politicians, as I've stated previously, have used good folks like Robert and myself to garner votes, leaving their own marriages in shambles. We're all human, and we all fall short in the eyes of G-d. I don't judge them, but I have expectations as an American that we should all be treated equally under the law...and you should know that when Canada passed marriage equality, they smartly used U.S. law as their guide! They cited Brown Vs. The Board of Education to highlight that "seperate but equal" is not what a real democratic society should aspire to.
We are proud that it was American law that set the standard for other countries when it comes to respecting the human rights an dignity for all
G-d's people!
Stuart & Robet Wyman-Cahall
Las Vegas, NV 89142
well on personal level...this has the yuck factor that i can not deny..but we can not treat gays any differnt...if you evey had gay friends or co worker you know its not a choice......did i see a male kid? i feel sorry for him only because the other kids will give him crap for ever.......and to that idiot at the top "its the ened of the world" you and Glen beck should have a love child...its not the end of the world....Gays are part of this world they always have been...and we have to treat them like everyone else.....or maybe next time we will make republicans the next discriminated class....what would you like to do lock them up kill them put them in camps...i'm sure many of you say yes....
It is time for the government to get out of the marriage business. As the churches (and most politicians), and certainly those who have voted for bans on same-sex marriages avow: marriage is ordained by God. For the government to enforce this religious concept is a violation of the First Amendment. ALL couples who wish to enter into an agreement for mutual support and love should have the right to obtain a civil union certificate from the State. And religions should have the right to determine whether they can also be married within that church. Remove the word "marriage" from the law and treat everyone the same.
it's about time in this recession we should have had the gays lined up on the strip and marrying them and taking all their money. there is nothing good about discrimination.
It is important people have their free agency to choose how to live. However, that "free agency" is very much a separate issue from the legal institution of "marriage." Everyone has equal right and opportunity to get married within the bounds as instituted. As soon as the legal definition of "marriage" becomes loosened with new meanings, then expect to accept the social effects, which will naturally deteriorate "family units" to entirely new depths, more so than we already are seeing today.
Nobody is saying lock them up or bring harm to these people. Something in their mind leads these types of people believe what they're doing is normal, it isn't and it's sick.
God gave male a penis for a reason and gave females vagina for another reason, of which neither of cases were meant for same sexes. The Democrats find this type of behavioral pattern is normal for their life style choices. They've crammed their sickness down our throats becasue they feel same sex on sex okay and if you're against it then you're a racist. This isn't a race issue, it is about moral law.
And people wonder why America has become a cesspool of people and the land of welfare. America is losing its core values.
"Why do they love each other?" the article asks.
Because they do. Love can't be explained. It's not up to me to judge whether what they're doing is right - only whether it's right for me. I can't see how the changing the definition of marriage can deteriorate family units. Their family seems healthier than many heterosexual families.
Suck on this Richard Ziser!
Congratulations to all couples who now share at least some of the same rights and privileges of marriage!
I don't know about anybody else, but today when I woke up, my marriage was just as strong as yesterday.
its2hot -- your god is not only irrelevant here, your kind of zealous belief is the source of the problem. My penis didn't come from your invisible man in the sky, and I decide what I get to do with it in the pursuit of my happiness -- not you, not your dogma, not government!
nvnatv -- couldn't have said it better myself.
DocRebel -- apparently the "legal" concept of equality is completely beyond your capacity to understand.
It is the height of bigotry and fascism to dictate who a person is allowed to love. Once government offers a benefit, or licenses another right it was never meant to control, it is obligated by its organic law to offer it to everyone.
"After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands." -- Friedrich Nietzsche, "Ecce Homo - Why I Am a Destiny," 1888
Civil unions for everyone. Look around you marriage is a joke. Only the lawyers win
phred -- truer words won't be found here!
Funny how civil unions were what we started with so long ago -- they were called common law marriages, and no one needed government permission for it, either. One can trace that all the way back to the Roman Empire when they married with or without "manus."
"Nevada's domestic partnership law is an almost-but-not-quite kind of equality for gays and lesbians. It confers most legal benefits of marriage but not all.
Significantly, public and private employers are not required to extend health insurance to a partner as they would be to a spouse. In any state, but especially in one with an unemployment rate of 13.2 percent, health insurance matters. It matters in the lives of Carline and Jodie."
What right does a society have to discriminate between the private affairs of others through law or for that matter label/classify individuals as gay, lesbian, single or married?
The State of Nevada should only recognize its citizens as individuals while assuring all of its individuals have equal rights regardless of their private preferences.
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"The State of Nevada should only recognize its citizens as individuals while assuring all of its individuals have equal rights regardless of their private preferences."
Harley -- it's been there from the beginning.
