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From: jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick)
Newsgroups: net.motss,net.kids,net.singles
Subject: Re: Gay fostercare ban: more news
Message-ID: <2429@mit-hermes.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 26-Jun-85 14:09:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-herm.2429
Posted: Wed Jun 26 14:09:26 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Jun-85 03:25:25 EDT
References: <1470@bbncca.ARPA>
Organization: The MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA
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Xref: watmath net.motss:1789 net.kids:1405 net.singles:7549

> More developments in the ongoing protest against the legislation
> in the Massachusetts House effectively banning gays, singles, &
> "nontraditional families" from foster care, guardianship, & adop-
> tion (it's a rider on a budget bill, & heavily supported by liberal
> Democrats, including the Governor): [long posting follows: go read it.]

I want to present an alernative view to Ron Rizzo's here. Dukakis faces a
possibly tough reelection campaign next year, very likely against a Catholic
Joe Sixpack type, Ed King. Their two previous electoral bouts (they won one
each) split the state's Democrats on class lines as well as political ones.
One of King's supporters actually said, after he defeated Dukakis, "We put
all the hate groups in a pot and let it boil." You can guess how King and
his gang feel about gays. 

What I'm leading up to is that this is a political game. For the safety of
his next term, Dukakis is prepared to sacrifice homosexuals' parental
desires, and to some extent their self-respect, by invalidating them as
far as the care of children is concerned. He thinks that the gays won't 
dare to try to unseat him, on the grounds of "Cutting their noses to spite
their faces". The alternative is to leave himself open to rabble-rousing 
slogans like "He supports gay foster parents." Ron, what can gays do, if 
Dukakis supports them on this, to get him reelected? How many votes will it 
get him, as opposed to the many it would surely cost him? I disagree with the
treatment of would-be gay foster parents by Dukakis, but at the same time I'd 
disagree more (and so you, I hope) with Ed King. Can what is morally wrong 
sometimes be politically right?

John Purbrick					jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA
{...decvax!genrad!  ...allegra!mit-vax!}  mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg