From
WHYY:
Openly gay Pa. Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, was blocked from talking about the Supreme Court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act Wednesday on the floor of the Pennsylvania House.
His comments to his colleagues were ended by a procedural maneuver.
In a part of the house session where members can speak on wide-ranging topics, Sims had just begun his remarks when he was shut down.
So an elected official in Pennsylvania, which is one of the United States of America, during a legislative session where members can discuss a wide range of issues of the day rose to speak about
US V Windsor and was shut down.
By his own admission, he was going to "going to limit my comments to how important the cases were."
But he wasn't able to. So what happened? This:
It takes just one legislator to end the impromptu remarks. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe was one of the House Republicans who objected.
"I did not believe that as a member of that body that I should allow someone to make comments such as he was preparing to make that ultimately were just open rebellion against what the word of God has said, what God has said, and just open rebellion against God's law," said Metcalfe, R-Butler.
Two more Democratic legislators got up to speak in support of Sims. Neither was allowed to proceed.
Why is it not surprising that Daryl Metcalfe would deny a gay member of the house an opportunity to speak about the Supreme Court's decision that DOMA was unconstitutional and use "God's law" as a reason to do so?
I mean Daryl is an
ALEC legislator who's done some oh so wonderful things limiting freedom in this state. Things like:
So why should we be surprised that Daryl invokes all-mighty
Gawd to protect his ears from the words of the rebellious sodomite?
There's a follow up from WYY:
Sims rose again on the House floor Thursday evening to ask the Legislature to reprimand Metcalfe for his comments. He told colleagues he felt that his character had been questioned.
"It is my understanding of the rules of this body that I could never call another member a bigot, a homophobe or a racist, nor would I, but I do ask that this body recognize that the language used against me as a member does not live up to the standards set by this body," he said.
The House determined that it could not censure Metcalfe for comments made elsewhere.
Oh, well...
On t'other hand:
Rep. Mike Fleck, Pennsylvania's first openly gay lawmaker, said of Rep. Metcalfe's move to silence Rep. Sims: "I, like many of my Republican colleagues, was infuriated. I think we should be able to speak on any issue. If you don't like it, you can get up and leave."
When asked if he thought it was appropriate for Rep. Metcalfe to be censured, Fleck said, "I think Representative Metcalfe would love to be censured. I mean, he would love the national press. I mean, quite frankly, that's how he raises money — by exploiting an issue and saying, 'Oh look they're coming after me. Send me 5 bucks.' So you know, I seriously don't blame Representative Sims for wanting due recourse and all this, but I just don't know what is gained throughout the whole thing."
Fleck, R-Huntingdon, said Metcalfe has "certainly lost a lot of respect by many members," because of the flap over Sims' attempt to speak.
That last part's the most shocking. Even with all the crazie noises mumbling between Metcalfe's ears, he once had the respect of many house members???
What is wrong with those people?