"Section. 1. Inalienable rights. All men are by Nature free and equal and have certain inalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; Acquiring, Possessing and Protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness[.]" -- Article I, Nevada's Constitution
Any Nevada law in conflict with this Section is automatically void. Like that's going to stop this machine from denying people what's theirs by common right.
Let us rejoice! Remember, it's underwear night every other Wednesday at the Eagle, 3430 E Tropicana Ave # 47. Let's celebrate our newly joined partners who have achieved near equality with the breeders. I am so excited...
KillerB - Actually, the "legal" concept of equality is very much in my capacity to understand. Moreover, you can love whomever or whatever it is you please - I really don't care. Regarding the institution of "marriage," it is every bit as equal and legal for you to marry into a heterosexual companionship as it is for me. And, it is every bit as ILLEGAL for me to marry into a homosexual partnership as it is for you. Where is the discrimination? Obviously you can love however manner you feel necessary, but do not confuse yourself: the rules set by society are the exact same and applicable for you and me both.
Are all gay people as insulting and illogical as you? Once you attempt to marry an opposite-sex partner and are denied legality, THEN we'll talk about discrimination.
Historically when times were tough and neighborhoods deteriorated, gays came to the rescue. I can see the same thing happening here in Vegas with all the cheap real estate, taxes, relatively cost of living, sunny weather, and nightlife. Look no further than The Castro in San Francisco, Hillcrest in San Diego, and Greenwich Village in New York (just 3 prime examples). These areas where ghettos with cheap real estate. Gay people moved into these areas and made them habitable once again. So much so that straight married couples have found themselves flocking to many of these areas because they feel they're safe, hip, and fun. Real estate has boomed in these and the surrounding areas.
As for Vegas, this has got to be one of the gayest towns anyways, so who cares? I mean, c'mon, between Barry Manilow, Cher, and Bette Midler, plus all the resorts, and the Liberace Museum, Vegas is a gay magnet! For those who oppose, that's fine, but money speaks louder than hate-filled words, and tolerance prevails over ignorance. Quit using God as your crutch for all your poor decision making and take a look in the mirror for a change.
This comment is for its2hot:
I am a heterosexual catholic female, and here are a few facts for you.
1. gay is not a choice- I know many people who tried to be "normal" and were miserable until they admitted to themselves that they were gay
2. god doesn't care, people have had homosexual relationships for millenia, in fact, Jesus was basically bi
4. the constitution grants the right to the pursuit of happiness to EVERYONE, not just biblethumping bigots
3. people have rights, and should not be punished for not adhering to the socially accepted norm. These women have had a loving relationship for nine years, have raised children together, and should be allowed to get the same breaks that traditional couples get, such as the tax breaks, the insurance, family medical leave, etc, etc, etc
So, its2hot, you have a right to your opinion, but you do not, thank god, have the right to force your opinion on everyone else!
you people have room to talk living in Sin City
Good for Nevada. A step towards being a sophisticated fair society.
Congrats.
What's next?
"the constitution grants the right to the pursuit of happiness to EVERYONE, not just biblethumping bigots"
pinetopgirl -- you almost got it right. Constitutions bind government to protect those rights the People already have. It was explained at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence -- we're all born with "certain alienable rights," one of those being the pursuit of happiness.
Government's not really doing the job we pay them to do, is it?
"In the eyes of the law, their family will be almost normal." is a terribly ignorant thing to write. I think you know that because of your attempt to qualify it with the introduction, "In the eyes of the law." It's like writing the alleged mobster. That kind of sloppy writing just doesn't cut it anymore.
Here's hoping more couples can find the happiness that Robert and Stuart have found in each other.
Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve.
Homosexuality is Gross.
Homo's will never be treated equally no matter how much they pout.
@ nonewsisgoodnews:
What do you mean?
That seems like a simple statement of fact. The way this law is written, domestic partnerships conveys most, but not quite all of, the rights and responsibilities of marriage. Marriage is considered normal. "Not quite" is "almost normal."
That makes no judgment on normality, it only says what it looks like in terms of the law.
It is so funny to me how people like its2hot or anyone for that matter can claim to know the mind of god. How godlike they themselves must be to hold such knowledge, wisdom and power. Well I a lowly human would respectfully suggest those godlike posters go out and heal the sick, prevent a flood or two or better yet make bread grow on trees in starving nations. Until you can perform miricles like parting oh say Lake Mead, don't profess to know what god wants or what he/she intended for any of his/her creations.
So many of these hate-filled comments use god in their references, yet what civil unions and domestic partnerships are doing are based on civil law and NOT canonical law. If somone wants to get married in the church of their choosing, they must first have a license issued by the State, and NOT by the church.
What so many of these hate-mongers are forgetting is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, wherein it guarantees equal protection under the law. This equal protection extends to ALL citizens, and not just those who are heterosexual, or white, or christian, or rich.
If ANYONE can come up with a reason why domestic partnerships or gay marriages should not take place and NOT mention the bible, I would be interested in hearing it. Marriage, in and of itself, is not a religious institution; it is determined and sanctioned by the State.
Same (gender) marriage. To those with religious opinions on same sex marriage. What if they do not believe in "Your" religion. One can get married by a justice of the peace. not your god involved here. One can get married by a ships captain, not your god here. One can live with a person for x-amount of years and its called a common-law marriage, not your god there. Interesting, all these so called marriages can be broken and the person can enter into hundreds of new relationships, have many off spring, pay no child support, etc. etc. but I see no religious persons standing on a soap box protesting. Show two people of the same sex kissing in public, and wow, out of the sand comes goliath.
Believe in love, companionship, honesty, and one's true spiritual being to be the judge. A "God" would embrace goodness in one's heart and soul. The "church going, God fearing" hipocrites are the ones that need to chill out and re-evaluate their finger pointing and vile hatred attacks. Early ancient religious cultures in the world did not have the word "SIN" or "GUILT" in their vocabulary until Christianity came along. Same gender relations were accepted and part of the norm. They understood that was the persons persona. Christianity came along with SIN and GUILT.
Look where it's gotton us. Really look.
Same sex unions DO EXIST in other animal species. Education, travel, and awareness of the world will open eyes to what is real. Church and false teaching will not.
Name one religion on this planet that dosen't have gay or lesbian so called priest, holy men, nuns,rabbis etc. Anyone? Anyone? Nuff said.
I WOULD THINK THAT GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR SEX LIFE OR WHO YOU SHARE A BED WITH. I WOULD THINK THAT GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY TO LOVE ALL CHILDREN OF GOD. I SAY TO THOSE WHO ARE SO OBSESSED WITH HATRED FOR THOSE DIFFERENT FROM THEM TO ASK THEMSELVES HONESTLY WHY THEY FEEL THAT WAY. BECAUSE AS FAR AS I KNOW THE BIBLE DOSEN'T TEACH HATRED, YET SO MANY USE IT TO JUSTIFY THEIR FEELINGS OF HATRED AND DISCUST OF OTHERS. I THINK "THAT" IF ANYTHING WOULD BE SOMETHING GOD HATES.
pinetopgirl---I would watch out for that proverbial lightning strike if I were you.
"Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." This will happen one day and "Every" includes you. As a God-fearing woman, I love all of God's children, including homosexuals. That doesn't mean that I have to love their behavior. Hate the sin, Love the sinner.
This is a thoroughly disgusting story about aberrant and perverted behavior being accepted by liberals.
heavenbound, I know you post wasnt directed at me but I have to ask...What does one have to fear from god? I fear my fellow man above all ease.
To the rest of the posters here, I would like your answer to a question. You don't have to give your reasoning just pick one or the other. What would you have if you had to choose between the two?
1) The elimination of homosexuality in the world.
2) The elimination of all war in the world.
Thank you.
ts2hot----You have used this thread to spread lies and mmisinformation. While you're at it, explain why the Log Cabin Republicans are a part of the Republican Party.
This is not about whether you like President Obama, liberals, progressives, democrats, libertarians, etc or not, it is about the civil rights of American citizens.
Thanks, LV4LIFE--As a Christian, I feel the same way. I am so fed up with people usurping God's power. It is not the way of true Christians to think that they speak for the Lord or Jesus. It is my belief that, if Jesus returned to earth, he'd be persecuted and crucified (AGAIN) by these same people who deign to speak for Him. My Bible tells me that God is not pleased with them judging and condemning some while supporting the wrong-doing of others, as long as those others stand on the same side of the line as they stand. Others who have clearly broken the law. I have no patience with hypocrites and holier than thou-ers. They pervert the true meaning of Christianity by turning love into hate, charity into callousness towards the poor, compassion into a form of weakness, all the things that Jesus stands for that they have distorted and perverted to serve their own earthly purposes giving no thought to how they'll defend themselves before God at the end. Just hate, hate, hate, divide, divide, divide, lie, lie, lie. What makes these people think that God will be bothered with these types of behaviors and attitudes in Heaven, a place of peace? People should take WWJD seriously.
LV4LIFE---have you never read any of the Old Testament? "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." He, (God) with a captial G since it is His name, is a loving God, but He will bring His justice one day. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare."
LV4LIFE, heavenbound, afveteran, the rest of your ilk -- although opinions vary, the fact that yours are based on the most perverted, violent and irrational superstitions on this planet would be disturbing IF your opinions mattered to any reasonable and fair citizen. Which, as shown here, they don't.
"Christians call it faith ... I call it the herd." -- Nietzsche
KillerB---Once again...EVERY knee will bow. In case you didn't realize, EVERY includes you too. Look, I don't hate you. I don't hate anyone and I am entitled to my opinion like you said, and no one has to listen, but I am going to give it anyway. When I face God, I want to be able to say that I warned you. I won't have your soul on my hands. It's your choice. Burn in Hell with Nietzsche one day or have eternal life. I've made my choice. I can't be responsible for yours.
Jesus Christ himself said the homosexual lifestyle was perverted and an aberration to Him and His Father. I don't have to have a common guy like killerb tell me what is right or wrong, the Supreme Being of the Universe is all I need to clue me in. Stories such as this one goes to show us all that the liberal and homosexual communities along with Lucifer have hoodwinked the good Christians and Mormons into a false set of laws in Nevada. Parks is going to rot in Hell for his contribution.
Excellent post heaven. Killerb has proven through his words that he/she is not the "free thinker" or "enlightened one" he/she professes to be. luckly there are those of us who believe our time here is to be better spent lifting up our fellow man than pointing out ones perceived ills based upon ones own bigotry. Nietzsche indeed.
I must confess heavenbound, I have never read the old or the new. I am by my own admission an agnostic. I don't require a book to tell me right from wrong, good from evil. With that said, I don't begrudge those who use religous texts to help them navigate through their lives. There is a lot of good stuff in them, be it the quaran, bible, etc. As I said I just can't stand it when they are used to justify hatred and bigotry.
And by the way killerb, my opinions matter to the same people yours do, or do you think only right minded citizens think as you do? Get over yourself.
afveteran, I am going to assume the AF stands for Air Force. I to am also a AF Vet. Jesus never uttered a single word condeming homosexuality. You are either a lier or misinformed. Which one is it?
afveteran, funny how you defend Ensign on one story and get all opinionated on this. If I remember correctly, God said "Thou shalt not commit adultery." One of the most important messages in the Bible is to "love your neighbor as yourself." (including your "enemies").
Love, djeco :-)
Logic dictates that a nut is of no use without the bolt that's been designated for it! All it can become is a screw.
With all the real and important issues in today's society, who really gives a sh!t what these people call their relationships?
LV4LIFE -- sorry to include you with that bunch. I was hasty.
Nietzsche rocks on this subject, especially "The Antichrist."
heavenbound -- not my knee. You seem to forget one has to be christian to sin.
afvet -- words to the wise from LV4LIFE. I'll go it one more -- "Jesus" didn't say ANYTHING, ever. Like all the great teachers in history -- like Socrates, Epictetus -- he (if he even existed) didn't write a single word. It's all hearsay.
Actually, it was in Leviticus 18:22, where God tells Moses, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination."
B.U.T...God was only proscribing MALE homosexuality. Ergo, our friends Carline and Jody are off the hook!! Party on, girls!! AF and the bible beaters got nothing on ya!
BTW, I'm having trouble sorting out a couple other of God's "laws;" maybe you Good Book thumpers can help me? For example:
Exodus 21:7 tells me is groovy cool if I want to sell my daughter into slavery. But damned if I know what a fair asking price is these days...
Leviticus 15:19 forbids me from being in contact with women during -how shall we say- that special, unclean time each month?? Okay, got it. Except... how do I know? I've tried asking women "are you clean right now?" But it kinda pisses them off...
And I now find out that, according to Lev. 20:14, my brother messed up by "messing" with his mother-in-law (hey, he wasn't allowed "contact" with his wife during that week). My question is, who is the one who must "burn them with fire," as clearly spelled out in that passage? Me???
hey, gay community and activists...
umm...listen up.
you ever heard of the term "marketing" or "advertising"?
if you want to sell beer = use hot girls
if you want to sell a tv show = use hot girls
jeans = use hot girls
appliances = use hot girls
if you want to "sell" this concept...for pete's sake, how about using two women that actually LOOK like women to sell it? ok?
yuck.
stevem, You got that right, Those dudes are scary!
SteveM,
You got that wrong. This was a LV Sun article; not an advertising campaign. People come as they are.
But it's a matter of principle. Everyone deserves the same protections and rights under the law.
I hereby sentence you to sensitivity training: you are to spend one year living North Las Vegas, walking around with a sandwich sign promoting alternative lifestyles. Under your sandwich sign, you are to be dressed like this guy:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd216...
killerB---I was going to let it lie...but you are too funny if you think you will be exempt from the day of reckoning. I am sorry to say that I know you will NOT be laughing on that day, nor will I. I will be crying for you and all the other lost souls who will forever be separated from their Creator. He will let you do what you want in this life, but it comes with consequences, just like any disobedient child finds out in the end. You are a sinner who spits in His face, I am a sinner who is saved by grace. Peace.